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2005 Texas Longhorns football team

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{{{year}}} [[{{{team}}} football]]
Ranking
BCSNo. 1
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
The UT Tower lit in a special configuration in honor of the 2005 National Championship football team.[1]

The 2005 Texas Longhorn football team (variously "Texas" or "UT" or the "Horns") represented The University of Texas at Austin during the college football season of 2005-2006, winning both the Big 12 Conference Championship[2] and the national championship.[3] The team was coached by head football coach Mack Brown, led on the field by quarterback Vince Young, and played its home games at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

The team's penultimate victory of the season, the Big 12 Championship Game, featured the biggest margin of victory in the history of that contest. Their ultimate win in the 2006 Rose Bowl against the University of Southern California Trojans for the national championship, as well as their overall season, have been cited as standing among the greatest performances in college football history by publications such as College Football News,[4][5][6] the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,[7] Scout.com,[8] and Sports Illustrated.[9] The Longhorns and the Trojans were together awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN for the "Best Game" in any sport.[10] The Longhorns finished the season as the only unbeaten team in NCAA Division I-A football, with 13 wins and zero losses overall.[11][12]

The season gave Texas its second Big 12 Conference football championship[12] (27 conference championships total, including 25 in the Southwest Conference)[13] and fourth consensus national championship in football.[14] It was the ninth perfect season in the history of Longhorn football.[15]

The team set numerous school and NCAA records, including most points scored in a season (652). After the season ended, six Longhorns from this championship team were selected by professional football teams in the 2006 NFL Draft.[16]

Leading into the 2005 season

One of the three most victorious programs in college football history as judged by either number of wins or winning percentage,[17] the University of Texas has traditionally been considered a college football "powerhouse" because of their won/loss record and their previous national championships (1963, 1969, 1970).[18][19][20] From 1936 to 2004, the team finished the season in the top ten 23 times, or one-third of the time, according to the Associated Press.[6]

The 2005 team followed on the success of the 2004 season, in which quarterback Vince Young led the team to Mack Brown's first Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game in the 2005 Rose Bowl and a top 5 finish in the polls. With the exception of Cedric Benson, Derrick Johnson, and Bo Scaife, Texas returned most of their key players from 2004–2005, including redshirt junior quarterback Vince Young. Texas was given a pre-season #2 ranking (behind defending National Champions University of Southern California) by Sports Illustrated magazine and was also ranked second in the pre-season Associated Press Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll.[21] The team that coach Mack Brown fielded in 2005 has been called one of the most memorable in college football history by College Football News.[6]

During the summer of 2005, Vince Young and his receivers spent extra practice time working on their timing and team-work.[22] The fall "Orange and White"[23] intra-team scrimmage was held on August 21 2005 as an event open to the public. In the scrimmage, running back Ramonce Taylor got off to a fast start by returning the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown (TD).[24] Vince Young completed 5 of 7 passing attempts for 68 yards and one touchdown.[24] Senior Richmond McGee made two 33-yard field goals and emerged as the top candidate to handle field goals, kickoffs and punts.[24] Brown said of McGee, "We've never had one person do all three, so it's a concern, but right now, he would be the guy."[24]

The good conclusion to the 2004 season and the efforts during the off-season all helped create anticipation that Texas might play for the national championship if they could win their away game against Ohio State University[25] and if they could snap their five-game losing streak against Oklahoma.[26] For Texas to play in the national title game, the team had to end up ranked number one or number two at the end of the regular season.

Further information: 2005 Texas Longhorn football team § Rankings
See also: American football rules and American football strategy

Schedule

The Texas offense shown lined up in the I formation. The "I formation" is often used for short-yardage situations, as is the case here with Texas just outside Colorado's goal-line. The 2005 UT team more commonly used the shotgun formation.
Date Rank* Opponent Result Game site
September 3 2005 No. 2 Louisiana-Lafayette W 60-3 Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
September 10 2005 No. 2 @ No. 4 Ohio State W 25-22 Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
September 17 2005 No. 2 Rice W 51-10 Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
October 1 2005 No. 2 @ Missouri W 51-20 Faurot Field, Columbia, Missouri
October 8 2005 No. 2 vs. Oklahoma W 45-12 Red River Rivalry, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
October 15 2005 No. 2 No. 24 Colorado W 42-17 Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
October 22 2005 No. 2 No. 10 Texas Tech W 52-17 Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
October 29 2005 No. 2 @ Oklahoma State W 47-28 Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Oklahoma
November 5 2005 No. 2 @ Baylor W 62-0 Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco, Texas
November 12 2005 No. 2 Kansas W 66-14 Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
November 25 2005 No. 2 @ Texas A&M W 40-29 Lone Star Showdown, Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
December 3 2005 No. 2 vs. Colorado W 70-3 Big 12 Championship Game, Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
January 4 2006 No. 2 vs. No. 1 USC W 41-38 † BCS National Championship, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California

* Rankings are from the Associated Press poll released prior to each game.
@ Indicates opponent's field
vs. Indicates neutral field
Opponents listed in bold are conference games.
† Denotes first national championship in football for the University of Texas since 1970 (BCS, AP).

Roster

The final roster of the season:[27]

Template:2005 Texas Longhorn roster

Texas enjoyed a relatively injury-free season. The team only had one game missed by a defensive starter due to injury.[28] On offense, starting running back Selvin Young was injured in the game against Louisiana-Lafayette, but was able to play the following week.

