Vince Young + Gangsters + Trash talk = National Championship.

I hate the University of Texas - the fans, the players, and even that wasted medium-well opportunity, Bevo. For them, there is no love to be found here. But for quite a while, I've had a soft spot for Vince Young. Every year the collegiate football world sees quarterbacks in the same mold as Vince but I can't think of any more dangerous. His ability to win games seemingly on his own (2005 Rose Bowl vs. Michigan, 2005 vs. Ohio State, & 2004/5 vs. Oklahoma State) and destroy teams rather effortlessly is what sets him apart. Now, I don't think he's the best pure quarterback in college football and he's certainly not the best all-around player, but Young is a spectacular athlete and I respect what he's accomplished both on and off the field. From all reports, Young is a good kid - humble, generous, responsible, and all of that other crap we pretend to value over athletic prowess. A small part of me always rooted for him, so when I was directed to an article where Young details why the won't be intimidated by USC and what he hopes voters look at when picking the Heisman, I expected the typical cliches and fluff.

"They have great speed. We have great speed. They have a great quarterback. We have a great quarterback. Both have great running backs. We can go on down the line. They have a funny coach. We have a funny coach. I'm looking forward to it." Harmless, right? But as it develops, Young slowly becomes your typical buffoon.

On what Heisman voters should look at when making their selection:
"I hope they'll [Heisman voters] see the numbers I've put up are basically from the first half. The second half I'm basically on the bench. If I played a full game, I'd have some more stats. But Coach [Mack] Brown doesn't like to blow out people, so he puts our starters on the bench." He followed this genius up with, "If they look at that and how much I love my teammates and how well we play together and how big of a leader I am to them, I'm pretty sure I should win it."
Translation: "Vote for me because I'm so inVINCEible in the first half, by the second, Coach sits me just to have mercy on the innocent. It's a shame for my stats but I'm so hot, I'll set my uniform on fire and that's not safe for anybody." Way to make a case for yourself, Vince. Jesus.

Why Young may not win
"If they're just looking for the big, big highlights, Bush is going to win. I had a couple highlights, but not as much as he does."
Translation: Reggie Bush is an electrifying, human highlight reel. I guess you'd vote for him if you're into that best college player ever kinda thing. But for those of you interested in Michael Vick but slower and with a more accurate arm, I'm your man.

Are the Horns intimidated?
"Intimidated by what? I don't know why people think they're going to scare us. We've been to the Granddaddy of Them All. We've been in the big game as well." I side with him here. In addition, the 2005 USC team isn't 34-0 with back-to-back national championships -- the program is. This particular team is 11-0 and could easily be 9-2; they're not as scary as the media makes them out to be.

Has USC seen an offense or a team like the Longhorns?
"They haven't seen the different guys on our team who are gangster," Young said. "We've got some guys who will talk some trash... If they say something to us, we're going to talk back and we're going to talk trash the whole game."

Ooooh, look out USC - not only are the Horns gangster, they also have plans to talk trash. I bet that'll get you off your game. A well-timed "how ya like that, bitch?" here and a "fuck you muthafuckas" there and the Texas Longhorns may pull off an upset in the 8th installment of Game of the Millenium.