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.
"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.
What many people haven't grasped is that on review the pitch probably would not have been overturned. Here is why:
THis play falls under the same general set of requirements as the "tuck rule", "pass/fumble", etc etc
Just as in the case of a passer being sacked -- was his arm going forward at the time he was sacked or fumbled. If so it is ruled a pass as it is considered the same as "the ball coming out" on a fumble review -- even if the ball is still in the passer's hand. If the arm is going forward the pass is considered tohave been started (Even if the ball is still in the players hand).
Now, THE SAME STANDARD applies to pitch plays. If the Pitchman (young) has started the pitching motion then the ball is considered to "Be coming out". Ergo , On the replay, when Young's knee hits the ground his hand had already mover halfway across his body -- he had begun the pitch movement -- as a result the ruling would be that the Pitch had already started (just as in the case of a pass where the arm is going forward, or a fumble where the ball is ruled to be coming out.) Is it a fair rule, probably not, as the ball is technically still in the possession of the pitchman, but it is considered to be "In motion" and therefore the play would not have been overturned.