See also: American football positions and Glossary of American football

Game notes

Louisiana Lafayette

1 2 3 4 Total
Ragin' Cajuns 0 0 0 3 3
Longhorns 13 26 14 7 60

This game marked the second meeting of the Texas Longhorns and the Louisiana Lafayette (ULL) Ragin' Cajuns. In their first meeting in 2000, UT quarterback Major Applewhite entered the game late in the first quarter and threw for 315 yards and four TDs (tied for #3 on the UT all-time single-game touchdown list) as the Longhorns scored 52 unanswered points in a 52-10 victory.[29] Prior to kick-off of the 2005 game, a special appeal was made for donations to help those suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which had devastated parts of Louisiana just a few days previously.[30] Donations were not accepted at the game because of a policy against official fund-raising.[31] As the Longhorns entered the field, special teams player Karim Meijer carried a United States flag that was given to the team on Thursday by former Longhorn Nathan Kaspar who flew the flag during missions in southeastern Iraq.[32] For this first game of the season, and only for this game, Texas elected to wear "throwback" uniforms furnished by Nike. The throwback jerseys were similar to jerseys worn during their 1963 National Championship season under coach Darrell K. Royal.[33][29][34]

The game was played in Austin, Texas. Although football is often considered a cold-weather sport, the temperature at kickoff of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius)[35] which is also the average temperature in Austin for the month of September.[36][37]

Texas scored first when Selvin Young ran the ball in for a touchdown. The extra point attempt by Richmond McGee was no good. The Cajuns were able to score three points on a field goal by Sean Comiskey making the score Texas 6, Louisiana Lafayette 3.[35]

From that point, Texas scored fifty-four unanswered points to win the game 60-3.[35] With the win, Texas improved its record in season opening games to 93-17-3 (72-2-2 when they open the year at home). That figure includes 11 straight wins and victories in 30 of their last 31 games at home. Their home record under Mack Brown improved to 39 wins and 3 losses.[38]

During the game, true freshman running back Jamaal Charles set the UT rushing record for a debut game with 135 yards and a rushing touchdown alongside one reception for 18 yards,[39] after taking over during the game for injured running back Selvin Young.[40] True freshman running back Henry Melton also saw his first action and scored his first touchdown at the college level.[40][35] True freshman Quan Cosby got his first college start, and three other true freshmen (Roy Miller, Aaron Lewis and Tarell Brown) saw action.[38]

Ohio State

Main article: 2005 Texas vs. Ohio State football game
After the game, spontaneous celebrations occurred along The Drag which runs adjacent to the UT campus.
1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 10 3 3 9 25
Buckeyes 0 16 6 0 22

According to USA Today, the match-up between the Longhorns and the OSU Buckeyes was one of the most-anticipated games of the 2005 season.[41] Teams have become increasingly conservative in scheduling non-conference opponents of a high caliber, so a meeting of the number 2 and number 4 teams in the country is unusual this early in the season.[42] Because of the significance of the game in the national championship race, ESPN College GameDay chose the game as the site of its weekly broadcast. The national championship trophy traveled to the game and was displayed on the field near where Bevo, the UT mascot, was being kept (photo below) The championship trophy does not usually travel to regular season games.

This meeting was only the first match-up between the two programs that rank among the oldest and best known teams in college football.[43][44][45] For Texas, it meant playing a second Big Ten Conference "powerhouse"[46][47] soon after winning the first matchup between Texas and the University of Michigan at the end of the 2004 season.[42]

The game was played at Ohio State University in Ohio Stadium, also known as "The Horseshoe"[48] or "the Shoe".[49] This stadium is notoriously tough for visiting teams, as its large capacity and structural design create a tremendous amount of crowd noise that can make it difficult for the visiting team to call audibles at the line of scrimmage.[50][49] The game's attendance was 105,565, which set the all-time attendance record for Ohio Stadium.[44] (This record would be broken in November 2006 by the Ohio State/Michigan game.) [51]

Texas' win at 25-22[52] [44] was the lowest scoring game Texas would experience all season, both in terms of points scored by Texas and in terms of total points. UT's victory against fourth-ranked OSU marked the highest ranked non-conference opponent the Longhorns had ever beaten at the opponent's home stadium.[53] The previous high came in 1983 when third-ranked Texas pulled off a 20-7 upset at fifth-ranked Auburn.[53] Texas became the first non-conference opponent to beat The Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium since 1990, putting an end to a 36-game home victory string over non-conference opponents.[53] The Longhorns also were the first team to beat the Buckeyes in a night game at The Horseshoe.[53] It was UT's 10th straight victory in a night game road contest.[53] ESPN and College Football Rivals each named the game one of the best football games of the season.[54][55]

Rice

1 2 3 4 Total
Owls 0 0 3 7 10
Longhorns 14 28 9 0 51

Texas and Rice met in 2005 for the 88th time.[56] Texas held a 65-21-1 lead in the series, which began in 1914.[56] The series is the fourth oldest (by number of games) in Texas history.[56] The two schools were once conference foes in the Southwest Conference[57][58] and have maintained a rivalry despite the fact that Texas enjoys a sizable lead in the series.[59] The rivalry was mentioned by President John F. Kennedy in a 1962 speech on America's space programme: "But why, some say, the moon? ... And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain. Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? ... We choose to go to the moon ... and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.".[60] In addition to renewing a traditional rivalry, playing Rice in a "home and away" series allows for Texas to play games in Houston, Texas, a city that is an important recruiting base for UT,[61] along with having a significant Texas Exes alumni population.[62]

