Longhorns capture Rose Bowl
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-06 06:56

PASADENA, California: Vince Young scrambled for an 8-yard touchdown on fourth down with 19 seconds left and No 2-ranked Texas stunned top-ranked USC 41-38 for the US college football championship on Wednesday.

Trojans' LenDale White scores a twelve-yard touchdown at the Rose Bowl. [Reuters]

Victory gave the Texas Longhorns their first outright national title since 1969, and ended the bid by the University of Southern California Trojans to win an unprecedented third straight championship. USC's 34-game winning streak since 2003 ended.

Texas (13-0) won its 20th in a row, overcoming the 38-26 lead USC (12-1) held with 4 minutes left in the Rose Bowl.

The high-scoring game everyone expected broke out in the second half - yet it was a defensive stop that was the key for Texas. It stuffed USC's LenDale White on a fourth-and-2 at midfield with 2:09 left, giving it a final chance.

Young, bitterly disappointed at finishing runner-up for US college player of the year to USC's Reggie Bush, wound up with the ultimate revenge. On a night when he ran for 200 yards and passed for 267 more, he capped a player-of-the-game performance by scoring the final touchdown and running for a 2-point conversion.

"It's so beautiful," Young said as he received the MVP trophy. "Don't you think that's beautiful? It's coming home all the way to Austin, Texas."

USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who gave up NFL millions to return to college this season, did his part in his final college game while Bush was less than his best. Leinart passed for 365 yards, and his 22-yard touchdown strike to Dwyane Jarrett put USC ahead 38-26 with 6:42 left.

Earlier, Bush soared into the end zone on a 26-yard run, part of his 82 yards rushing. He also had 95 yards on six catches.