PASADENA, Calif. - He calls it the "Texas Two-step." It's his ability to avoid defenders in the open field. Saturday against Michigan in the Rose Bowl, Young seemed to have perfected it.
Behind a 192 yard rushing and 180 yard passing performance, Young led the No. 6 Longhorns to a last second 38-37 victory over Michigan Saturday. The sophomore quarterback earned offensive MVP honors en route to possibly ensuring himself a place on the Heisman "Watch list" at the beginning of next season. At the very least, it's probably safe to say he grabbed the nation's attention.
"I've been telling you guys about him all year," Texas sixth-year senior Bo Scaife said about his quarterback. "He's the most exciting player in college football."
With the Wolverines keyed on stopping senior running back Cedric Benson - who rushed for only 70 yards on 23 carries - Young took it upon himself to take over the game. The sophomore, who said he prefers making people miss than breaking tackles, did a combination of both in the Longhorns' first and only victory in the Rose Bowl.
On Texas' second offensive series of the game, Young connected twice with Scaife and once with junior tight end David Thomas to get the Longhorns down to the 20-yard line. Young then rushed to the outside and into the end zone for his first of four rushing touchdowns in the game.
"They were not going to allow us to run the football [with Benson]," Texas head coach Mack Brown said. "We decided for Vince and the two tight ends to win the game."
After hitting Thomas for the Longhorns' second touchdown, Young's feet once again went on display. He dropped back, looking for a long pass on third and nine, and ended up finding a hole. The sophomore shook off one tackle and outraced the Wolverine defense into the end zone to put Texas up 21-14.
'He is such a great athlete, but what people have now seen is that he's a great quarterback," Brown said.
On the play, Young became the first quarterback in Texas history to run and pass for a 1,000 yards in one season. Nebraska's Tommy Frazier is the only quarterback to rush for more yards (199) in a bowl game than Young.
With Texas trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, Young's fancy footwork continued to dazzle the Wolverine defense. He strutted into the end zone two more times during the fourth quarter to once again climb Texas out of hole.
When Texas rallied from a 28-point deficit to win over Oklahoma State on Nov. 6, Young and Benson combined to bring the Longhorns back for the win. Against Michigan, Young stole the spotlight from the senior and at times seemed to single-handedly get the Longhorns within striking distance of a win with two seconds remaining.
He's got a personal highlight reel running on ESPN and the comparisons to Michael Vick are being explored once again.
"He's Vickish," Scaife said.
He's the reason Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr shook his head at the post-game conference and acknowledged the thing his team struggled the most with was tackling.
"If you saw the game, it is obvious [Young] is hard to tackle," Carr said. "There were times we should've gotten him to the ground, and we didn't."
And not many teams can. The "Texas Two-Step" is one of the main reasons why the Longhorns celebrated Saturday night. It's also the move Young might make all the way to New York to pick up his Heisman trophy next season.
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