Texas won the game 51-10. UT's Jamaal Charles ran for 189 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries in his first start for the Longhorns.[63][64] After the game, Charles said that his goal is to rush for 200 yards each game but that he was not disappointed to fall short of 200 yards rushing because he hit his goal of rushing for three touchdowns.[64]

Missouri

1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 14 10 13 14 51
Tigers 13 0 0 7 20

The match-up with Missouri was touted as showcasing two of the best dual-threat quarterbacks then playing in college football, pitting Missouri quarterback Brad Smith against Vince Young of Texas.[65][66] The two players ended up combining for 582 yards of total offense. Both Young and Smith led their respective team in rushing yards. Young had 108 rushing yards while Smith had 57. Young had 236 passing yards compared to Smith's 181.[67]

Texas won the game 51-20 to extend its series lead over Missouri to 15-5.[67]

Oklahoma

File:Mack Brown with the Golden Hat.jpg
Mack Brown hoists the Golden Hat trophy after the win over Oklahoma.
1 2 3 4 Total
Sooners 6 0 0 6 12
Longhorns 14 10 7 14 45
Main article: 2005 Oklahoma vs. Texas football game

The annual football game between Texas and the Oklahoma Sooners is considered to be one of the greatest rivalry games in all of college sports.[68] The 2005 matchup was the 100th in the series and it was officially called the Red River Rivalry,[69] but remains better known by its traditional name, the Red River Shootout.[70][71]

Since 1912 the game has been played at a "neutral site", the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas, Texas, amid the atmosphere of the Texas State Fair which is held adjacent to the Cotton Bowl.[72] This is unusual because most college football games alternate between the opponents home stadiums. Dallas is approximately half the distance between the two school campuses, and the stadium is divided down the 50 yard line, with half of the stadium clad in the "crimson and cream" colors of Oklahoma, and the other half wearing the burnt orange and white of Texas.[73][74]

The game typically has conference or even national significance. Since 1945, one or both of the two teams has been ranked among the top 25 teams in the nation coming into 60 out of 65 games. Prior to the 2005 game, Texas held an advantage in the all-time series 55-39-5, which included a 43-35-4 edge in Dallas, but Oklahoma had won 5 consecutive games, including the worst loss ever for a Texas team in the series.[75] Those five straight losses had helped build a reputation for Mack Brown that he was not capable of winning in so-called "Big Games".[49][41][76][26][77] Four times during those five years, Texas' loss to Oklahoma was what prevented them from playing in the Big 12 Conference Championship Game.[78]

Prior to the game, UT was favored by 14 points.[79] They ended up winning the game by 33 points,[80] tying the biggest margin of victory for the Longhorns (a 40-7 victory in 1941) in the 100 game history of the rivalry. The game also marked the 6th time the Longhorns have entered the contest ranked 2nd nationally, and they have won all six times.[74] With the win, Texas started their season 5-0 for the first time since 1983.[81] That also happened to be the last time UT had legitimate national title hopes, ending the regular season 11-0 before losing to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl game. For Mack Brown, beating Oklahoma for the first time in five years allowed him to "get the monkey off his back" and shed his reputation as a coach incapable of winning the most important games. After the game he hoisted the Golden Hat above his head while surrounded by his players (pictured).[26][82][79]

Colorado

1 2 3 4 Total
Buffaloes 0 10 0 7 17
Longhorns 14 21 0 7 42

Of all the teams on Texas's regular season schedule, Colorado had the best historical record against Texas up to the start of the season. The all-time record was tied at 7-7, and the record since the formation of the Big 12 conference was tied at 3-3.[81] Texas established a lead early in the game and never lost it; they led 35-10 at halftime and defeated the 2005 Colorado team by a final score of 42-17.[83]

On this day Vince Young had perhaps the best statistical performance of his career to date, completing 25 of 29 passing attempts for 336 yards and 2 passing touchdowns in addition to 58 yards rushing and 3 rushing TD's.[83] His 86.2% completion percentage set a new single-game record for UT quarterbacks, breaking his previous record of 85.7% set against Oklahoma State in 2004. After the game, Colorado Head Coach Gary Barnett said of Young's passing performance, "We can’t do that in practice against air.”[84]

Texas Tech

A fan gives the Hook 'em Horns sign during the 2005 football season, which marked the 50th anniversary of the hand sign.
1 2 3 4 Total
Red Raiders 7 3 7 0 17
Longhorns 10 21 14 7 52

The Texas Tech Red Raiders came into the game ranked number 10 in the nation, with high hopes of not only beating Texas but possibly even winning out the season and playing for a national championship themselves.

Texas won the game 52-17.[85] After the win over the previously undefeated Texas Tech team, Texas moved into first place in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings for the first time since their creation for the 1998 season. The BCS formula takes into account strength of schedule and this allowed Texas to advance in the rankings since they beat an unbeaten team while University of Southern California (who had held the No. 1 spot) beat Washington, a 1-6 team.

