The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the only two unbeaten teams of the season: the defending Rose Bowl champion and reigning Big 12 Conference champion Texas Longhorns played Pacific-10 Conference titleholders and two-time defending AP national champions, the USC Trojans. Texas would defeat USC (whose loss was later officially vacated) 41–38 to capture its fourth football championship in program history and first consensus national title since 1969. The game was a back-and-forth contest; Texas's victory was not secured until the game's final nineteen seconds. Vince Young, the Texas quarterback, and Michael Huff, a Texas safety, were named the offensive and defensive Rose Bowl Players of the Game.2008 Rose Bowl Program , 2008 Rose Bowl. Retrieved January 26, 2008. ESPN named Young's fourth-down, game-winning touchdown run the fifth-highest rated play in college football history. The game is the highest-rated BCS game in television history with 21.7% of households watching it, and is often considered the greatest Rose Bowl game of all time, as well as the greatest college football game ever played.
Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history and the Longhorns ended the season ranked third in Division I history in both wins and winning percentage (.7143). It was only the third time that the two top-ranked teams had faced each other in Rose Bowl history, with the 1963 Rose Bowl and 1969 Rose Bowl games being the others; these games also featured USC.
This was the final game ever called by longtime broadcaster Keith Jackson (as well as the final Rose Bowl to telecast under ABC Sports branding); the 2007 Rose Bowl would be an ESPN on ABC presentation. It was also the final time until the BCS National Championship Game for the 2009 Season that it was broadcast as an ESPN on ABC presentation. In addition, this was the last National Championship Game in the BCS era to be a nominal BCS bowl game (the National Championship and the four BCS bowls became separate events beginning with the 2006 season) as well as the last National Championship Game without a participant from the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in consecutive years until the 2024 season.
This was the first college football game to feature two Heisman Trophy winners in the same starting lineup. USC's quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush won the award in 2004 and 2005.
In 2010, USC was forced to vacate every game from the 2005 season due to violations involving the eligibility of Reggie Bush. While the NCAA normally only vacates victories, USC claims its Rose Bowl loss was later vacated from official NCAA records, along with its 12 wins from before the game, leaving an official 2005 regular season record of 0–0.
Pre-game buildup
USC entered the game on a 34-game winning streak. It was the longest active streak in Division I-A. (Many of those wins have since been vacated following NCAA sanctions surrounding allegedly illegal benefits given to USC's Reggie Bush.) Texas brought the second-longest active streak, having won nineteen straight games and entered as the defending Rose Bowl champion, after defeating Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl. The teams' combined 53-game win streak was an NCAA record for teams playing each other. The game was also the first to pit against each other the teams ranked first and second in every iteration of the BCS standings. This was Texas's second trip to the Rose Bowl in two years (and second trip in the history of UT football).
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 (behind O. J. Simpson) and the highest percentage of first-place votes, while Young had a record number of second-place votes. Bush's 933-point margin of victory was the 17th highest in Heisman voting history. The other finalist was USC's Matt Leinart, who had won the Heisman trophy in 2004. This meant that the Rose Bowl would mark the first time that two Heisman-trophy winners had ever played in the same backfield.
The 2006 Rose Bowl was, in the eyes of many, the most-anticipated matchup in college football history. Both teams were considered good enough to win the National Championship had they existed in different years instead of having to play each other. USC had been ranked No. 1 since the preseason and Texas had held the No. 2 spot that entire time. Before the game, some commentators postulated that the 2005 USC team was one of the greatest college football teams of all time. ESPN analysts were virtually unanimous in declaring the 2005 USC Trojans as having the best offense in college football history (though it did not lead the nation in points scored; Texas did). Mark May and Kirk Herbstreit declared that the 2005 USC Trojans were the second-best college football team of the past 50 years (May placed them behind only the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers; Herbstreit behind only the 2001 Miami Hurricanes). This led Texas fans to mockingly chant "Best...Team...Ever" during the post-game celebration. Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated later observed, "ESPN spent the better part of Christmas season comparing that Trojans squad to some of the most acclaimed teams of all time only to find out that they weren’t even the best team that season." Lee Corso was one of the few ESPN analysts to predict a Texas win.
Game summary
First quarter USC received the opening kickoff and managed just three yards against a Texas defense that was stout early in the game. Aaron Ross fumbled the ball on the ensuing punt return, committing the first of four Texas fumbles on the day (though it would only lose one), and the Trojans recovered. A 23-yard Leinart pass to senior fullback David Kirtman, who was hit hard by Cedric Griffin and forced to leave the game briefly (Kirtman finished the game with three catches for 61 yards on the day), set up a four-yard touchdown run by running back LenDale White, a bruiser who out-rushed his speedy counterpart, Bush, on the day, gaining 124 yards on 20 carries. Kicker Mario Danelo's extra point gave USC a seven-point lead. The teams twice exchanged possessions to end the first quarter, as each defense held the opposing offense in check.
