Agreed...Notre Dame could have beat USC had things been different. Sometimes things go your way sometimes they don't. The difference is, there was no instant replay used in the ND game. There was in this game. I'm not questioning Carroll's decision on 4th down. I'm questioning his failure to call for an instant replay on the TD in the 2nd quarter -- the one where Young was clearly down and made a TD pass. Bush and Leinart each made a bad play -- either of which would have made a difference in the game. My point is, USC gave this game away. Even with Young as astounding as he was, USC was right in there. Even with the turnovers by SC, they still would have won had it not been for the "phantom TD". That's life, I guess.
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 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.
Why do you think that Texas would have gotten zero points on that drive? If the correct call had been made, Texas would have still been first and goal and Texas was moving the ball at will on that drive.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/ncaa/specials/bowls/2005/01/04/rose.bowl/index.html?cnn=yes
A title for Texas
Young, 'Horns win epic Rose Bowl, end USC's dynasty
snip
After the trophy presentation, Young draped his arms around two teammates' shoulders and the three of them sang "We are the champions."
Later, he ran into Leinart and Bush as the USC players walked past the Texas locker room and greeted each with a hug.
Texas coach Mack Brown took Bush aside near the entrance to the locker room and told him, "I thought it was a classy game. Nobody could stop anybody."
snip
Classy in victory