The week between the Texas Tech game and the Oklahoma State game was marked by celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Hook 'em Horns hand gesture (pictured), one of the most widely recognized hand signs in college sports.[86] The same week, Vince Young was quoted as saying he still planned to return for his senior season in 2006. Young, a candidate for the Heisman trophy, also apologized for striking the "Heisman pose" during the win over Texas Tech; this had been seen by some observers as an immodest indiscretion.[87]

Oklahoma State

1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 9 3 22 13 47
Cowboys 21 7 0 0 28

Texas's place at the top of the BCS rankings lasted only one week. On October 29 2006 Texas initially trailed but eventually beat an Oklahoma State University Cowboys team that had struggled through the season so far. Texas retained the top spot in the computer rankings, but not by enough to stay ahead of USC in the overall BCS standings.[88]

Despite Oklahoma State's 0-5 start to conference play, Texas found themselves trailing the entire first half, including a deficit of as much as seventeen points at one time in the game. It was the third straight year that Texas found themselves trailing Oklahoma State at halftime, and for the third straight year, Texas came from behind to win by a sizable margin (47-28). Vince Young set a school record for total yards in one game with 506 yards (239 passing, 267 rushing) while leading the team to victory.[89] Young is one of only seven players in NCAA history to have accumulated over 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing in a single game.[90] Over the past three meetings between the two schools (2003-2005), the Longhorns outscored the Cowboys by a combined second-half score of 118 to 0.[91]

TBS announced that the Longhorns’ come-from-behind victory scored a record viewership rating of 1.927 million viewers. This represented a 21 percent increase over the previous high for Southern California vs. Stanford in 2004.[92]

Baylor

1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 6 21 21 14 62
Bears 0 0 0 0 0

The game against Baylor was played in Waco, Texas, approximately 100 miles (161 km) up Interstate 35 from Austin.[93] Because home UT games are usually a sell-out, recent games against Baylor have found numerous Texas fans driving to Waco to see the game.[94] The Baylor athletic department actually suspended ticket sales at one point in an effort to limit how many Longhorn fans were purchasing tickets. The attendance for the UT game was 44,783[95] while the average attendance for Baylor's other home games for the season was 37,428.[96] The official capacity for Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium is 50,000.[97]

Texas won the game 62-0,[95] the only shutout of the 2005 season for the Longhorns.[91]

The Longhorns first played Baylor in 1901 and faced them annually during the days of the Southwest Conference. In the 95 meetings through 2005, Texas' record was 69 wins, 22 losses, and 4 ties.[98] This is Texas' third-longest rivalry by number of games: only Oklahoma and Texas A&M have faced Texas more often on the football field.[98]

Kansas

1 2 3 4 Total
Jayhawks 0 0 14 0 14
Longhorns 28 24 7 7 66

In order to win the 2004 game against Kansas, Texas had to convert a 4th-and-18 situation and complete a touchdown pass with only eleven seconds remaining on the clock.[99] The 2005 game would provide much less drama, as Texas led 52-0 by halftime and defeated Kansas 66-14.

The lopsided victory allowed Texas to play several less experienced players. For example, starting quarterback Vince Young was benched in the third quarter in favor of back-up quarterback Matt Nordgren. Nordgren was himself replaced by the third-string quarterback Matt McCoy just past the mid-point of the fourth quarter.[100] The television broadcasters mistakenly referred to Matt McCoy as Colt McCoy since Colt was listed third on the official UT depth chart. However, the Longhorns did not play Colt in the 2005 season, choosing to redshirt him instead.[101]

ABC's television coverage come in for criticism. The network elected to stick with the Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M game instead of switching to the Kansas vs. Texas game. ABC stayed with the OU/A&M game long after it was decided; they stayed through the very final down and then ran three full minutes of commercials while the Texas/Kansas game continued. By the time they switched over Texas was already leading 14-0. The ABC announcers even commented “And now, we’ll join the game you’ve been waiting for all week, which has pretty much already been decided.”[102] ABC then broke away from their coverage at half-time to broadcast other events. This left thousands of UT fans who had assembled to watch the game in Darrel K. Royal Texas - Memorial Stadium stranded without coverage of much of the game.[103] After viewing this game as part of a recruiting visit to UT, Jevan Snead - ranked by some analysts as the top high school quarterback in the nation, elected to switch his commitment from University of Florida to Texas.[104]

Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 14 7 13 6 40
Aggies 9 6 14 0 29
Main article: 2005 Texas vs. Texas A&M football game

This game marked the 112th meeting between Texas and the Texas Aggies and the game is part of a multi-sport rivalry called the Lone Star Showdown. It is the longest-running rivaly for both the Longhorns and the Aggies and it is also one of the ten most-played rivalries in college football.[105] Texas came into the 2005 contest with a 72-34-5 record.[106] During the week before the game, the Longhorns conducted their traditional Hex Rally.[107] As a result of a tragic accident in 1999, the Aggies could not host a school sponsored version of their traditional Bonfire[108] but an unofficial version called "Student Bonfire" was held.[109]

