2005 Rose Bowl The 2005 Rose Bowl Game was the 91st edition of the college football bowl game , held on January 1 , 2005 at the self - named stadium in Pasadena , California . The Texas Longhorns , second place finishers of the Big 12 Conference ' s South Division , defeated the Michigan Wolverines , co - champions of the Big Ten Conference , 38 - 37 . Texas quarterback Vince Young and Michigan linebacker LaMarr Woodley were named the Rose Bowl Players of the Game , the first time that the Rose Bowl separately recognized an offensive and defensive player of the game . The contest marked the first time Texas and Michigan faced each other in football , despite the long history of each school ' s football program , and also marked the first Rose Bowl in which a Big Ten team appeared without an opponent from the Pacific - 10 Conference , excluding the 2002 game , which served as that year ' s BCS National Championship Game . ABC broadcast the game nationally in 720p format , the first time the Rose Bowl was telecast in HDTV in the United States . Teams . The USC Trojans and the Oklahoma Sooners were invited to play in the BCS Championship game in the 2005 Orange Bowl . This gave the Rose Bowl an at - large pick , as they gave up their traditional Pacific - 10 Conference champion representative . The 2005 Fiesta Bowl also got an at - large pick , having given up Oklahoma to the Orange Bowl . Because the non - BCS Utah Utes team had finished ranked in the top eight , either the Fiesta Bowl or Rose Bowl had to select them . That left one other slot open for the highest BCS ranked team . The Rose Bowl had first choice of this team over Utah , having given up the higher ranked team . There was a BCS controversy in the remaining at - large team that was selected to play in the BCS bowl games . The California Golden Bears expected to get the invite , having only lost one game to the # 1 and undefeated Trojans . Meanwhile , the Texas Longhorns had lost only one game as well - to the # 2 and undefeated Oklahoma Sooners . In the 2004 NCAA Division I - A football rankings on November 27 , Cal was in the # 4 BCS position and Texas was # 5 . Texas remained idle the next Saturday , but Cal had defeated the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in a makeup game from Hurricane Ivan on December 4 . Going into the game , the Golden Bears were made aware that while margin of victory did not affect computer rankings , it did affect human polls and just eight voters changing their vote could affect the final standings . In a dramatic twist , Texas , who had been left out of the BCS the year before because of the Oklahoma loss in the Big 12 championship , got enough voters to change their mind in the final vote and more computer points to slide into the BCS # 4 slot . When the December 4 rankings came out , Texas was in the # 4 BCS position and Cal was in the # 5 position . Texas edged California out of the # 4 spot by a mere . 0102 points . The final poll positions had been unchanged with Cal at # 4 AP , # 4 coaches , and # 6 computers polls and Texas at # 6 AP , # 5 coaches , and # 4 computer polls . Michigan Wolverines . A 28 - 20 loss at Notre Dame took the Wolverines out of contention for the BCS championship . They went through the Big Ten schedule , playing close games except for a 42 - 20 blowout of the Northwestern Wildcats . In the Michigan - Ohio State rivalry game , the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines 37 - 21 . Iowa and Michigan shared the Big Ten Conference title with identical 7 - 1 records . A 30 - 17 Michigan win over Iowa on September 25 ultimately decided the conference ' s Rose Bowl participant . Michigan was awarded the traditional Big Ten Rose Bowl selection by virtue of the victory in head - to - head competition over Iowa . Texas Longhorns . Texas lost only one game , to the 2004 Oklahoma Sooner football team . In the Big 12 South division , this meant that Oklahoma would face Colorado in the Big 12 Championship Game . Oklahoma was invited to the National Championship game . Because Texas were not conference champions , their next bowl game would be arbitrarily picked , and the outcome heavily depended on the play of other teams . Texas would eventually gain an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game by virtue of their # 4 BCS ranking ( the top 4 BCS teams are guaranteed spots in a BCS bowl game if the first 3 teams are conference champions ) . As USC was participating in the Orange Bowl ( that year ' s BCS Championship Game ) , the Longhorns were chosen to play in " The Granddaddy of ' em All " by the Tournament of Roses Rose Bowl Committee as an at - large team . Game summary . The scoring was even 14 - 14 at halftime . The second half began with quarterback Vince Young scoring on the Wolverines with a 60 - yard touchdown run . Michigan held a 10 - point lead in the third quarter . Both teams traded scores and it looked as Michigan would take this game with a late go ahead field goal in the fourth quarter . However , enough time remained for Texas to win . Driving 47 yards in 10 plays , Texas had one final chance . Dusty Mangum ' s 37 - yard field goal wobbled through the uprights as time expired . Aftermath . Texas coach Mack Brown was criticized for publicly politicking voters to put Texas ahead of California . Cal coach Jeff Tedford called for coaches ' votes to be made public . California ' s cause was hurt when it was less than impressive in a 26 - 16 victory over Southern Miss in Hattiesburg , Mississippi the night before bowl bids were extended . This game was rescheduled from September due to Hurricane Ivan . Weakening Cal ' s cause after the fact was their 45 - 31 loss to Texas Tech University in the 2004 Holiday Bowl . Cal played without two of the highest performing receivers in the NCAA , however , this loss was attributed in many press reports to the Bears ' disappointment over being denied their first Rose Bowl appearance in 45 years . The Associated Press , as a result of two consecutive seasons of BCS controversy , pulled its poll out of the BCS formula . The AP poll was replaced by the Harris poll , and the AP continues to give out its own national championship trophy . Regardless , many in the press consider the 2005 Rose Bowl to be one of the most exciting contests the Bowl has ever produced . Ratings were spectacularly high and the game itself was an instant classic . Many players from the game ( e . g . Young , Edwards , Breaston , Henne , Woodley ) would move on to prominent roles in the National Football League . This win set the stage for Texas to return to the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship in the 2006 Rose Bowl . Vince Young would be the Offensive MVP for a second consecutive year .