Texas boots Michigan, wins Rose Bowl, 38-37

By Jim Vertuno
Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. — A winning kick put the controversy to rest. The Texas Longhorns proved they did indeed belong in the Rose Bowl.

Texas quarterback Vince Young ran for four touchdowns, including this 23-yarder in the fourth quarter. Mark J. Terrill • Associated Press

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.

"I was hoping they would quit calling timeouts," said Mangum, a walk-on senior. "It's something I've dreamed about. To come down to a pressure kick — why not?"

And exactly the kind of ending Texas coach Mack Brown wanted.

"There will never be a better game in the Rose Bowl," Brown said. "You had two of the top four winningest programs and it should come down to two seconds left."

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.

"I don't think we'll ever answer all the critics in sports," Brown said.

Young ran for 192 yards and four touchdowns while passing for 180 yards and another TD. He led the final drive to Mangum's kick, giving 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-America 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.

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 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 USC's O.J. Simpson 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."

"He was tough to tackle, but we should have gotten to him several times," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I was disappointed with the loss and with the tackling."

Young ran for a TD and passed for another in the first half, and Henne matched him with a pair of scoring passes to Edwards that made it 14-14 at halftime.

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 and outraced All-America safety Ernest Shazor to the end zone to make it 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 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.

After Rivas kicked a field goal that made it 34-28, Young scrambled again for the end zone as Texas took a 35-34 lead before the frenetic ending.

"Thirty-seven points should have been enough to win," Carr said. "There are no excuses."