Like the contest against Missouri, the Texas A&M game was touted as showcasing two of the best dual-threat quarterbacks playing in college football.[110][111][112][113] However, Texas A&M's dual-threat quarterback Reggie McNeal missed the game due to an ankle injury; instead, freshman quarterback Stephen McGee made his first start.[114]

The contest was a back-and-forth affair which was ultimately won by Texas, 40-29.[115] The eleven point win was their second slimmest margin of victory of the regular season[116] and they lost points in all three major polls but still remained solidly in second place.[117]

The game was the poorest performance of the season by the Longhorns, both offensively and defensively. On offense, Vince Young had only 162 yards of offense, his lowest output of the season.[115] The Associated Press remarked on the poor perfomance and said that Young, considered one of the nations best quarterbacks and a Heisman trophy candidate coming into the game, was not even the best quarterback on the field that day.[118] The Daily Texan predicted that the game could hurt Young's chances for the Heisman, but they also quoted UT head coach Mack Brown as saying "Looking at the numbers from what Reggie Bush did last week and Vince did today, Reggie probably leads, but next week, Vince plays at noon, and Reggie at 3, so I think voters will wait and watch to see what happens."[119]

UT running backs Henry Melton and Ramonce Taylor also came in for criticism.[119][120] Taylor was criticised for running backwards and sideways in an effort to gain yards, instead of moving ahead and breaking tackles. The Daily Texan observed "Five of Taylor's 15 carries resulted in a loss or no gain for a total of minus-17 yards. However, the other 10 carries totaled 119 yards for an average of 11.9 yards per positive running play. The sophomore didn't have a positive gain of fewer than 5 yards and accumulated three runs of 20 yards or longer." Greg Davis, UT's offensive coordinator, said ""Ramonce is a darter. The only time that really concerned me was a third-and-two situation. We talked to him on the sideline about a little bit more down and distance awareness."[120] Melton was criticized for "tiptoeing indicisively" and letting himself get tackled near the line of scrimmage.[119]

On defense, the Longhorns held A&M to only 118 yards passing but gave up 277 yards rushing, which was the highest total given up by the Longhorns during the season. However, despite the poor outing, Texas won by a final score of 40-29 to finish the regular season undefeated.[115] Gene Chizik, UT's defensive coordinator, said "This really is an eye-opening experience. Obviously, we've got to get better. But I'll tell you what, we're all going to drive home 11-0."[121]

The game's attendance was 86,616,[115] which is 4,016 more than the official stadium attendance for Kyle Field.[122]

Big 12 Championship versus Colorado

A railing collapsed after the end of the Big 12 Championship Game, causing minor injuries to fans.
1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 14 28 28 0 70
Buffaloes 0 3 0 0 3

Despite losing the last two games of the regular season (to Iowa State and Nebraska), Colorado retained the best record in the North Division of the Big 12 Conference. Had the Kansas Jayhawks not defeated the Iowa State Cyclones, the latter would have represented the North in the Big 12 Conference championship game. Prior to the game, Colorado head coach Gary Barnett said, "I do not think anybody expects us to come in here and beat Texas." His team lost the game 70-3, the most lopsided score in any college football conference championship to date.[123]

Following the victory, the largely UT crowd stayed in the stands to celebrate the Longhorns' return to the Rose Bowl — this time for a shot at a National Championship. As players circled the stadium giving high-fives and handshakes to fans, a section of the railing collapsed, spilling fans onto the sidelines. At least one person suffered injuries and was removed from the field on a stretcher.[124]

The victory gave Texas its second Big 12 football championship[12] (27 conference championships total, including 25 in the Southwest Conference).[13] The week after the game, Barnett was fired as Colorado's head coach.[125] Barnett would later be replaced at Colorado by Dan Hawkins, formerly the head coach of Boise State.[126]

2006 Rose Bowl versus USC

Main article: 2006 Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Bound - a fan at the Big 12 Championship Game celebrates UT's upcoming appearance in the Rose Bowl with a home-made flag.
1 2 3 4 Total
Longhorns 0 16 7 18 41
Trojans 7 3 14 14 38

For the 2005 season, the Rose Bowl Game also served as the BCS National Championship Game as a result of the Bowl Championship Series agreement. In the weeks leading up to the 2006 Rose Bowl, the game had been referred to by numerous publications as one of the most-anticipated match-ups in college football history.[127] This was Texas's 2nd trip to the Rose Bowl in two years[128] (and second trip in the history of UT football).[116]

A few weeks before the game, USC's Reggie Bush won the Heisman trophy ahead of second place finisher Vince Young. Bush had the second highest number of first place votes in Heisman history (O.J. Simpson) and the highest percentage of first place votes,[129] while Young had a record number of second place votes. Bush's 933-point margin of victory was the 17th highest in the history of the Heisman voting. The third finalist was USC's Matt Leinart, who won the Heisman trophy in 2004.[130] This meant that the Rose Bowl would mark the first time two Heisman trophy winners had ever played in the same backfield.[131]

In the game, UT beat USC by the score of 41 to 38 and ended USC's 34-game win streak. The game's outcome was still in doubt until the final minute of play.[132]

Vince Young completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards and carried the ball 19 times for 200 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. He was named Rose Bowl "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) award for the second consecutive year, joining Ron Dayne, Bob Schloredt, and Charles White as the only two-time winners. Young is the only player from outside the Big Ten or Pac 10 to be a two-time Rose Bowl MVP. Young's 467 total yards set a new Rose Bowl record as well as a BCS Championship Game record. He also ran in the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left on the game clock, and followed up by running the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion. David Thomas set a UT record for most receptions in a game by a tight end with 10 receptions.

