Rose Bowl
A mellow place to purchase Rose Bowl Tickets is this site.O.K., so Texas might have weaseled, cajoled and politicked its way into the BCS as many still believe California should be the one battling Michigan.
Get over it.
The rhetoric is over and it's time to get into what should be a fantastic game in the first ever matchup between two of college football's greatest programs.
Texas deserved to be in the BCS just as much as anyone outside of USC, Oklahoma and Auburn, but there's a general feeling that the team had better put on an unbelievable show to justify all of the bickering. The only gaffe this season was yet another loss to Oklahoma, but that's nothing to be ashamed of (especially if the Sooners win the national title). Mack Brown's team finally got to a big money game thanks to a tremendous rushing attack and an improved defense that ranks among the best in recent Texas history.
But just getting to the Rose Bowl isn't enough. Texas has been hanging around the elite status for a while (at least in the Mack Brown era) but has failed to get past the bouncer. If you don't win your conference and don't come up with the really, really big bowl wins, you're not among the pretty programs. A win over Michigan would mark the high point in the Brown era and finally get his program into the status Longhorn fans have been longing for.
It isn't fair to call Michigan's season a disappointment considering it's ending in the Rose Bowl, but considering the NFL caliber talent hanging around both sides of the ball, this should've been a national title-caliber season.
The one concern was the offensive backfield after losing QB John Navarre and RB Chris Perry. True freshmen Chad Henne and Mike Hart solved that problem and even turned a weakness into a strength growing into bedrock stars of the program. But a bizarre loss to Notre Dame early in the season and a defensive meltdown against Ohio State took away any Orange Bowl hopes and even left the Rose Bowl up to Wisconsin to take. An Iowa win over the Badgers sent the Wolverines to Pasadena.
All controversies aside, these two storied, legendary programs will meet for the first time with plenty of emotion and excitement. For name recognition alone this will be a must-see game, but it's also the Rose Bowl; you can't boycott it even if you watching through angst-colored glasses.
Players to watch: The Texas offense isn't complicated. There's RB Cedric Benson and there's QB Vince Young. That's it. Benson had a better season than many are giving him credit for cranking out 1,764 yards and scoring 20 times. Even though he was the number one focus of every defensive gameplan, he still ran consistently well with yardage totals of 181, 188, 189, 188, 92, 150, 168, 141, 141, 161 and 165. That 92-yard day came against Oklahoma. A great workhorse, he's being considered by many to be the number one running back prospect in the 2005 Draft. If he gets shut down by Michigan, that might change a bit.
Young's passing hasn't been all that bad coming through with a few excellent games like the 18-for-21 day against Oklahoma State and the 12-for-18 performance against Texas A&M, but he's most dangerous when he's on the move rushing for 887 yards and ten touchdowns. Most importantly, he has grown into a clutch playmaker doing what has needed to be done with the highlight coming with a 21-yard touchdown pass to beat Kansas with :11 to play.
Benson and Young had great years, but LB Derrick Johnson might have had a better one coming into the year hyped as the nation's best defensive player and he delivered finishing with 128 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and ten quarterback hurries. His real talent was making big plays once he got to the ball forcing eight fumbles.
Michigan has several stars of its own, but the one who'll have to shine brightest is WR Braylon Edwards. With athleticism, size, and blazing speed, Edwards is due to become one of the top picks in the 2005 NFL Draft and is looking to make one final statement. He cooled off somewhat after a blazing hot five-game opening stretch, and then made his mark with the signature performance of the Big Ten season catching 11 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns to beat Michigan State. With ten catches for 107 yards in the 2004 Rose Bowl, Edwards was one of Michigan's few bright spots in the loss to USC.
While Edwards has been Michigan's star, freshman RB Mike Hart was the heart and soul. After only carrying the ball eight times in the first two games, including in the loss to Notre Dame, Hart ripped off 1,335 yards with five-straight 100-yard days, and three-straight 200-yard days, just when the team needed him the most.
Texas will win if... Vince Young is Troy Smith. The Ohio State quarterback threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns and ran 18 times for 140 yards and a score in the surprising 37-21 win over Michigan. The Big Blue D only faced one other mobile quarterback all season long, Michigan State's Drew Stanton, and allowed 80 rushing yards along with 207 to MSU RB DeAndra Cobb. While the Michigan run defense finished the year a respectable 27th in the nation, it buckled against good running backs allowing 165 yards to Northwestern's Noah Herron, 145 to Minnesota's Noah Herron and 111 to Notre Dame's Darius Walker. Cedric Benson is a good running back, but it'll have to be Young's legs that carries the Longhorn attack.
Michigan will win if... it gets both pieces of the offensive puzzle rolling. Texas only faced one team this year with any semblance of balance, Oklahoma, and lost. To be fair, the Longhorn defense didn't play too poorly against the Sooners only allowing 12 points and 109 yards to Jason White, but it gave up 225 yards to Adrian Peterson. The Longhorn secondary is suspect and should have problems with one of the nation's best receiving corps, and the Michigan passing game will be even more effective if Mike Hart is running well.
What will happen: There's a general rule of thumb that limited offensive teams struggle when good defenses have more than a month to prepare for a bowl game. Texas has to come out with a few passing wrinkles and can't just plan on running the ball exclusively to win. Even so, Benson and Young will combine for 250 rushing yards and Michigan's offense will sputter early on and get down. Henne will throw for 300 yards in comeback mode, but the Longhorn running game will control the fourth quarter and come away with the win.
Line: USC -6.5 ... CFN Prediction: Texas 27 ... Michigan 23