Rose Bowl Thoughts
By Byron LaMasters
Sorry for the delay in posting on the Rose Bowl, as I've been busy in LA. Going to the Rose Bowl was a phenomenal experience, and the game certainly did not disappoint. Unfortunately, I left my camera in Austin, and my friend forgot to bring his, so I had to resort to trying a few low-quality camera phone pictures. I'll post those later if any of them turn out. Boi From Troy has some good pictures of the scoreboard, the pregame festivities and flyover.
Both Boi From Troy in his post, and the Michigan fans behind us at the game mentioned the "sea of Burnt Orange" at the game. Perhaps some may have thought that Texas fans would be a bit less inclined than Michigan fans to travel out to the Rose Bowl, as this was the first time where Texans participated in the Rose Bowl tradition, previously reserved for Big 10 and Pac 10 teams. But considering that football is like a religion in Texas, I would have been surprised if their had not been a "sea of Burnt Orange" at the Rose Bowl. Overall, Longhorn fans were probably in the slight majority, but both teams were well represented.
As for the game itself, Texas fans can thank Vince Young. Young carried the team on a day where Cedric Benson and the entire defense had a subpar performance - and don't even get me started with the kickoff coverage team. Watching Vince Young run is absolutely dazzling. I had not yet had the opportunity to watch Young in person (only on TV), and he's just a thrill to watch.
The Longhorn defense finally started holding the Michigan offence led by Braylon Edwards and Chad Henne to field goals, and due to poor timeout calling / clock management on Michigan's part, we had the opportunity to kick a winning field goal as time expired. I was sitting in row 13 of the end zone where typically reliable UT kicker Dusty Mangum kicked a wobbly kick that I doubted would make it from the second it left his foot. Somehow, it made it through the uprights, the officials in the endzone raised their hands, and we all went nuts. The Eyes of Texas are upon California (and Michigan).
As for the BCS... well, it sort of worked out this year, except for the fact that Auburn won't have a shot at the national title. Texas proved that it deserved to be in the Rose Bowl, and Cal proved nothing in its loss to Texas Tech. The BCS still needs to be changed in favor of a real playoff system, but for now, I'll just savor a great Longhorn victory and the opportunity to see a damn fine football game.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at January 2, 2005 08:04 PM
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Congrats to the Longhorns!
The real question wasn't whether a 10-1 Texas team deserved to play in a BCS game, it was what the hell #20 Pittsburg, #12 Michigan, and #9 Virginia Tech are doing in big BCS bowls.
So far this bowl season I've only watched three good games. Texas-Michigan, Boise St-Louisville, and Iowa-Georgia. And only one of those were BCS bowls. Frankly as entertaining as the Fiesta Bowl was, it was obvious that Pittsburg had no business being there. And I have serious doubts about whether Virgina Tech will be able to run with Auburn. Aside from those 3 games, this bowl season has really been anemic. A sudden death 16 team playoff would have been far more exciting.