Vince Young is about to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Prior to the game, some commentators had postulated that the 2005 USC team was one of the best college football teams of all time, if not the best. ESPN analysts were virtually unanimous in their declaration of the 2005 USC Trojans as the best offense in the history of college football, despite the fact that they did not lead the nation in points scored (Texas did).[133] ESPN analysts Mark May and Kirk Herbstreit declared, before the 2005 Rose Bowl had even been played, that the 2005 USC Trojans were the 2nd best college football team of the past 50 years (May placed them behind only 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers; Herbstreit behind only 2001 Miami Hurricanes). This led to Texas fans at the Rose Bowl mockingly chanting "Best...Team...Ever" during the post-game celebration.[133]

The victory gave UT its fourth consensus national championship in football.[14] Since the game, the media, coaches, and other commentators have heaped praise upon the Texas team, Vince Young, and the Rose Bowl performance. Both the Rose Bowl win as well as the Longhorns' over-all season have both been cited as standing among the greatest performances in college football history by publications such as College Football News,[4][5][6] the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,[7] Scout.com,[8] and Sports Illustrated.[9] The Longhorns and the Trojans were together awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN for the "Best Game" in any sport.[134]

List of accomplishments

File:BCS national championship trophy and Bevo.JPG
UT's Bevo with the BCS Division I-A National Championship trophy, shown in an ESPN College GameDay broadcast about the teams in competition for the championship. The program was aired leading up to the Ohio State vs. Texas game.
  • Texas's victory in the Big 12 Championship Game featured the biggest margin of victory in the history of any college football conference championship game.[123]
  • UT completed the ninth perfect season in the history of Longhorn football,[15] and the first undefeated season since 1969.
  • This season marked the first football championship by any university in Texas since the 1970 UT championship season.[135]
  • Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history.[136] The Longhorns ended the season ranked third in the all-time list of both total wins and winning percentage (.7143).[136]
  • Texas defeated a #1 ranked team for the first time since defeating Alabama in the Orange Bowl on January 1 1965.[137]
  • Texas broke USC's winning streak (then the longest in the nation) at 34 and claimed the longest running winning streak for themselves at 20 wins in a row.[138][139] Texas's 20 game winning streak was the second-longest winning streak in school history (Texas had 30 wins in a row from 1968-70).[140] Texas extended the winning streak to 21 before a September 9 2006 loss to Ohio State University.
  • The Longhorns finished the season as the only unbeaten team in the nation, going 13-0 (13 wins and 0 losses) overall.[12] Texas won 13 games in a season for the first time in school history.[141] Only two teams have ever won more games (14) in a single season (Brigham Young - 1996 and Ohio State University - 2002). Fourteen other teams have scored 13 wins in a season.[90]
  • Texas' win over USC was the ninth consecutive victory when facing a ranked opponent.[141]
  • Texas's 652 points are an NCAA record for points scored in a season.[141] The previous was record 624 points scored by Nebraska in 1983.[141][142]
  • Texas had four players rush for at least 10 touchdowns (V. Young 12, Charles 11, Taylor 12, Melton 10).[141]
  • The 2005 Texas team set two new school records for total yardage. The first was a new single-season total yards record with 6,657, passing the 2003 team (5,709). Of the 6,657 yards, 556 yards were earned in the Rose Bowl.[141][142] The second record was most total yards per game at 512.1. In total yards per play, the season stands second on the UT record list with 7.07. The record for most yards per play is held by the 1993 team with 7.44.[142]
  • With the conclusion of the 2005 season, UT has posted five consecutive 10-win seasons and eight consecutive nine-win campaigns for the first time in school history (though it must be noted that seasons are generally longer than they had been in the past).[141]
  • Vince Young stands as the first player in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,050) and throw for 3,000 yards (3,036) in a single season. He is also the first to pass for 2,500 yards and rush for 1,000.[141][90]
  • Vince Young reached a win/loss record as a starter of 30-2, ranking him #1 of all UT quarterbacks by number of wins. His .938 winning percentage as a starting quarterback ranks sixth best in Division I history.[141]
  • Vince’s career passing completion percentage is the best in UT history, 60.8%.[141]
  • During his career at Texas (2003-05), Young passed for 6,040 yards (No. 5 in UT history) and 44 TDs (No. 4 in UT history) while rushing for 3,127 yards (No. 1 on UT’s all-time QB rushing list/No. 7 on UT’s all-time list) and 37 TDs (No. 5 on UT’s all-time rushing TDs list/Tied for No. 1 among QBs).[141]
  • In the 2006 NCAA national championship game, Vince Young completed 30 of 40 passes for 267 yards and carried the ball 19 times for 200 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Young's 467 total yards set a new Rose Bowl and BCS Championship Game record.[141]
  • With 5 rushing TDs scored in the Rose Bowl, Texas scored 55 for the season, setting a new single-season school record (52; 1969 and 1970).[141][142]
  • Four players (Michael Huff, Jonathan Scott, Rodrique Wright, and Vince Young) were named to first team of the 2005 Associated Press All-American Team; Justin Blalock and Aaron Harris were named to the third team.[143]
  • Vince Young won the Davey O'Brien Award, which is presented annually to the quarterback adjudged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Collegiate Athletic Association quarterbacks.[144] Young also won the Maxwell Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top college football player as adjudged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club.[145] Furthermore, he won the Manning Award which is the only quarterback award which takes into account the athlete's performance in the bowl season, as opposed to being awarded at the end of regular season play.[146]
  • Michael Huff won the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the top defensive back in college football as adjudged by the Jim Thorpe Association.[147]
  • On January 25 2006, the United States Senate bestowed another honor on the team when Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) presented Senate Resolution 352 commending the team for winning their fourth national championship.[148]

