Jan 4, 2006; Pasadena, CA, USA: FILE PHOTO; Texas Longhorns quarterback Vince Young (10) in action against the Southern California Trojans during the 2006 Rose Bowl at the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns defeated the Trojans 41-38. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Network Imagn Images

Texas Longhorns 2006 Title Win Over USC Named 'Best Game' of 2000s

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Harrison Reno | Last updated May 26, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Even two decades later, the 2006 Rose Bowl game between the Texas Longhorns and USC Trojans is still considered the best college football game of the century.

Following up on his article ranking the best teams of the 2000s, where he had that same Texas team as holding the No. 1 spot, the Athletic's Stewart Mandel unveiled his rankings for the "best" games and had that matchup between the Longhorns and Trojans in the top spot.

"USC had two Heisman winners in its backfield and was riding a 34-game winning streak, eyeing a three-peat as a touchdown favorite. The back-and-forth battle ended with Vince Young skating inside the pylon on fourth-and-5 to put the Longhorns up with 19 seconds left, ..." Mandel writes . "USC coach Pete Carroll called it the greatest individual performance he’d ever seen. It was also the highest-rated BCS game ever and was Keith Jackson’s final game in the ABC booth. It is the standard by which all other games in this century are judged."

Not many other games in college football history can say there were three players on the field all worthy of winning the Heisman Trophy. While the 2005 Heisman was awarded to USC's Reggie Bush, it was Texas's star quarterback who got the better of the matchup in Pasadena.

In many ways, he proved the Heisman voters wrong for not voting for him to win the sport's most prestigious individual award. Young amassed 467 total yards of offense with three touchdowns. He rushed for 200 yards and all of his scores, while throwing for 267. He not only set the Rose Bowl record for rushing yards by a quarterback and helped Texas capture its fourth national title, but he capped off a historic season.

Young became the first player in FBS history to record over 3,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a single season.

His 4th and 5, game-winning eight-yard sprint to the endzone was a storybook ending to an undefeated season for the Longhorns, and a befitting last play of Young's college career.

But Young, Bush, and Matt Leinart weren't the only stars on that field that fateful night. That game also featured future NFL Draft picks like Jamaal Charles, David Thomas, Quan Cosby, Michael Griffin, Michael Huff, Aaron Ross, Dwayne Jarrett, among many others.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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