...but it was on the highest and grandest of stages.

I was at both Rose Bowls, the latter of which I went with my girlfriend (at the time). After we went down 38-26 to USC with 6 minutes left, she asked me if I thought we were still going to win the game. I was feeling fairly dejected, but I took a deep breath and scanned the sidelines while trying to formulate a properly motivating response. Literally the first thing I noticed was Vince Young dancing around on the sidelines, clapping and waving his hands to get the bench and stands fired up. He was bouncing up-and-down while wiggling his legs and doing the “cupped hands” yell. I immediately turned to her and said, “In case you haven’t forgot, Vince Young isn’t going to let us lose…he’s DANCING right now. DANCING.”

My spirits went through the roof, and I watched as his dancing created a tidal wave of emotion throughout the entire sideline. If his dancing had that big of an effect on me from that far away, I can only imagine what his teammates felt during that critical moment. It was perhaps the single-best moment of leadership I’ve ever seen in my life, even though it was just Vince being himself and knowing he was going to bring us back.

I cannot wait for the privilege of screaming in his honor when they retire his number….

It was the wrong angle. Vince was running straight ahead, directly at the spot at which David Thomas had engaged Michigan strong safety Ernest Shazor. Free safety Ryan Mundy crept up, waiting to see which way around the block Vince was going to run. Vince chose right. He loved to go right. Mundy probably knew he loved to go right. And Mundy went with him. But he took the wrong angle and Vince flew into the endzone, untouched by Mundy. Untouched by anyone. And as Mundy slapped his hands together in exasperation before Vince was even fully past him, it occurred to me, as it undoubtedly did to Ryan Mundy at that instant and to countless others before and since, that when Vince has the ball, there is no such thing as a correct angle.

YouTube (play is at the 57 second mark)

The first time I saw VY was fall practice 2003. The WR’s and DB’s were doing one-on-one drills. Everyone stood when the matchup of Roy Williams and Nathan Vasher came up. VY was at QB. Roy put a move on Vasher that was like the one TO put on Pacman a few weeks ago. VY missed Roy by about 15 yards and the ball bounced over my head on the sidelines. I thought to myself, this dude sucks.

Fast forward to January 1, 2005. The day I realized we had something special.

I was at a sports bar in Lexington, KY with 4 close friends. They were not UT fans, only coming to support my unhealthy loyalty to my obsession, UT football. After Michigan took the lead 31-21 with 2:10 remaining in the 3rd, 3 of my friends left, saying they couldn’t stand to watch what I was going through. Only my good friend Josh and I remained. So, there we were, in a little sports bar, in Lexington, SURROUNDED BY ABOUT 15 MICHIGAN FANS. I had my UT grear on, so they knew were I stood.

Next came the 4th quarter. That one moment, when VY spun free of the D, and raced into the endzone, I knew we were going to win. Even Keith Jackson was at a loss for words. “What just happened?” he said.

When Dusty’s kick sailed through the uprights, the only sound in the place were Josh and I screaming, and Michigan fans leaving. Dan Fouts said it was the greatest individual performance by a QB he had ever seen…

But Mr. Fouts had no idea what he had coming in Rose Bowl 2006.

there were still many “VY to receiver!” critics going into the ‘04 season. After starting off strong, Vince ran into a roadblock that was OU, and many of us were left wondering whether Texas would ever be able to get over that hump. A few weeks later, we were down 35-7 to The Les. Then Vince and Cedric ran the zone read offense straight into the OSU D and into our hearts.

The last drive before the half was classic VY, and brought hope to the fans. The second half was a Longhorn steamroll. After we won that game (followed by the Kansas escape the next week), I knew that Texas had found greatness.

He had already had 4th and 18 against KU, but against Mizzou in 2005, VY faced 3rd and 30 with the Horns up by 8 midway through the second quarter. The legend goes that in the huddle VY asked for “enough time to make a sandwich”, which he got from the o-line, and took off down the field. 34 yards later VY had the first down.

To me it showed that when he wanted, VY couldn’t be stopped.