Rankings

File:Sports Illustrated cover 2006-01-09 Texas Longhorns Vince Young.jpg
Sports Illustrated January 9 2006 cover showing Vince Young scoring a touchdown against the USC Trojans in the National Championship.

Texas was given a pre-season #2 ranking (behind defending National Champions University of Southern California) in the Associated Press Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll pre-season listings.[149] The two teams maintained those rankings throughout the entire 2005 - 2006 regular season. Texas also was ranked second in each week of the BCS rankings, except for one week where Texas took the top spot with USC number falling to number 2. The BCS rankings during 2005 were based on a formula which factored in the votes of two human polls (the USA Today coach's poll and the Harris Interactive poll), combined with a variety of computer rankings. The computer rankings favored Texas as the number 1 team throughout the entire season, due partly to Texas's wins over ranked programs such as Ohio State University and Texas Tech University.

On October 24 2006, Texas passed USC in the Bowl Championship Series rankings due to a strong showing in the computer rankings, which favored the Longhorns because of the overall strength of their opponents as well as the October 22 2006 win over previously unbeaten Texas Tech. The first place ranking was the first for UT in the BCS era, and the first top ranking in any major football poll since October 8 1984, when they were atop both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.[150] The 0.0007% margin separating Texas from USC was the slimmest margin between the top two teams since the inception of BCS rankings.[151]

The stay at the top was short-lived. With the October 31, 2005, BCS rankings, Texas remained first in the computer rankings, with Virginia Tech actually pulling even with USC for number 2 in the computer rankings. However, USC remained atop both human polls and was able to reclaim the top overall ranking. Texas and USC ended up winning out their seasons and faced each other in the National Championship, which Texas won 41-38. This was only the 35th meeting of the 2 top-ranked teams in the history of college football, including both regular season and bowl games.[152]

The 2005 season marks only the 8th time in 50 years that exactly 2 teams have gone into the bowl season undefeated. This has been a major criticism of the BCS format, which does not use a playoff to determine the national championship. Therefore, unless there are exactly two unbeaten teams, a judgment call is needed to determine which two teams will be selected to play in the championship. If more than two undefeated teams remain, then one or more of those teams must be left out. If two or fewer undefeated teams remain, then an opponent must be chosen from among the one-loss teams, meaning that many other one-loss teams will be left out.

In the five National Championship games since 2000, the team ranked #1 prior to the game has won 3 times, while the #2 team (including Texas in 2005) has won twice. In the eight years since the inception of the BCS, no school has won the BCS championship twice.[153]

In the final polls after the bowl games, Texas received all 62 first place votes in the Coaches Poll[154] and all 65 first place votes in the AP Poll.[155]

See also: 2005 NCAA Division I-A football rankings and Mythical National Championship

After the season

George W. Bush and Mack Brown give the Hook 'em Horns at the White House with the 2005 Texas Longhorn football team
File:D campballs cover 011106 30.jpg
Dave Campbell's Texas Football with the cover "One For The Ages" shows Vince Young kissing the National Championship trophy.

The 2005 Longhorns were judged by College Football News to have had the greatest college football season ever.[6] Their victory in the 2006 Rose Bowl against the University of Southern California Trojans for the national championship is considered by sports-writers at College Football News to be the best college football game ever played.[4][156] Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said "if there ever has been a greater game, I never saw it, and I’ve been watching college football games since 1934."[7] Scout.com called it "one of the best national title games ever".[8] ESPN declared the 2006 Rose Bowl Game an "instant classic" and re-aired it within a week of the original broadcast.[157] The two teams were later awarded the 2006 ESPY Award by ESPN for the "Best Game" in any sport.[158] Vince Young and Matt Leinart accepted the award on behalf of their teams.[159][160]

Head Coach Mack Brown received a congratulatory call from United States President George W. Bush. "Congratulations on a wonderful moment," he said, according to press secretary Scott McClellan. "Tell the team congratulations, we're proud of them." The president, known for going to bed early, apparently fell asleep during the game but woke up in time for the conclusion.[161] McClellan said Bush wished Brown and the Longhorns all the best, and said that he looked forward to having them visit the White House soon.[161] Bush is a former governor of the state of Texas. His daughter Jenna is a UT graduate.[162] On Valentines Day, 2006, Bush did host the team and coaches at the White House.[163]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lost a bet with Texas Gov. Rick Perry on the outcome and had to send Perry a basket of "California wines, fruit and other goodies." The food was donated to National Guard troops in Texas. Both governors also offered autographed, handmade cowboy boots that will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to charity. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, lost a bet with Austin Mayor Will Wynn and had to send a basket of produce, such as avocados, from a local farmers' market. Wynn had bet Texas's finest barbecue.[164]

