2006 Rose Bowl
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featured the only two unbeaten teams of the season: the defending Rose Bowl champion and reigning Big 12 Conference champion Texas Longhorns played Pacific-10 Conference titleholders and two-time defending AP national champions, the USC Trojans. Texas would defeat USC (whose loss was later officially vacated) 41–38 to capture its fourth football championship in program history and first consensus national title since 1969. The game was a back-and-forth contest; Texas's victory was not secured until the game's final nineteen seconds. Vince Young, the Texas quarterback, and Michael Huff, a Texas safety, were named the offensive and defensive Rose Bowl Players of the Game. ESPN named Young's fourth-down, game-winning touchdown run the fifth-highest rated play in college football history. The game is the highest-rated BCS game in TV history with 21.7% of households watching it, and is often considered the greatest Rose Bowl game of all time, as well as the greatest college football game ever played.
| 2006 Rose Bowl presented by Citi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| BCS National Championship Game 92nd Rose Bowl Game | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 4, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Rose Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Pasadena, California | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Offensive: Vince Young (QB, Texas) Defensive: Michael Huff (S, Texas) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | USC by 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National anthem | LeAnn Rimes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | David Witvoet (Big Ten) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Halftime show | Spirit of Troy University of Texas Longhorn Band | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 93,988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$14.998 million | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson (play-by-play) Dan Fouts (analyst) Todd Harris and Holly Rowe (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nielsen ratings | 21.7 (35.6 million viewers) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas's Rose Bowl win was the 800th victory in school history and the Longhorns ended the season ranked third in Division I history in both wins and winning percentage (.7143). It was only the third time that the two top-ranked teams had faced each other in Rose Bowl history, with the 1963 Rose Bowl and 1969 Rose Bowl games being the others; these games also featured USC.
The 92nd-annual Rose Bowl Game was played, as it is every year, at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, in the United States.
This was the final game ever called by longtime broadcaster Keith Jackson (as well as the final Rose Bowl to telecast under ABC Sports branding); the 2007 Rose Bowl would be an ESPN on ABC presentation. It was also the final time until the BCS National Championship Game for the 2009 Season that it was broadcast as an ESPN on ABC presentation. In addition, this was the last National Championship Game in the BCS era to be a nominal BCS bowl game (the National Championship and the four BCS bowls became separate events beginning with the 2006 season).
This was the first college football game to feature two Heisman Trophy winners in the same starting lineup. USC's quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush won the award in 2004 and 2005, respectively, although Bush later forfeited the award. While the NCAA normally only vacates victories, USC claims its Rose Bowl loss was later vacated from official NCAA records, along with its 12 wins from before the game, leaving an official 2005 regular season record of 0–0.