Vince Young recalls memories of 2006 national championship victory over USC

There are few names in college football history who cemented their legacies in the sport quite like former Texas Longhorns legend Vince Young did. The fleet-footed quarterback made the game into an artform. He danced around defenders with ease during his time in Austin and once he hung up his cleats there, Young etched his name among the greatest in the sports’ history. His most legendary performance came against the USC Trojans in the 2006 Rose Bowl, when he propelled the Longhorns to the national championship in what is still considered as one of the greatest games ever played. Young recently jumped on ESPN to talk with former Trojan great Keyshawn Johnson about what he remembers the most about that 2006 Rose Bowl.

“What I remember most about that game was just the atmosphere. The Rose Bowl being the great place that it is. The grandaddy of ’em all. And going against a really good football team–USC. And it was going back and forth. It was a tight game and somebody had to take it home. So I know Keyshawn don’t like that a little bit, but I’m gonna rub it in on you just a little bit [Laughs],” Young said.

There’s no question that Vince Young cemented his legacy in college football history and in the hearts of Texas football fans everywhere with his legendary performance in the 2006 Rose Bowl. The USC Trojans had their 34 consecutive game winning streak snapped. It was one of the longest winning streaks in college football history at the time.

Young delivered a performance for the ages–completing 30 of his 40 pass attempts for a total of 467 total yards, 200 of which came on the ground. He also tacked on three rushing touchdowns. The 467 total yards were a Rose Bowl record.

It was only fitting that he won the game for the Longhorns, on fourth-and-five with 26 seconds remaining. With Texas trailing USC 38-33, Young dropped back at the 16-yard line, felt pressure, and dashed his way to the corner of the end zone after eluding a few USC defenders. The game-winning touchdown with 19 seconds remaining would put Texas up 39-38 over USC and enshrine Young in college football immortality.

He later punched in the two-point conversion to push the Texas score to 41-38, which would end up being the final result in one of the most classic games in college football and Rose Bowl history.