Texas shootout

College football | Longhorns defy pundits, win the national championship | John Dawson

PASADENA, Calif. — From listening to television analysts in the weeks leading up to the Rose Bowl, the Texas Longhorns may have wondered whether they even needed to make the trip to Pasadena, Calif. At least in the media, the game had been decided. The unstoppable Trojans of USC, defending national champions and winners of 34 straight games, would trounce Texas. Just one question remained: Was the 2005 USC team the greatest college football team ever? Days before the Jan. 4 BCS National Championship game, ESPN analyst Mark May gave the Trojans credit for being the second-best team in the past 50 years.

Of course, Texas coach Mack Brown knows an opportunity when he sees it. "Yeah, I really appreciate you all," Mr. Brown told reporters the day before the game. "You've been really good. I don't need a pre-game talk." Nothing seems to get college athletes going more than being disrespected. For what it's worth, football pundits even before the game delivered to Texas something Mr. Brown could turn into a psychological advantage. And instead of taking the word of experts and pundits, Texas players—most of them virtually unknown as a result of the USC press frenzy—listened to their coaches and star quarterback Vince Young when they said Texas was every bit as good as Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Southern Cal.