Texas Football: Sam Ehlinger gets ‘chills’ watching Vince Young

A great night of positive memories for fans of the Texas football program thanks to the re-airing of the 2006 Rose Bowl saw some memorable tweets from Sam.

The re-airing of the 2006 Rose Bowl game between the Texas football program and USC Trojans that would decide the BCS National Championship to cap the 2005 season was on in primetime on ESPN on April 2. Wrapping up that game brought back vivid memories for those Texas fans that remember what it was like watching that game at that time in early 2006.

When the Texas Longhorns football program set out on the field in southern California on Jan. 4, 2006, the national title was on the line against head coach Pete Carroll and his Trojans. USC was an absolute powerhouse at the time that was bringing a more than 30 game winning streak into the Rose Bowl.

The Longhorns were the underdogs in this game, despite blowing out most of their competition, carrying an undefeated record in 2005, and winning the Big 12. USC had superstar talent all over the place. And the Longhorns had a roster, and a quarterback, to match what the Trojans brought to the table.

Moreover, the hero in this game was of course the legendary former Texas starting quarterback Vince Young. His scramble on that famed 4th-and-5 play to win the Longhorns the game by the final score of 41-38 is something that will go down in college football folklore for an eternity.

That might be the most iconic play of the decade.

VY was the savior of this game for the Longhorn faithful.

This is also a play that most Texas fans remember vividly to this day. That includes the to-be senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who was avidly watching the re-air of the 2006 Rose Bowl on April 2.

Apparently Ehlinger was watching this game on ESPN in the “same spot, in the same room” that he did back in early 2006. That is truly something that brings back incredible memories in the most positive way.

The so-called “chills” that this game brought back for not just Longhorn football fans, but college football fans (likely those outside of southern California) is something that is also much needed at this moment. The novel coronavirus pandemic pretty much brought the sports world to a halt, hence why ESPN aired all the college football games that they did on April 2.

This was truly a fun game to re-watch, and it was one of the best that ESPN could’ve picked to cap off the day of college football rewinds. From huge-name Longhorn fans like Ehlinger, all the way down to your average fan that loves the burnt orange, the positive memories came at a great time.

The 2005 national title is the most recent for the Longhorns. They came close during the 2009 season, but ultimately fell short after a game-ending injury to their star quarterback against the Alabama Crimson Tide.