See it here

Me and my friend were watching it, in not the most solid state of mind, and he was freaking out, saying dude were gonna lose! OMG there goes the National Championship, and the whole time I was just chilling, telling him that Vince is not gonna let us lose.

I was convinced after the Rose Bowl against Michigan that Vince could win any game he wanted to, and especially after the Ohio State game.

So I’m just watching telling him to calm down as everyone else is freaking out. And sure enough, the comeback starts and the rest is history.

In Vince we trust.

was still being argued after Missouri ‘04.

Then Davis and Mack showed him highlights of his play and began to “let him have fun” (I think this was the only VY story Mushmouth knew, he repeated it so often), and the rest is history.

After the ankle injury,during the KSU game where he came back after a couple of plays, I’d say everytime he took a snap was the most exiting play for me. Earl C. was my favorite FB player both College/Pro until Vince. The man now has me a Titan fan.

So, since this hasn’t been mentioned yet, I’ll say the overtime run against the Houston Texans to win the game @ Houston in front of his hometown fans.

All through 2005, I kept thinking Vince wasn’t for real—he didn’t throw the ball right, he ran too much and was gonna get hurt, he held the ball too loosely which would lead to fumbles. Whatever, I was not a believer. But during that first Rose Bowl against Michigan, I was watching with my brother (an OU fan, don’t ask) and he started saying “They can’t stop him.” And something clicked in my head, as I realized it was true. Nobody could stop him. And for the rest of the game and that magical season which followed, I’m sure all my neighbors got quite familiar with this: “THEY CAN’T STOP HIM!!!”

All through 2005 2004...

The 3rd down touchdown against Michigan down 10 points is one of my favorites, but someone already mentioned it, and while I was at the game, I didnt see him run it in (When Vince was wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage, I slammed down in my chair and screamed at the top of my lungs, unbeknownst to me that Vince escaped and scored. BOSS.)

However, one of my most cherished memories of Vince Young, putting aside all of the game-changing, and at most times game-saving runs, involves a simple gesture he displayed in the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado.

I was so utterly dejected after the 2001 Big XII Championship game, that I wanted nothing more than to see Vince Young take the reins in that same type of atmosphere against Colorado and come out victorious. I wanted Mack Brown to let the dogs loose and absolutely drop the hammer on the Buffaloes, even though none of those players were present when Colorado upset Texas. Its hard to forget how Texas scored on ten of their eleven drives to open the game, which is amazing in itself, but I won’t forget how in Colorado’s opening drive, they managed to get it down the field pretty well, and if it wasn’t for a fumble, they might have scored a FG or TD. So the Colorado players have all of this confidence after the drive, and they truly believe, if only for a moment, that they had a chance at hanging with Texas. Not so fast. In Texas’ opening drive, Vince marches it down the field, and on 2nd down at the 18 yard line, everyone is bracing for a VY TD run that he has done a thousand times before. He takes off, and he is almost there, but a safety cuts him off at the three yard line. Instead of juking around him, Vince gives him the fiercest stiff arm I have ever seen a quarterback give, almost tackling him en route to the one yard line. The cornerback got up and started jawing with Vince, but we all knew who had just won that battle. It was at that point that I, and everyone else I was watching the game with, knew that Vince was about to do something special in that game and the one following it.

With all of this talk about Terrelle Pryor being the next Vince Young for Ohio State, I think about every facet of Vince Young and realize how foolish that statement is. Vince had the attitude, the talent, the strength, the elusiveness, the leadership, the heart, and the feet unlike any other player to play the game at the college level. 54b is right, there will never be another Vince Young.

Rather than try to add to all the awesome moments already described, here’s one showing Vince as more than your ordinary college football player…. My son was in the Cub Scouts and we got to go to practice during the ‘05 season just open to Scouts. The rest of the team carried on as if the seats were empty, but Vince came over and led a couple rounds of Texas Fight back and forth. Then he went back to the sidelines and stood flat footed throwing 25 yard lasers to the receivers. No arc, just zipped ‘em in there on a frozen rope. Merrill Hoge and his “accuracy” comments be damned….