Posted on 01/03/2006 8:36:04 PM PST by BurbankKarl
Edited on 01/04/2006 2:22:49 PM PST by Lead Moderator. [history]
On January 4, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. (PST) the Rose Bowl Game will host the BCS National Championship, between USC and Texas once again showcasing the best of collegiate football in "The Granddaddy of Them All."® The Rose Bowl will be broadcast exclusively on ABC and on ESPN radio.
USC proved that no matter how good your offense is, you cannot win championships if your defense sucks.
The defense didn't suck.....Vince Young was just damn good. If anyone blew this game for SC it was Carroll for not calling for an instant replay on the phantom TD and the offense for squandering at least 3 scoring opportunities in the 1st quarter alone.
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'powerhouse #30 Navy (which moved up 9 spots by skipping the bowls). '
WTF are you talking about, the Mids hammered CSU in their bowl.
If it was just Texas, that's one thing. But the fact that Fresno State (who I don't think won a game after the USC game) scored 42 indicates that USC's defense was not championship caliber. They didn't get any pressure at all on Young. Pete Carroll is no defensive genius.
Anyone know where I can find Texas Championship shirts?
Exactly my point, there are many "ifs" that could have change the course of the game. What really counts is what happened on the field after USC was leading by 12 points near the end of the game. Texas won - by a "whisker," because they sucked it up and grabbed the lead before the clock ran out of time. If there been more time, the pendulum may have swung back to USC - but that is another "if."
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Yup! And FSU showed that a good defense can't win games if the offense sucks. The key is balance.
I may be wrong about this, but I don't think NCAA rules allow a coach to call for a video review like NFL rules do. I don't recall ever seeing a college coach toss one of those red flags out on the field.
Except that Texas had been driving and USC not stopping them. Except that it would be 1st and goal at the 10. Except that even if they hold Texas to a field goal, that only gets you to a tie. But if you are going to complain about the bad call in favor of UT(and it clearly was an awful call), then you must also admit that the blown call in favor of USC at the end of the 2nd quarter (when UT intercepted and the refs wrongly called it incomplete) gave USC a field goal, so the 3 points likely cancel each other out. Your logic works only if you assume that UT doesn't score any points from 1st and goal at the USC 10. The results throughout the game suggest the odds of that happening were incredibly low.
BTW, USA Today is reporting that the reason for no review on the Vince Young knee touchdown was because of equipment problems with the monitor in the replay booth that didn't allow them to see many of the angles at that time. There also were several problems with the stadium game clock. In a huge game on national TV, it seems the pompous Rose Bowl (so whining and unhappy to have that redneck Texas polluting their pristine bowl last year) was rather sloppy and second-rate, and this time it bit their Pac 10 team in the butt.
And if some USC fans want to still play "The refs cost us the game" card after all the above, note that Vegas usually considers home field advantage to be worth 3 points, so take away that TD, assume that UT somehow doesn't score with 1st and goal, and your left with a 3 point difference. Home field advantage (yeah they play in the Coliseum, but they slept in their own beds all week) cancels that out, so USC and Texas are even.
USC is an amazing team, but they aren't better than Texas. I'll settle for calling them equal.
I don't know for sure either. The commentators were talking about it as if Pete should have called a time out before the extra point was kicked to call for a replay. I also heard commentators say that the refs in the booth dropped the ball on this one. Not sure who, but someone drooped the ball.
Yeah, and if they would have applied instant replay on Kelson's interception of Leinart's pass, the Horns would have gotten the ball back and we can just keep on imagining what Vince would have done.... No disrespect to USC though.
Early TV overnight numbers have this as the highest-rated BCS game ever, and highest-rated college game since Penn State-Miami in 1987.
Rate was a 21 (with the top 10 Dallas market excluded), last years OU-USC game was a 14.
I do not share your "they would have won except for the mistakes". I believe Texas beat them outright, although I will confess, I thought before the game that Texas would beat them handily (considering how USC looked against ND and Fresno). USC gained some respect from me and the rest of the country in this game. However, it is my view that Texas is the better team.
"In a huge game on national TV, it seems the pompous Rose Bowl (so whining and unhappy to have that redneck Texas polluting their pristine bowl last year) was rather sloppy and second-rate, and this time it bit their Pac 10 team in the butt." Actually, it was apparently Big 10 refs that failed to review the Phantom TD, but who's counting. Anyway, my beef was with Carroll for failing to call for the review -- not the refs.
"USC is an amazing team, but they aren't better than Texas. I'll settle for calling them equal." I agree. Texas is an outstanding team -- I'm just saying USC handed this one to them on a silver platter.
I believe that Texas is a better defensive team than what they showed last night...could be wrong though. I have felt for three years that USC runs up offensive stats against weak defenses in the PAC-10, and I expected better defense from Texas...however, there is no doubt that USC has the best overall offensive talent when you consider all positions...On the other hand, I have always believed Young to be better than Bush and the USC QB.
Every real USC fan knows that the defense is the weakest it's been since Carroll has been here. We have known that since August. Losing players to the pro and assistants to other schools is what makes long winning streaks so hard in modern football. The defensive line I was most disappointed in as they did have some returners (though Cody & BKU were sorely missed). The defense had been playing w/ fire all year. This game reminded me of the Notre Dame game except Texas had the ball last. The defense should get better next year ....mostly due to the young guys, but also because it can only get better :o).
Texas won the game and is a much deserving champion. They had a great year. Congrats to them and their fans. Vince Young was the stars among stars last night and is a great player.
I'm proud of USC and their accomplishment(s) and look forward to next year.
PS - I did find (what I consider funny) a blog assesment equating Simpson characters w/ college teams - I'm sure someone will be offended, but it's just a joke... Once again, congrats to Texas.
http://heyjennyslater.blogspot.com/2005/12/letting-no-good-idea-go-unstolen-its.html
Apparently Texas players didn't hydrate properly before the game. According to the sideline sports babe no less than seven UT defensive players were having serious cramping problems.
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