NCAA Football 2005 Season (1 Viewer)

[Jan H]

 

[Matt Stone]

Yah, that one had me yelling at the TV.

 

[Matt Stone]

Yah, I don't know if I'd call it the greatest performance in the history of the game...but it was a hell of a show. Considering how significant of a game it was definitely elevates it. My favorite performance this year is still Reggie Bush in the Fresno St. game.

 

[Evan Case]

Retroactive Heisman?

Kidding, of course... sort of--Young's performance given the stage was at least the equal of Bush's 500+ yard day.

Not a big fan of either team, so this ended up as well as I could've hoped--a legendary game and some variety at the top of the polls.

Also, some belated congrats to JoePa and the Nittany Lions. I never jumped on the Fire Paterno bandwagon (even though the games became tough to watch sometimes) and I'm so pleased with how the season turned out.

The OT and the missed opportunities leading to it had me dropping more F-bombs than The Big Lebowski.

Evan

 

[Kevin Alexander]

4th down and 5 w/ everything on the line and everyone in the stadium knew that Vince Young was keeping the ball. That was as clutch as clutch gets.

 

[Matt Stone]

I will say one thing, Texas completely answered any questions I had about their talent and skill. Regardless of their softball schedule, they're definitely one of the best. I don't know if their defense was as good as I had heard, but considering they were going up against the best offense in the game I guess I can cut them some slack. Definitely a great game. If VY comes back for next year, he'll be a lock for Heisman (barring an injury).

Hell of an ending to the season. I still don't agree with the current BCS system, but they did provide a collection of great matchups.

 

[mattCR]

See, I never buy the "blame the refs" argument. Even if you 100% buy your argument (and I don't, which I'll explain later) then USC still was up by 12 with 7 minutes to go.. and lost. USC had the chance to "put the game away" and they didn't. In the end, they should not be blaming refs, but themselves.

As to the "9 freebie points"; first, I will agree that the call on the pitch was bad. So, 6 points.. kinda. But, and this is a big but, that would be assuming that if you stop VY at the 4, and on 1st and goal from the 4th, USC stands up texas or gets the ball back; I can't buy that. USC didn't stop Texas inside the redzone once. Hard to buy the exception to the rule.

Texas could just as easily argue their INT that was not called ripped them off of points, as it took the ball from them directly and gave it to USC, who put up a FG.

What all of the second guessing always comes down to is this: we would never know how changing those plays would change the rest of the game, and it's impossible to believe that changing them would have no other impact on the game.

*shrug* who knows. This is what I do know: USC had a 2nd down and 7 with 2:02 on the clock, and they couldn't get a first down that would end the game. They then tried on a 4th down play and got stuffed. That series cost them the game, not the refs.

I also know this: in HEAD to HEAD:

Big 12 2
PAC-10 0



Vince Young is what Michael Vick WISHES he was.

30/40 passing
200 yards rushing.

He's a hard rushing, scrambling QB with a GREAT arm and vision to read the field.

 

[Robert_Z]

USC had 12 players on defense; it was a good time out to avoid a penalty. Too bad for USC they had already spent their two other time outs.

 

[Craig S]

What a great game, and a hell of a performance by Vince Young. With time running out, down 12 points, and the Texas defense being badly outplayed by the brilliant USC offense, he put his team on his shoulders and almost single-handedly carried them to the championship. After the first touchdown, it's almost as if he turned to the defense and said, "Guys, I know this is the best offense you'll ever face in your life. All we've needed is for you to make one stop this half. Go out there and make that stop now, and I'll take care of the rest." And they did, and he did.

Tonight Vince Young showed the same joy in competition and will to win that we saw in Michael Jordan. This guy could seriously be one of the all-time greats.

Should he come out? Well, a few days ago I would have argued no. He's said all along he wants to stay for his final year. He's having fun, and that Heisman awaits. But a couple of things have changed in the past week:

1) He's won his national championship, and he did it by outplaying the current and previous Heisman winners at the same time (and they both had pretty good games). He's leaped over both Bush & Leinert and is the clear #1 pick if he comes out.