Seconds after Texas beat Southern California 41-38, the university lit the UT tower orange, the traditional signal of victory on the campus. Since this was a national championship, office lights were also left selectively lit in order to form a number "1" on all four sides of the tower (pictured).Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Dave Campbell's Texas Football put out a 45,000 copy special issue (pictured) titled One for the Ages - Vince Young Leads Longhorns to the Fourth National Title. This issue features an exclusive column from Longhorn fan Mathew McConaughey as well as 15 pages of photos from the Rose Bowl. The cover features Vince Young kissing the "crystal football" national championship trophy (pictured).[165]

Sports Illustrated held up their regular weekly edition to await the results of the Rose Bowl. They finally went to press with a cover showing Young diving into the end zone with the label "Superman" (pictured). Analysis inside the issue gives Vince Young a large part of the credit for the win.[166] They also printed a special commemorative issue (also pictured) in the state of Texas with Vince Young on the cover, shouting in triumph amidst a storm of multi-colored confetti after winning the game. Features in the special edition included a story on Vince Young's Glory Days by author Tim Layden, as well as a story dissecting How the Rose Bowl was won by Austin Murphy. The issue was on sale alongside the regular edition of the magazine.

General Mills produced a commemorative issue Wheaties box featuring Mack Brown and a Texas Longhorns football helmet on the front. The commemorative packaging was sold nationwide. Texas is the first national college football champion to be featured since Nebraska was on the box in 1997.[167]

"Vince Young Day" was proclaimed by mayor Bill White in Houston, Texas on January 10 2006, to honor the Houston native. White said that Young is "an inspiration to all Houstonians, both young and old."[168] On January 15 2006, 51,244 Texas fans gathered in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium to celebrate the team and their victorious season.[169]

Mack Brown was named the Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coach of the Year, as voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Brown became the first winner of the award from UT since Darrell Royal in 1963.[170]

The championship season lifted the reputation of Mack Brown, but also of his offensive coordinator, Greg Davis. Davis has been consistently criticized for over-conservative play-calling. After the championship win the criticism quieted down but did not go away completely. As of 2007 it is still debated whether the talented UT players (Vince Young especially) succeeded despite Davis or because of him.[171][172]

Despite previous statements that he would return for his senior season, Vince Young announced that he would forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility and made himself eligible for the 2006 National Football League draft.[173] He was chosen by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall draft pick.[16] Besides Young, five other Longhorns from this championship team were selected in the 2006 NFL Draft - Michael Huff (number 7 overall), Cedric Griffin (number 48 overall), David Thomas (number 86 overall), Jonathan Scott (number 141 overall) and Rodrique Wright (number 222 overall).[16] As a result, fullback Ahmard Hall was re-united with his former team-mate Vince Young in the NFL, playing for Tennessee.[174]

The University of Texas commissioned a painting titled The University of Texas National Championship 2005 by Opie Otterstad to commemorate the win in the Rose Bowl and the National Championship.[175]

File:Texas Longhorns football - 2005 National Champions.png
The Texas Football website trumpets the win with this addition to the top of the website.

The official website of UT football posted a special logo (pictured) proclaiming the Longhorns as the national champions.[176] The logo featured the script "National Champions" centered prominently in the center, with "MACKBROWN-TEXASFOOTBALL.COM" in the lower left and "THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LONGHORNS" in the lower right. In the background is an image of a rose, with a small Longhorn symbol appearing in front of the rose and between the two sections of the smaller print. In the upper right-hand side, the years "1963, 1969, 1970, 2005" appear, with the "2005" given special emphasis. These years correspond to the four consensus national championships won by the UT football team. The special logo was removed from the website's home page after a few months, but is still found on certain portions of the site related to the 2005 season.[177]

For the fiscal year which ended in August 2005 just as the 2005 football season was starting, Texas was the nation's richest and most profitable football program, with revenue of $53.2 million, and a profit of $38.7 million.[20] Following the national championship, for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, Texas also led the nation in royalties from merchandise sales, setting a new national record at $8.2 million. Money from these royalties goes to the University as a whole, not specifically to the athletics programs.[178]

Yince Young's departure set up a competition between Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead to determine who would become the starting quarterback for the 2006 Texas Longhorn football team. McCoy won the starting job[179] and during the 2006 season he completed 29 touchdown passes, setting the UT record for most touchdowns in a single season,[180] en route to a 10-3 season in 2006. McCoy also tied the national record for touchdown passes by a freshman.[180][116]

Template:BCSChamps

Notes and references

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Further reading

  • Longhorns' Perfect Drive: Texas' 2005 National Championship Season Sports Publishing (January 15 2006) ISBN 1-596701-16-1
  • Sports Illustrated CFB Texas # Time Inc. Magazine Company (January 9 2006) ISBN 1-580607-62-4
  • Sports Illustrated College Football Championship Commemorative Issue 2006 The Time Inc. Magazine Company (January 6 2006) ISBN 1-580607-58-6
  • Texas Pride: Longhorn Glory Shines Through an Unforgettable Championship Season Triumph Books (January 31 2006) ISBN 1-572438-76-2

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