The Longhorn Legends Face-off Championship Round
The list of Longhorn Legends reads longer than a Lord of the Rings novel, but who is the ultimate Texas Longhorns ambassador? That's what Horns Illustrated aims to determine in our Longhorn Legends Face-off and the answer lies in your hands.
Here we are at the mountaintop of Longhorn Legends mountain. (That's a real place, I swear.) We started with 64 of the greatest Longhorns and now it comes down to a burnt orange battle to see who can stand at the top. Vince Young, the national champion phenom who crushed the hearts of USC fans everywhere, clashes with the master, Darrell Royal. It's time for you to determine the champion of this acronym-laden awesomeness.
Vince Young
It is impossible to name a single Texas football player who was as electric as Vince Young. VY could kill you with his effortless deep passes and was impossible to stop as a scrambling quarterback. With Young under center, the Longhorns were never truly out of a game, no matter what the deficit was. After beating Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl, Young guaranteed to a return to Pasadena and he more than delivered on the promise. In 2005, Young was honored with the Manning, Maxwell, and Davey O'Brien awards. He was also named as the AT&T/ABC Sports National Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. But his greatest effort, and the moment that will forever define his legacy as a Longhorn Legend, came in his come-from-behind national championship win over the insanely hyped USC Trojans. In the 41-38 victory, Vince Young accounted for 467 yards of total offense (200 rushing, 267 passing) and three rushing touchdowns (including a 9-yard TD scramble on 4th down with 19 seconds left). There are Texas quarterbacks who will hold records over Young, but he is without a doubt the player you would want as your quarterback with the game on the line. There is and will only ever be one player like Vince Young at the University of Texas.
Darrell Royal
Coach Darrell K. Royal left such an unrivaled impression on the city of Austin, the word legend almost seems unworthy of him. Royal embodied the best of Austin, loving both college football and the live music scene. During the week, you were as likely to see him brag about handing the mic to friend Willie Nelson as he was of seeing quarterback James Street hand off the ball during one of Royal's three national championship seasons. The superlatives never end when discussing Darrell Royal. An innovator, he installed UT's famous wishbone offense. He never coached a losing season in his twenty years at UT, finishing with a 167-47-5 overall record that included 11 SWC titles.The man crafted words with the best of them, belting out "Royalisms" like, ""God gives talent, size, speed. But a guy can control how hard he tries." But most importantly, he was a truly remarkable person who never let his larger than life presence prevent him from touching everyone around him.
