The Bowl Championship Series began in 1998 as the successor to the Bowl Alliance. It was made possible once the Rose Bowl agreed to release the winner of the Big Ten/Pac-10 when necessary to force a national championship game. That, in turn, began a new era of college football.
Since 1998 we have witnessed some of the most electrifying and tantalizing players the sport has ever had: Tim Tebow, Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Michael Vick, Matt Leinart, Ed Reed, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Pat White, just to name a few. But who ranks in the top 3 of the BCS era? Well, I’ll attempt to settle it.
I have no mathematical formula for this. I built the list on the “eye test” — which players impressed me the most in the BCS era, and which one I would most want on my team in a critical game or moment. These were the three I landed on.
#3 — Reggie Bush, University of Southern California
Forget Bush’s now-tainted college legacy after being retroactively ruled ineligible by the NCAA. That has no bearing on a list of the best college football players of the BCS era. Reggie Bush was one of the most exciting players to ever grace a college field. His tantalizing, high-flying style littered ESPN’s weekly highlights, and his will to win kept USC in the 2005 national championship race at Notre Dame and against Fresno State.
Reggie Bush’s greatest game: November 19th, 2005 — Los Angeles Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
The 10-0 #1 Trojans walked into the Coliseum as heavy favorites over Fresno State. Then, after the first 30 minutes of play, USC found itself down 21-10. Bush decided he had seen enough. 513 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns later, USC escaped with a 50-42 victory — and Bush secured himself the now-vacated Heisman.
#2 — Tim Tebow, University of Florida
Florida fans would have a legitimate gripe over why Tebow isn’t #1, but I ranked these players by which single player would make a loaded team the best — and there, I think Tebow finishes a hair behind Vince Young.
Tebow had arguably the greatest career a college football player has ever had. He helped Florida to the 2006 national championship as the backup quarterback, then followed that up by becoming the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy.
Tebow was also a tremendous person off the field. He spent a good amount of his offseasons on missions to impoverished areas, and personified everything good about college athletes. His leadership, on and off the field, will be very difficult to ever rival.
Tim Tebow’s greatest game: December 6th, 2008 — Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
The 11-1 #4 Gators walked into the SEC Championship against the #1, 12-0 Alabama Crimson Tide, with a ticket to the BCS National Championship on the line. Tebow would not disappoint Gator Nation.
With Florida down 17-20 heading into the fourth quarter, Tebow was determined to will his team to victory. He didn’t wait long to start, marching the Gators to the 1-yard line, where Demps ran in a score. The Florida defense forced a three-and-out and put the ball back in Tebow’s hands. Tim answered with a touchdown pass to Riley Cooper to seal Florida’s BCS ticket.
Tebow finished 14-of-22 for 216 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, plus 17 carries for 57 yards. Florida would go on to beat #1 Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship, giving Tebow his second title.
#1 — Vince Young, University of Texas
The master of comebacks. A guy who refused to lose. This was Vince Young. He began his Texas career as a redshirt freshman, splitting time with Chance Mock at quarterback. From the very start, anyone who watched him knew he was special — a special player stuck in a system that wasn’t fully maximizing his God-given talents.
So Texas offensive coordinator Greg Davis and head coach Mack Brown designed a new scheme for their blue-chip athlete — the zone-read spread offense. Vince Young immediately blossomed into the quarterback most of the country remembers. Electrifying runs, and throws that would steal airtime from Reggie Bush on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
But that wasn’t what made Young so great. What made him the best college football player of the BCS era was his refusal to lose. Against Kansas in late 2004, Texas found itself down 20-23 on 4th-and-18 late in the fourth quarter. Young refused to let Texas’ BCS dreams die, ripping off a miraculous 22-yard conversion that made Jayhawk defenders look foolish in the process.
Young would rinse and repeat this throughout his tremendous career. Fans of Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Southern California all joined Kansas in the pain of watching Vince Young snatch victory away at the last moment. Young finished his Texas career 30-2 as a starter, with two BCS wins and one consensus national championship.
Vince Young’s greatest game: January 6th, 2006 — The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA
The 12-0 #2 Longhorns had reached their goal: a shot at the national championship against the favored #1 Trojans. Vince Young had used his Heisman snub as extra motivation to prove to the world who the best player in college football really was.
With 6:42 left, it looked like all of VY’s determination was for naught. ABC commentator Dan Fouts, responding to Keith Jackson’s note that Young had a lot of success leading his team back, said:
Well, he has had success bringing his team from behind. But this is USC. This is the two-time defending national champion, with one of the greatest defensive coordinator/head coaches of all time — Pete Carroll.
Vince Young then marched his team 69 yards, capping the drive with a tantalizing 17-yard scramble to the end zone to pull Texas within five. Now it was up to the Texas defense to stop the unstoppable USC offense. The defense knew that if they could get one stop, Young would lead them to the promised land. They held LenDale White on 4th-and-2 and handed the ball back to VY. Young marched Texas methodically down to the 8-yard line, where USC stiffened and forced a 4th-and-5 with the national championship on the line. Keith Jackson called it:
4th-and-5, the national championship on the line right here. He’s going for the corner… HE’S GOT IT! VINCE YOUNG SCORES!
Vince Young had done it — an implausible 12-point comeback in the final six minutes. He finished the game 30-of-40 for 260 yards passing, with 200 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Without doubt the greatest individual performance in national championship history — and arguably the greatest individual performance, period, in college football history.
Vince Young truly was… NUMBER ONE.
