that and we handed them the game...
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...ene&id=2280973
Trojans drop-kicked their chance at history
PASADENA, Calif. -- This is what I get for chugging the USC Three-Pete Kool-Aid, for predicting the Trojans would lead a Rose Bowl cattle drive to an unprecedented third consecutive national championship -- this time with Texas as the drivees.
Git along you little Bevos, right?
Problem is, Vince Young and the Longhorns didn't cooperate. And neither did USC, which only has itself -- and the breathtakingly athletic Young -- to blame for failing to give college football immortality a sloppy wet kiss Wednesday evening.
I hate me. I should have remembered what I wrote after the Trojans overcame an Oregon first-half lead back in late September.
If USC wants its historic threepeat, then the Trojans will need an injection of 2004, of humility and of discipline. Otherwise, I'm putting my BCS money on Virginia Tech or Texas as the team most likely to be holding a crystal football after the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl.
And sure enough, Mack Brown and the fellas ended the Trojans' 34-game win streak with a come-from-behind, they-didn't-really-do-that-did-they? upset that had stadium paramedics nervously checking to see whether their cardiac paddles were in working order. After all, how many times do you see USC blow a 12-point lead in the last 4 minutes and 4 seconds?
Texas deserves its championship, Brown deserves his defining moment, and Young deserves to be called the best player on a Rose Bowl field full of future NFL draft picks. But USC will forever drop-kick itself for botching its chance at history.
"Not many teams can ever say they went 34 in a row," said USC senior tight end Dominique Byrd. "We steamrolled teams for two years. I still think this is one of the greatest teams in college football history. But it could have been the team."
It could have been, had the Trojans not given up 18 fourth-quarter points, including two VY touchdown runs that featured more missed tackles than you can shake a Song Girl pompom at.
It could have been, had the Trojans converted a fourth-and-2 at the Texas 45 with only 2:13 remaining on the clock.
It could have been, had the Trojans not given up 289 rushing yards (200 by Young) and 267 passing yards (Young was 30-of-40).
It could have been, had the Trojans not used all their timeouts, leaving none available for their final, desperate drive.
It could have been, had Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush not suffered a blood-flow problem to his brain during a second-quarter pass play where he attempted to lateral -- repeat, lateral -- as Longhorn defenders were attached to his uni. o, fumble.
It could have been, had the Trojans converted a fourth-and-1 at the Texas 17 midway through the first quarter.
It could have been, had the Trojans not belly flopped on three consecutive first-half possessions inside the Texas 26 that resulted in zero points.
"I guess the margin of error with a team like [Texas] is very small," said Byrd.
The Longhorns won fair and square, but the Trojans helped. A lot. And so did a Big Ten officiating crew that apparently received pregame instructions from Sun Belt refs. And the crack instant-replay crew must have been watching The Cartoon Channel on their monitors when Young's left knee hit the turf moments before he pitched to Selvin Young for a second-quarter touchdown. And yet, no review. Amazing.
USC spent nearly half of its season flirting with the L column. Wednesday night's game marked the fifth time the Trojans trailed at halftime. But somehow they always figured out a way to flick on the afterburner switch and keep the streak intact. This time they flicked … and Texas flicked back.
Bush, in what was likely his final game in a USC uniform, gained 82 yards and scored once. But that fumbled lateral attempt left Pete Carroll almost speechless.
"That's crazy," said Carroll. "That's so far out of line with the way we think and perform, I can't believe it."
Carroll wasn't done.
On the botched scoring opportunities: "We could have had points in the first half; we screwed up. That's the power of turnovers. That's how it works."
On LenDale White's failed run on the fourth-and-2: "We missed it by how much, a few inches?"
Inches … a foot -- does it really matter?
"We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times," said White, who also might bolt to the NFL after his 124-yard, three-touchdown performance.
