Young’s breakout game was the last Rose Bowl when he ran for 20, 60, 10 and 23 touchdowns and threw for another in Texas’ 38-37 win over Michigan.

“Vince Young is the finest athlete I’ve ever been on the field with,” Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr said afterward.

As a passer, Young silenced his critics with 2,769 yards and 26 touchdowns this season. He’s also run for a team-high 850 yards and nine TDs in an offense that scored 50 or more points seven times. His pass efficiency rating is 168.6, the best in the nation.

“We take for granted now what he does,” Brown said. “He does whatever he needs to do to win.”

Young’s arm got Texas its biggest win of the season, a 25-22 victory at Ohio State, with a late-game touchdown pass to Limas Sweed.

Then the season really started rolling.

Texas ended five years of frustration against Oklahoma. Young was the center of the post-game celebration, leading thousands of fans in singing the “Eyes of Texas.”

Three weeks later, he saved Texas’ season with 506 total yards — 267 on the ground, 239 through the air — in a 47-28 win at Oklahoma State. Texas trailed 28-9 in the second quarter and Young’s 80-yard touchdown run at the start of the third turned the game.

“When the chips are down, he can pull something from nowhere,” offensive tackle Justin Blalock said.

Young is just as important a leader off the field as on it.

He leads the pre-game, behind-the-scenes “flow sessions” of music and dancing that keep the players and coaches loose. To get in better touch with his players, Brown downloaded hours of hip-hop music into his iPod.

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“I was telling him (Brown) sometimes what 50 Cent be saying, it’s similar to some of our guys’ lives,” Young said. “We talk to each other like we’re best friends. I knew our relationship would be good, but not like it is now. We’ve been together a looonnngg time. It’s let me grow into a man.”

Since midseason, Young has maintained that he plans to return for a senior season, even if his family could use the riches of an NFL contract.

“It’s my decision and right now my decision is to come back to school,” he said before Texas beat Colorado for the Big 12 title.

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For now, he’s having too much fun to think about much of anything other than playing USC for the national title. After the Big 12 championship, Young and the players danced in a spontaneous “flow session” on the field.

A red rose tucked behind his ear, he lifted the Big 12 trophy over his head and gave a shout to the tens of thousands of Texas fans whooping it up in the stands. Before leaving, he went to the stands to sign autographs.

“Knowing where I could be at,” Young said, “(I’m) very thankful for the position God has blessed me to be in.”

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