10 days until Texas Football: Vince Young's ten most amazing stat lines from his dominant career

Inside Texas is putting a new twist on long-time photographer Will Gallagher’s time-honored countdown to Texas football kickoff. In addition to Will’s great pictures, the Inside Texas staff will go through every player on the roster by jersey number and offer a season outlook on each, from five-star to walk-on. 

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We’ll also look back at other greats to wear that day’s number, with special reverence to some of Texas’ best. 

Today is 10 days until kickoff. No. 10 is retired by the Longhorns in honor of Vince Young, one of the best college football players ever who possessed a 30-2 record at Texas as a starter.

We’ll look at 10 notable stat lines from Young’s All-American career.

At Texas Tech – 10/23/04

Passing: 10-of-15, 142 yards, 1 TD
Rushing: 25 carries, 158 yards, 4 TDs

Final score: 51-21, Texas

Young had scores of 2 yards, 2 yards, 1 yard, and 11 yards plus a pass of 9 yards to David Thomas for five total touchdowns. Texas rushed a whopping 71 times for 351 yards, with Cedric Benson accounting for 168 yards and a score on 38 carries.

Oklahoma State – 11/06/04

Passing: 18-of-21, 278 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Rushing: 12 carries, 123 yards, 1 TD

Final score: 56-35, Texas

The first of two epic comebacks mounted versus the Cowboys, Young and Benson overcame a 35-7 deficit in 31:21 minutes of game time. Benson scored five touchdowns, four of them set up by healthy drives in the second half, as Texas scored 49 unanswered to defeat OSU in Austin. Young’s yards per attempt? An absurd 13.2 at an 85 percent completion percentage. Only one of his 21 pass attempts touched the ground.

At Kansas – 11/13/04

Passing: 22-of-40, 289 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Rushing: 19 carries, 114 yards, 1 TD

Final score: 27-23, Texas

A pretty game this one wasn’t, and the stat line lacks compared to others on this list. However, it was a miracle late conversion on 4th and 18 that puts this one on the list.

Down to the Jayhawks in Lawrence and trailing by three with two minutes left, Texas had to go for it in an attempt to stave off the upset. KU rushed three and dropped eight, but it didn’t matter. Young reached the line to gain and eventually found Tony Jeffrey for the game-winning score.

Michigan – 1/1/05

Passing: 16-of-28, 180 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: 21 carries, 192 yards, 4 TDs

Final score: 38-37, Texas

The first UT Rose Bowl win featured Young running all over the Michigan defense, including a 60-yard jaunt in the third quarter to give Texas a lead. Chad Henne gave the Wolverines all he could, but it was all for not as Young put Dusty Mangum in position to win the game with his 37-yard kick. This four-touchdown performance could have been enough by itself to put Young into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. There would be another chance in Pasadena for No. 10 one year later, however.

At Ohio State – 9/10/05

Passing: 18-of-29, 270 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing: 20 carries, 76 yards

Final score: 25-22, Texas

Young had games with fewer mistakes, but it’s who these stats came against and when it happened that make them special. Night games are always great celebrations and noteworthy occasions for teams. For Ohio State? They are saved for the biggest of games that don’t involve Michigan.

Texas traveled to Columbus for the first ever meeting between the two schools, a matchup between the No. 2 Longhorns and the No. 4 Buckeyes. Young delivered when it mattered most, throwing a touchdown pass to Limas Sweed to put the Longhorns ahead late and leave The Horseshoe with a victory.

Colorado – 10/15/05

Passing: 25-for-29, 336 yards, 2 TDs
Rushing: 10 carries, 58 yards, 3 TDs

Final score: 42-17, Texas

A dominant performance over a ranked Colorado team Texas would meet later in the season. Young completed 86.2 percent of his passes for a career-best 336 yards as the Longhorns knocked off the Buffaloes with ease a week after defeating Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

At Oklahoma State – 10/29/05

Passing: 15-of-30, 239 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing: 21 carries, 267 yards, 2 TD

Final score: 47-28, Texas

The other epic comeback staged versus OSU. Down 28-12 at the half, Young ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as part of a 35-point half. The most famous regular season run of his career took place in this game, as Young offered a legendary pump-fake that got the Cowboy defender off his feet and saw VY scamper 80 yards for a score that sparked the comeback.

Kansas – 11/12/05

Passing: 19-for-27, 281 yards, 4 TDs
Rushing: 6 carries, -4 yards

Final score: 66-14, Texas

There would be no need for fourth-down heroics as Young passed for a career-best four touchdowns in an easy win over the Jayhawks.

Colorado – 12/03/05

Passing: 14-of-17, 193 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
Rushing: 8 carries, 57 yards, 1 TD

Final score: 70-3, Texas

Another insanely efficient game through the air for Young, with an incredible passing efficiency rating of 224.2. Young completed 82.4 percent of his passes, the third-best mark of his career.. This one was special as it was just Texas’ second Big 12 title, but it set up the all-time matchup with the USC Trojans in the national championship game.

USC – 1/4/06

Passing: 30-for-40, 267 yards
Rushing: 19 carries, 200 yards, 3 TDs

Final score: 41-38, Texas

The epic performance of all epic performances. Young tore up the Trojan defense on the ground and through the air, constantly having an answer for Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. After the fourth-down stop of Lendale White, Texas staged a drive that set up arguably the most famous play in Texas, and potentially college football, history.

On 4th and 5, Young scanned the field before scrambling right past several diving Trojan defenders. He reached the pylon eight yards later, putting Texas ahead for good and earning the program’s fourth national title.

All-Americans to wear No. 10

James Saxton, RB, 1961

Marti Akins, QB, 1975

D.D. Lewis, LB, 2001

Vince Young, QB, 2005