USC shot itself enough times that it barely has any toes left. And that's the shame of it. Nothing against Texas, but I was rooting for The Streak, for the Three-Pete, for an unthinkable run at Oklahoma's 47-game consecutive win record. Instead, I get the VY Highlight Show, which was damn good, but not the same as 35 straight.
"We played hard," said Trojan senior defensive end Frostee Rucker. "You got to credit Vince Young."
Rucker tried to explain the mistakes, the missed tackles, the failed fourth-and-2 play, the lost opportunities. Rather than continue, he simply said, "The rest is history."
No, it almost was.
Gene Wojciechowski is the senior national columnist for ESPN.com. You can contact him at [email protected].
UT will not get in if they don't win the Big 12. UGA didn't get in last year and Mich. didn't the year before. I'm not hating but that's all I heard last year, if you don't win your conference you shouldn't be allowed into the BCS championship game.
I'm pulling for a Bama/FL vs UT/USC BCS game
Nobody handed anyone anything. Texas earned that victory because they played better in the game. SC was a great team that year and overall talent-wise, probably better that UT but it doesn't matter who has the better talent, what matters is who plays better on that particular day and in the Rose Bowl that day, Texas was better.
I would agree with that.
i see this is still a very sensitive area.
i just couldn't believe how easy vince young made it look.
Everyone needs a championship game or straight playoffs. I'm tired of this BS every year. Its left up to some computers and human votes.
^Oh , jgw just relapsed. Everyone, we need to have an intervention right now! STILL going back to 2005 and that le game with your supposed best college team ever?
Listen jgw, they were a good team, but we didn't luck into winning that game. Vince went down on the last drive of the game and shoved the football up the trojan's ASS, taking the game from them. You can go and buy a dvd of the game if you don't believe me. Maybe, just mabye, at that point you can return to reality.
The 2005 Trojans were a great football team, but you can't say they were better than UT. Both teams had a month or so to get healthy and prepared for the Rose Bowl. The game was played at a "neutral" site. There were only a few questionable calls, on both sides.
I will say, though, that Carroll screwed the pooch on that 4th and 2. Everyone--and I mean everyone--knew Lendale White was going to run up the gut. You know why? Because Reggie Bush was on the sidelines. How stupid. At least put him in there as a decoy, to draw some of the Longhorns' attention. It may not have been Carroll's call, but he's the head coach and can certainly overrule his coordinators. How incredibly stupid.
That said, when Texas got the ball back, VY destroyed the Trojans. And I loved it.
lol, living in the past
UT was a complete team and proved themselves through the entire season.
TT is not a complete team and proved it on Saturday.
Also, USC was lucky to even be in the NC game after Reggie got away with the push against ND.
UT showed that defense > offense. UT was more complete than USC.
2005 UT > 2005 USC
The mistakes USC made proved they were not a superior team. The greatest of great teams are mentally strong and play mistake free football, ESPECIALLY on the day of a championship game or super bowl. Making those mistakes on that day showed that they were not a strong team mentally. At least not stronger than UT, which is why UT won.
Big 12 Shakeout
And you thought the political season was finally behind us.
You haven't seen anything yet.
With the Big 12 South possibly headed toward a dreaded three-way tie between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech, coaches and officials from all sides are looking for the nearest soapbox.
If the Sooners, Longhorns and Red Raiders win their final regular-season games this week, they'll finish tied atop the Big 12 South. The South representative would be decided by which team is ranked highest in the second to last BCS standings. The Big 12 South winner will play Missouri in the Dec. 6 Big 12 championship game in Kansas City.
If the Big 12 South champion wins the Big 12 le, it figures to play for the BCS National Championship.
So all sides are moving quickly to garner public support.
"If you can't move us in front of Texas because they beat us, then you have to keep Texas Tech in front of Texas," Sooners coach Bob Stoops told reporters after the Texas Tech win. "If it's logical for one, then it's logical for the other."
