Texas wins wild Rose Bowl finish

Posted 10:04AM on Sunday 2nd January 2005 ( 20 years ago )

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - A winning kick put the controversy to rest - the Texas Longhorns proved they did indeed belong in the Rose Bowl. Dusty Mangum made a 37-yard field goal as time expired and No. 6 Texas, behind quarterback Vince Young, edged No. 13 Michigan 38-37 Saturday in the first matchup of two of college football's elite programs. With flashbulbs popping throughout the Rose Bowl, Mangum sent a wobbly kick through the uprights as the final two seconds ticked off and the Longhorns players rushed the field. The kick came after Michigan took its final two timeouts. Young ran for 192 yards and four touchdowns while passing for 180 yards and another score. He led the final drive to Mangum's kick, giving coach Mack Brown his biggest win in seven years at Texas. Michigan freshman quarterback Chad Henne tied a Rose Bowl record with four touchdown passes, three to All-American wide receiver Braylon Edwards. Garrett Rivas kicked three field goals, the last a 42-yarder that squeezed just inside the right upright with 3:04 left to give Michigan a 37-35 lead. All week, Brown and his Texas players were barraged by questions about their worthiness to play in a Bowl Championship Series game. The Longhorns (11-1) earned their trip West when they leapfrogged fourth-ranked California in the final BCS standings, helped by Brown's public pleas. By bumping Cal, Texas also crashed the Rose Bowl's long-standing tradition that the "Granddaddy" of bowl games pits a Pac-10 team against the Big Ten champ. Michigan (9-3) ranks No. 1 in college football with 842 wins and Texas No. 3 with 787. And while it took more than 100 years for them to meet on the field, their first was a doozy. With Young's razzle-dazzle on touchdown runs of 20, 60, 10 and 23 yards and Henne's scoring throws to Edwards, the game was an offensive showcase that simply came down to who had the ball last. Michigan's Steve Breaston set a Rose Bowl record with 315 yards total between his catches and kick returns, breaking the mark of 276 set by O.J. Simpson back in 1969. The Wolverines nearly spoiled it for Texas, but Young simply wouldn't let them. Michigan was vulnerable against mobile quarterbacks all season and never came close to containing Young, who calls his ability to avoid tacklers in the open field the "Texas Two-Step." Young ran for a TD and passed for another in the first half, and Henne matched him with a pair of scoring strikes to Edwards that made it 14-14 at halftime. But the fun had only just begun. Young's second TD was a longer version of his first. Dropping back to pass, he took a quick read of the field then took off. He shook off a tackle 15 yards upfield and then outraced All-America safety Ernest Shazor to the end zone to make 21-14. Breaston, who gave the Wolverines good field position with his kick returns all afternoon, brought the ball out to the 50. Three plays later, he hauled in a pass from Henne and sprinted for the end zone, diving for the pylon to make it 21-all. By early in the third quarter, Texas had taken the lead three times only to have Michigan tie it. The Longhorns came in having outscored opponents 105-3 in the third quarter but gave up two touchdowns on Michigan's first two drives of the second half. The Wolverines took their first lead when Henne hit Edwards from 9 yards out and stretched it to 31-21 when Rivas kicked a 44-yard field. But the Michigan defense had nothing left to stop Young from running wild. After Rivas kicked a field goal that made it 34-28, Young scrambled again for the end zone, leaving the Wolverines either punching the air in frustration or bending over and gasping for breath as Texas took a 35-34 lead before the frenetic ending.

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