Texas Football Rewind: Vince Young was a legendary runner in bowl games

The rushing numbers from former Texas football quarterback Vince Young in the postseason were nothing short of sparkling.

Going back to re-watch any bowl game that featured former superstar Texas football quarterback Vince Young is a fantastic pastime for this fan base. VY not only won Texas its only national title since the turn of the century, but he did it in a style that no one else could. He promised that Texas would be back in the Rose Bowl following their 2004 bowl win over the Michigan Wolverines. Texas would be back in the Rose Bowl the following season, to face the USC Trojans in the BCS National Championship Game.

VY was a stud for the Texas Longhorns football program in both Rose Bowl games. Obviously the performance that sticks out was on that elusive final drive and the “4th-and-5” play call that almost every college football fan over the age of 20 should remember. That fourth down touchdown conversion got the Longhorns to the ultimate prize in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

However, let’s take a look back on how VY impacted the Texas ground game as a whole in the postseason during his three years as quarterback. He was an absolute menace to opposing defenses in the three postseason games he played in at Texas.

Actually if not for the production that Young had on the ground in his two stints in the Rose Bowl against Michigan and USC, and in the 2003 Holiday Bowl against the Washington State Cougars, two wins might be gone. Even when VY was splitting snaps behind center in 2003 with Chance Mock, he was still efficient on the ground.

In the 2003 Holiday Bowl, which a then ranked No. 5 Texas team fell short to Washington State by the final score of 28-20, Young completed just 6-of-14 passing attempts for 15 yards and no touchdowns. But he did have 50 rushing yards on nine attempts. The number of yards per carry for Young more than quintupled his passing yards per attempt.

The proof was in the pudding that Young used his legs to find the most success for Texas in the postseason to cap the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Texas got Young’s best rushing performance possibly of his entire college career in the 2004 Rose Bowl. He posted 192 rushing yards and four touchdowns (averaging more than nine yards per carry) in the Rose Bowl win over Michigan. He only had one passing touchdown and one interception in that same game.

In the following Rose Bowl, Texas got 200 rushing yards and three scores to help push his team past star quarterback Matt Leinart, running back Reggie Bush, and USC. He averaged 10.5 yards per carry, and eclipsed the 200-rushing yard mark for the second time in the same year. Young was still productive through the air against USC, with a 75 percent completion rate and 275 passing yards with no picks.

However, Texas also didn’t get any passing touchdowns from Young. He was able to cap off a trio of drives, including the game-winning touchdown, with his legs. The last three touchdowns from the Longhorns were from Young, including the eight-yard score on the final key play of the game. Young even added a two-point conversion with his legs to put Texas ahead by a score of 41-38. As we all know, that was the final score of the 2006 Rose Bowl.

What makes the mark of the rushing yards for Young in the postseason historic was the total numbers he posted in two years as the starting quarterback. Former Texas head coach Mack Brown even found a way to use Young’s legs as a weapon when he wasn’t the starting quarterback in the 2003 Holiday Bowl.

In fact, there was a 114-rushing yard swing in the stat lines between Mock and Young against Wazzu in 2003. Texas got -64 rushing yards from Mock in that bowl game.

But Young ranks among the 12 best rushers since the turn of the century in terms of total postseason yards on the ground. He is one of 14 players to rack up at least 440 rushing yards in the postseason over the course of their college career.

This list also includes other college stars such as Rutgers’ Ray Rice, Georgia’s Nick Chubb, and Ohio State’s Nick Chubb.

What makes his placing on that list truly so special is that he is the only quarterback. And the only other two college football quarterbacks to amass more than 400 rushing yards in their bowl careers are Louisville’s Lamar Jackson and West Virginia’s Pat White.

There’s also only two quarterbacks that amassed more than 300 rushing yards in their postseason careers since the turn of the century that also averaged at least nine yards per carry. Young is one and the other is former Texas A&M Aggies Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.