Second quarter On the second play of the second quarter, Reggie Bush exploded for 35 yards off a Leinart pass, reaching Texas's 18-yard line before attempting to lateral pass the ball to an uncovered teammate; Texas strong safety Michael Huff recovered the loose ball. The Pac-10 football-officiating coordinator later stated that Bush's pass was incorrectly officiated because it was an illegal forward pass, not a lateral, so the Trojans should have retained possession. Young drove his team 53 yards on the ensuing possession, twice hitting senior tight end David Thomas, who finished the day as Young's leading receiver, catching ten passes for 88 yards. The Trojans' defense tackled sophomore running back Ramonce Taylor five yards behind the line of scrimmage and forced a fumble that Young recovered for an additional five-yard loss. This forced a Texas field-goal attempt, which David Pino converted from 46 yards to cut Texas's deficit to four.
On USC's next possession, Leinart drove his team into Texas territory, this time to the 25-yard line, before throwing an interception to Texas free safety Michael Griffin, who appeared to be out of the play but ran halfway across the field before making a leaping catch and barely staying in-bounds in the end zone. The turnover ended a second Trojans' drive with USC in scoring position. On the following Texas drive, Young connected with wide receiver Limas Sweed, who caught eight balls for 65 yards on the day, for a key first down. Young then led his team with his legs, capping the drive by running 10 yards before throwing a lateral pass to open running back Selvin Young, who ran for 12 more for the touchdown. The lateral, made after Young's knee had touched the ground, was not reviewed because of issues with the replay equipment. The game continued with a failed extra-point attempt by Texas, which, not knowing of the equipment issues, appeared to rush the kick to get the play off before the prior play could be reviewed. The NCAA football-officiating coordinator later asserted that Young's knee had been down, and expressed confusion about how the call had been handled.
A defensive stop on USC's next possession and a 15-yard punt return gave Texas the ball near midfield, and the Longhorns capitalized when Young found Thomas for 14 yards on one play, and Taylor running 30 yards for a touchdown on another. Pino's extra point extended the Longhorns' lead to 16–7. On the next drive, Leinart threw a pass intended for Reggie Bush that was grabbed by Texas linebacker/safety Drew Kelson. But Kelson landed on his back after catching the pass and the ball popped out. The pass was ruled incomplete; equipment issues again prevented a review. USC's drive continued with a Leinart pass to wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, the top Trojan receiver of the day with ten catches totaling 121 yards, a quarterback keeper of 14 yards, and a Bush 12-yard run took the Trojans to the Texas 13-yard line with 40 seconds to play in the half. But two sacks by defensive tackle Frank Okam pushed USC back 13 yards and forced the Trojans to use two timeouts. Consequently, Danelo's 43-yard field goal allowed USC three points, and the half ended with Texas still ahead, 16–10.
Third quarter The Trojan defense came back strong from the halftime break and forced a punt on the Longhorns' opening drive of the third quarter. During the following USC drive, Leinart hit Jarrett for three passes totaling 35 yards, and White added the final 17 yards over two carries, capping the seven-play, 62-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run. It was his second of the game, and it put the Trojans ahead, 17–16.
Behind the running of Jamaal Charles, who finished the game with five carries for 34 yards, and Young, who ran 19 times for 200 yards, Texas quickly answered. Young scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns from 14 yards out, and Pino's successful extra-point attempt moved the Longhorns ahead, 23–17.
The lead changed hands once more with 4:07 to play in the third quarter, as Leinart hit tight end Dominique Byrd for two of his four catches and 21 of his 32 yards in the next drive and set up the next score. Although USC had been stopped on a fourth-and-short attempt earlier in the game, it decided to gamble again on fourth-and-one from the 12, and this time White muscled it all the way to the end zone to record his third rushing touchdown of the game and the 57th of his career. The achievement set a USC record.
The Longhorns reached Trojan territory on the ensuing drive, with Young's 45-yard run constituting most of the work, but ultimately the Trojans forced a field-goal attempt from USC's 14-yard line, and, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Pino missed a 31-yard kick that would have put his team ahead by two.
Fourth quarter
Behind Leinart's precise throwing (despite one interception, Leinart finished the day with otherwise stellar numbers, completing 29-of-40 passes for 365 yards and one touchdown), the Trojans drove 80 yards over nine plays in 3:36. Bush scored his only touchdown of the game on a 26-yard run to end the drive. (Bush finished the game with 95 yards on just six catches and gained 82 yards on 13 carries; he also averaged 20.2 yards on five punt returns.)