Rose Bowl Thoughts

Some random thoughts on the Rose Bowl after letting it all sink in:

· The USC – Texas match up was one of the most highly anticipated college games that I can remember, and it lived up to the hype. Neither set of fans could get comfortable with their team’s lead at any point in the game – except when it was over.

· Was there any doubt that Vince Young was going to drive the Texas offense for a touchdown after the Longhorns defense held on 4th down? Some people have criticized the decision by the USC coaching staff to go for it on 4th and 2 with slightly more than 2 minutes to play. Pete Carroll’s response to that was “that’s the way we play”, and he’s right. That is the way USC played all year, but the sub-text to that decision was “we don’t want to give the ball back to Vince Young if we don’t have to.” Knowing that Vince Young was going to score made going for it on 4th down the right decision.

· Someone told me yesterday that the reason LenDale White had such a good game was that the Texas defense was so focused on Reggie Bush and the two of them were on the field at the same time. That’s actually not true. I watched a lot of SC games this year and the norm for Bush and White is that one is in the game, and the other is on the sideline. That philosophy held true on Wednesday night. Of course, there were times when White was in the backfield and Bush was split-out wide, but those were exceptions. LenDale White had a good game because USC’s run blocking up the middle was more effective than running to the outside. I’m almost certain that Bush was on the bench for each of White’s touchdown runs.

· Speaking of Reggie Bush, people seemed to be down on his performance in this game. Looking at the stats, Bush had a very good game, but I’m wondering if the public’s expectation of Bush is now based on the myriad of highlights shown on ESPN of Reggie breaking loose for long runs. It’s not realistic to expect the guy to run roughshod over the defense on every single play.

· Is Vince Young the next Michael Vick? I would argue that he is better. Vick’s running style may be more explosive and exciting, but Young is just as effective with the legs. Young differentiates himself from Vick in the passing department. His efficiency is better; his touch is better and he appears more comfortable in the pocket. At times during Wednesday’s game, it was comical to watch the USC defenders attempting to tackle Young. He appeared to be a man playing among boys, and that’s one of the signs of an elite athlete. I don’t think he’ll be able to make NFL defenders look that silly, but I do think he is an improvement on the Michael Vick prototype.

· As for Matt Leinart, I have mixed feelings on his performance in the Rose Bowl and how he will do at the next level. As for his game performance, I think he made 2 critical mental mistakes. The first came in the first half on the 4th and 1 play where Leinart attempted a QB sneak when he was not supposed to snap the ball. It was obvious to me that Texas was in the correct defense for a quarterback sneak, so I don’t know why Leinart didn’t pick that up. Too cocky from his successful goal-line sneak versus Notre Dame? Perhaps. The other mistake came on the final play of the game although you could attribute the failure on that play to inadequate coaching as well. With 8 seconds left and 2 plays required, the first one has to be quick. If the play isn’t there, then you throw the ball away quickly so that you can at least go for a Hail Mary on the final play. In the end, Leinart lost track of the clock and took too long to finish the play. You would expect someone of Leinart’s experience to handle this situation, but this also should have been an opportunity for a coach to clarify and simplify the objectives. Neither of those things happened.

· Is Leinart an NFL quarterback? When I watch him, I see Chad Pennington arm strength and average mobility. Leinart’s ball seems to float and that’s dangerous with the speed of NFL defensive backs. I guess he could be an average quarterback in the NFL, but I don’t expect much more than that. As we all know, a Heisman Trophy is no guarantee of NFL stardom – remember Gino Torretta.

· Overall, I thought the quality of the broadcast was high, but I think Keith Jackson showed his age. He made several uncharacteristic mistakes and perhaps they were attributable to his vantage point. I’ve done some football play-by-play, and it can be tough to get the call correct on the first take so I don’t want to be overly critical. Also, Jackson’s on my next installment of Sports Broadcasters so he is a favorite of mine.