The Sooners' victory was more than enough to impress voters in the Harris Interactive Poll and USA Today/coaches' Top 25 poll, two of the three components weighted equally in the BCS formula.
"When you look at what's happening, you're seeing emotional voters," Texas coach Mack Brown said on ESPN's First Take.
"Saturday night, watching Oklahoma play and play so well, emotionally the voters jumped them up some."
As for the transitive property applying to this scenario, Brown's not ready to go there yet.
"I heard Bob's [OU coach Bob Stoops] analogy about who beats who and that kind of stuff," Brown said. "I'm not getting into all that today because we got some work to do on Thursday night."
The final BCS standings will determine the two teams that will play for the BCS National Championship in south Florida on Jan. 8.
Oklahoma moved to the No. 2 spot in the coaches' poll, jumping ahead of Florida and Texas. The Sooners are No. 3 in the Harris poll behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Florida.
Texas is No. 4 in both human polls. But thanks to the Longhorns' average ranking in the six computer polls used in the BCS formula, they remain No. 2 in the BCS standings -- a minuscule .084 percentage points ahead of No. 3 Oklahoma.
The Big 12 rivals are so close in the BCS standings that conventional wisdom says the Sooners will jump the Longhorns if both teams win this week. Texas will play at home against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET). Oklahoma will play at No. 12 Oklahoma State on Saturday night (ABC, 8 p.m. ET).
The Sooners will have the last chance to impress voters, and their strength of schedule will improve if they beat the Cowboys. So a win at Oklahoma State probably would be enough to propel the Sooners ahead of the Longhorns.
It shouldn't happen.
Texas beat the Sooners 45-35 on a neutral field in the Cotton Bowl on Oct. 11. A head-to-head victory should trump any tiebreaker.
And, when weighing each of the three Big 12 teams' respective bodies of work, the Longhorns have the strongest argument for selection:
Losses
Oklahoma: The Sooners twice led the Longhorns by 11 points and had an eight-point lead in the third quarter at the Cotton Bowl. But Texas scored two touchdowns in the game's final 7:37 to win 45-35 in Dallas. The Longhorns beat a No. 1 Oklahoma team for the first time since a 28-7 victory in 1963. It also was the first time the Sooners had lost a regular-season game under Stoops when scoring at least 35 points.
Texas: The No. 1 Longhorns trailed then-No. 7 Texas Tech 19-0 in the first half and 22-6 at the half in Lubbock, Texas, on Nov. 1. The Longhorns rallied and took a 33-32 lead on Vondrell McGee's 4-yard touchdown run with 1:29 to play. But after Texas dropped what would have been a game-clinching interception, the Red Raiders won 39-33 on Graham Harrell's 28-yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree with one second left.
Texas Tech: There's no other way to say it: The Red Raiders were embarrassed by Oklahoma on Saturday night. The 65-21 loss was the second-worst defeat ever by a No. 2-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Texas Tech avoided the worst defeat by a No. 2 team when Harrell threw a 27-yard touchdown to Detron Lewis with 11 seconds to play.
Advantage: Texas. (The Sooners lost on a neutral field; Texas lost on the road.)
Victories
Oklahoma: The Sooners have a couple of very impressive nonconference wins. Oklahoma beat Cincinnati 52-26 in Norman on Sept. 6. The Bearcats are 9-2 and one victory away from winning the Big East le. The Sooners also walloped TCU 35-10 in Norman on Sept. 27. The Horned Frogs finished the regular season with a 10-2 record and are No. 14 in the BCS standings.
Texas: Along with beating Oklahoma, Texas hammered Big 12 North champion Missouri 56-31 in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma State 28-24 and won at Kansas 35-7.
Texas Tech: Texas Tech beat Nevada 35-19 and SMU 43-7. Along with beating the Longhorns, the Red Raiders crushed Oklahoma State 56-20 and won at Kansas 63-21 in Big 12 play.
