Thursday, January 05, 2006

Rose Bowl: Texas - USC

It was my privilege to see the great Michigan State - Notre Dame 10-10 tie game in 1966 ( was in the State freshman section of Spartan Stadium. Don't do the math). Michigan - Ohio State and Oklahoma - Nebraska served up some real classic duels in the 70s and 80s. None of them matched the Rose Bowl last night with two perfect teams played in as thrilling a game as I ever saw. They ran, they held on the ball, they executed.

Vince Young made his statement by leading his team back in the last seconds to score the winning touchdown. He is certain to pass Reggie Bush as the top pick in the NFL draft, if he leaves school early. Young also made the Heisman Trophy judges look silly for awarding the thing to Reggie Bush. Bush had a good, not great night. And his ill-advised lateral attempt after he just ran for long yards probably cost his team a score.

But it was the game itself that held drama with neither team quite able to put the other away and both teams getting scores when needed. Texas won, but with four more minutes, Southern Cal would have come back. If Texas' score resulted in a tie, rather than putting them ahead, they might still be playing overtime.

What a game!

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