2) Young is a Houston native. His hometown NFL team locked up the #1 pick in the draft this past weekend.

Yeah, I know the Texans have a QB. David Carr is liked and respected here. But if you have a chance to get a player like Young, you do it. If I'm Charlie Casserly, I'm on the phone tomorrow morning sending out feelers around the league to see what I might be able to get for Carr if Young comes out.

Vince, you've got nothing left to prove in college. Come play NFL ball in front of your hometown fans.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Congrats to Texas for winning the National Title. It was a fun game although I missed most of it due to work.

 

[Matt Stone]

I would have definitely taken the penalty over losing a necessary time-out.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Let the excuses begin!!!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Just a great performance by Vince Young. The guy has owned the Rose Bowl the last two seasons. Congratulations to Mack Brown and the Longhorns. And a tip of the hat to Pete Carroll who was very gracious with his post game comments.

Guess George is going to be crying the blues.

- Walter.

 

[Patrick_S]

Bush is clearly the more valuable NFL asset of the two but who knows Houston might be dumb enough to pass him over for Young in a clear PR move.

That said Young’s performance was definitely one of the greatest college performances that I have ever watched.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Let's not get carried away now, but Houston does own the first pick so you never know.....

Anyhow, Congrats to Texas for the win. I was wrong because I thought USC would beat them by double digits, but it was a great game anyway. I have been underestimating Vince Young's game so maybe, he can be a good if not great NFL quarterback. I'm sure we'll find out in due time. He definitely needs to come out because he can't top this performance.




Crawdaddy

 

[Brandon_T]

That will teach me for going to bed with about 5 minutes to go in the game. USC just scored again to take a two TD game with under 5 to go so I figure screw it, its been a reall long day and I need the sleep. Stupid me.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

So we've gone from USC being overhyped to Vince Young being overhyped in 4 hours? Young played a great game and has been a great college player, but let's not get carried away.

Since ESPN had already proclaimed the 2005 Trojans the 2nd greatest college team of all time, does that make Texas the greatest of all time?

Vince Young may have helped his draft position some, but I still do not think that he moves ahead of Bush or Leinhart as a pro prospect. (1) His mobility will help in the NFL, but NFL defenses will be better equiped to deal with his mobility. (2) He has a strong arm, but his passing mechanics need work (although he's already a better passer than Michael Vick, IMO -- but that's not saying much). (3) He's played exclusively out of the shotgun in college.

Anyway, not being a fan of either team, I was glad to see the underdog Longhorns win and hopefully put to rest the media overhype that's been surrounding USC this season.

He's still a great prospect, but will need some development time.

 

[Jan H]

Name a better stat line, a more clutch performance, in a national championship game than Young's! It can't be done. 267 yards on 30 of 40 passes, 200 yards rushing, game-winning touchdown with seconds left. I'm not sure it's possible to play a greater game with so much on the line. I'm not saying he's the greatest athlete in the history of the cosmos, but for one game, that was as good a performance as you'll see anywhere.

 

[Haggai]

Question about a decision that didn't end up mattering, but struck me as a bad one: when USC scored a TD to go up 7 near the beginning of the 4th quarter, they kicked the extra point, but why didn't they go for 2? Seems to me that going for 2 is the right call there, since a 7 or 8 point lead is one possession to tie the game either way, but 9 points is two possessions. It's true that there was still a lot of time left, but I would have gone for two.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Going for two in that situation would be considered poor strategy. Since the success rate for a 2 point conversion is much lower than for a 1 point kick, you want to force your opponent to have to go for 2 to tie instead of just kicking the extra point if you fail on your two point attempt. Yes, if you are successful you are up by two scores. However, the percentages are not in your favor.

I've never seen a team go for 2 when up by 7. The coach would probably get lambasted if he tried it and failed.