Vince Young was awesome in both of his Rose Bowls. Be interesting to see how UT would have done without Vince Young as their qb? No way UT beats Michigan or USC without Mr. Young. We will never see a qb like him again.
Without Vince we don't win....hells bells ...without Lyndell White we kick the **** out of USC, so stop that **** about us being a one man team. I hope these guys wearing the burnt orange read this crap and come out and show the country we win as a TEAM.
Just had to put my 2 cents woth in on this even though it has ben 3 months since the game. What a great day for all Horn fans and the state of Texas. I hav enever been prouder of my University and state than I was on Jan 4th. It all starts with Mack and ends with the success of the great calibre of players that he recruits. Hookem Horns and God bless you all.
It's been 3 1/2 months and everyday I find myself being thankful to be a Longhorn. I watch the game occasionally and still can't believe I was there. What a team, what a season and what a game!! The National Championship is back where it belongs!!!!!! In Aauuuuustin Texas, baby!!!!
I smile everyday, and if someone from another school makes a comment...I just smile bigger...can't help it. Nobody can argue the MNC, nobody can belittle it, nobody can take it away.
I smile wondering who will be the next great Texas QB to win a National Championship. They will be the next legend. How Awesome will it be to see our QB dissecting the game, our line blocking, running backs breaking it off, and receivers making plays? Kickers scoring and pinning the other team back...AND Longhorn D just smothering and pounding the opposition...dominating.
Ahhh, can't wait for the next one, and will ALWAYS savor this one...b/c I got to be there! They are all great!
I never attended The University Of Texas, but I was born in and grew up in Austin. I guess I inherited my allegience from my father who never attended either, but who was always a fan.
I'm 43 now so the childhood memories are vague but I do have faint recollections of the arkansas game in '69 and my fathers childlike glee after the victory.
Even with the faded memories of the past championships, hope for another title renewed itself each fall.
I remember the waning years of the Royal era, the two seasons with Akers that fell just short of the goal. The ups and downs of the McWilliams and Mackovic years.
Finally, after the hiring of Coach Brown I got the feeling that our fortunes were at last going to change.
I marvelled at the positive attitude, the recruiting, the outreach to Coach Royal, the alums, and the fans.
There was just something different in the air. I knew there still weren't any conference titles, still some losses by larger margins than I would have liked, but still knowing things were going to change.
I remember at the end of last season, the talk pointing to this year starting.
I listened to the local commentators say that it was at last our year to beat o.u. again, if we could just get by ohio state and o.u. ....... I didn't want to think about it, couldn't get my hopes up... knowing that even if we did do what we needed to do that the U.S.C. juggernaut loomed large.
The team being called the greatest in history, the team with the two heisman winners, the two time defending national champs. I didn't want to let myself think about it.
I felt terrible for not having the faith, but remembered all the close calls of seasons past and couldn't quite let myself believe it was possible.
Even as the season got underway I remembered thinking.. Cedric is gone, Derrick is gone, how are we going to replace those guys? Our recievers are so young.
We have had soooo much talent in the past, I thought we were a little bit down this year compared to some recent squads.
Boy was I in for a surprise.
At last the season was underway with the easy victory we knew it would be.
Then ohio state, at night, in the shoe... the great catch by limas to seal a tough, close game.
The first hurdle over with and we were not really tested again the rest of the way.
We were finally going to play for the national title again after 35 long years.
The day of the game was finally here and I was thinking well no one really gives gives us a chance. I still couldn't let myself think that we could actually win, assuming that would make the loss easier to swallow.
I decided not to have a crowd over, just my best friend who also lives and dies with the Horns.
The game had started and it was staying close, and we had the lead at halftime.
I thought well we showed up, and even if we lose we gave them a better fight than most had imagined.
The fourth quarter came and jarrett caught the pass to put U.S.C. up by 12. Griffin and Brown were laying on the field, my heart sank and my stomach was in knots.
Any remaining hope I had for victory was long gone. I knew we could score again. But how were we going to stop them?
White was gutting us the entire second half. How were we going to stop them? We HAD to stop them.
We did score again. The faintest glimmer of hope returns. We HAVE to stop them. We did it once I remembered, but we hadn't stopped Lendale this half.
Fourth and two....we HAVE to stop them. Fouts yells.. he didnt get it!!! We STOPPED them!!!! Hope has fully returned and i'm giddy but still can't let myself believe it can happen.
We take over posession and Vince drives us downfield. Fourth and five.. Keith Jackson yells.. he's gonna run it!!!
Vince Young scores!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't yell or scream, the sound that I produced was just a kind of gutteral groan that I had never made before.
We make the two point conversion and there are 19 seconds left. It's still not time to celebrate. That is a lot of time for that offense. Bush almost breaks it. Eight seconds left, Leinart throws incomplete!!! It's over!!!! I look at my buddy and and just smile.
I'm so happy for the team, but I think i'm happiest for Mack. To be able to exorcise all your demons in one year has got to be one great feeling. Watching him walk across the field after the clock ticked zero was the picture of class.
We won. Mack had the monkey off his back, and I finally felt the same joy my father did in 1969.
Honored to be post 200 on this thread. Can't wait for the first game when they call out the reigning national champs. No one can ever take it away. Everywhere I go, whether I'm talking to longhorns or sports fans, most agree it was simply the greatest college football game played in years, if not ever.
The only down side of attending the Rose Bowl is knowing I will never witness a sporting event that can top it. I'm not bitching because I still have a constant grin on my face, but I have resigned myself to the fact that everything after VY is anticlimatic.
Texas will get better, Championships will get better, and QBs will get better. Thanks to the Rose Bowl, there is a new standard for greatness. I can't wait until I say, "that was better than the 05 rose bowl!" When that happens, Its time to throw in the towel and head to the pearly white gates, because it can't get any better.
Just watched the Rose Bowl DVD with my son last night - still get chills on the 4th down stop of White and the ensuing National Championship TD drive...That was fun! Let's do it again next season!
My only regret is that I couldn't see Vince's final touchdown from where I was sitting in section 11, I had to watch it on the jumbotron over my left shoulder.
I felt my breath leave me when Vince strolled into the endzone. From the moment 21 years ago as a UT sophomore when I sat in the Cotton Bowl and watched our National Championship hopes dashed by a late fumble, to the moment in the Rose Bowl when the clock read triple zero, man what a long trip its been. I swear I could feel our side of the Rose Bowl raise about a foot off the ground.
In my entire life, I've never been around so many thousands of people going crazy at the same time. If I could have bottled that feeling, it would be the greatest anti-depressant ever sold.
I think this NC will open the flood gates for Texas now. Mack finally has the pressure off of him and he can cherry pick the recruits even more so than he did before.
I think Texas will be a NC contender now for at least the next 5-7 years with another appearance in the game....just like OU after theirs in 2000...but I think we will do better than them when we get the chance and not just quit.
to be honest, the NC has not sunk in yet for me. I still get chills every now and then when I remember and watch games from the season...it won't sink in for me until the season starts and there is no VY, but we get the title of defending champs.
What pissses me off is that we are being disrespected now. Everyone outside of Texas fans give all the credit to VY and none to the coaches and team.
Suddenly, texas will be overrated and will return to being OU's *****...nevermind that the weak assistants and players who were intimidated by OU are no longer around. This texas team was not intimidated by OU the last 2 times we played and that was obvious.