Advantage: Texas. (The Sooners would have four very impressive victories if they beat Oklahoma State. But the Longhorns would have the only victory that matters -- a win over the Sooners.)
Strength of schedule
Oklahoma: Two of Oklahoma's 10 victories came against two of the worst teams in college football. The Sooners beat Chattanooga (a 1-11 FCS program) in their Aug. 30 opener and also defeated Washington, which just lost to Washington State to fall to 0-11. Oklahoma didn't play Big 12 North champion Missouri during conference play. The Sooners' 11 opponents have a combined record of 66-58.
Texas: The Longhorns didn't play an FCS opponent and beat UTEP 42-13 on the road. They also beat defending Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic 52-10 and Rice 52-10. The Owls are 8-3 and are still in contention to play for the Conference USA championship. Texas beat an SEC opponent, Arkansas, 52-10. The Longhorns' 11 opponents have a combined record of 79-54.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders had no margin for error because they played two FCS opponents, beating Eastern Washington 49-24 and Massachusetts 56-14. Texas Tech's 11 opponents have a combined record of 71-52.
Advantage: Texas. (No FCS opponents were on the schedule, and it played Missouri.)
Oklahoma is the hot team as the regular season comes to an end. But Texas is a better team.
The Longhorns have already proved it on the field.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebo.../onthemark1124
If OU beats down OSU in Stillwater, I'd bet they move up to #2 no matter how bad UT beats A&M.
Is it guaranteed that Florida moves into the top 2 if they beat FSU and Bama? If that happens could UT and OU still meet in the le game?
The BCS took out the margin of victory part out of their formula. Which means...that Tech is still very much in it.
Its pretty much guaranteed. They are one year removed from the championship and the SEC has won the last two. The BCS won't do a rematch of conference opponents (look at Mich vs OSU in 2006).
t-sip getting defensive...b/c they know they stole the game. most likely one of the 2 or 3 games t.u. would win out of 10. but you're right mike, t.u. was better that day.
lol @ stretch, is he trying to convince me...or himself. USC was a better football team...just not that day son.
lol, 41-38
pete carroll and that in jew fro'd matt leinart were bent over the barrel by Vince Young
Back on topic, this is why we need a playoff.
Texas, OU, SC, Florida, Alabama, they should all have an equal shot at the le.
I don't know about you Longhorns fans, but I'm hoping for this scenario. I fully expect UT to beat A&M and OU to beat OSU. Then OU to beat Missouri. So...
Unranked Auburn pulls off an upset to remember at Alabama. Alabama then defeats Florida in the SEC le game. Neither one would have a high enough BCS ranking to go to the national le game.
That would put UT-OU in the le game.
OR Florida loses to Florida State this Saturday and Florida beats Alabama.
I cannot believe JGW's asshole is still bloody from that rose bowl. Just accept it man. We owned the out of you. Noone forced you to blitz two identical 4.0 med student Tings, noone forced reggie bush to prove to the world how he wasn't the real heisman winner, noone forced you to go for it on fourth down, and noone forced your team to be completely ill-equipped to defend the UT offense. Ya'll just suck man. A faux dynasty that never existed.
Anyways. OU.
Or Tech loses to Baylor and OU can suck as much coaches poll voter as they want and Texas goes to the Big 12 championship.
that would be ing awesome. and hilearious at the same time.
if tech lost to baylor i would never stop laughing. i think they have a chance. kinda like the lions have a chance of not going winless this season.
alsoat jgw for still crying over the 05 champ game
people seem to forget how dominant UT is and how many games tehy ahve won since mack brown has coached. gay usc fans always bring up pete carroll's win percentage, but they should wiat til he coaches for double digit years to start bragging on that.
or a&m pulls of the upset, ok st pulls off the upset & tech is right back in the mix.....
and dont start acting like thats a far fetched idea. The aggies have given the horns plenty to deal with the last 2 years.
& ok st. is at home for a rivalry game, in which all best are off.
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