Few are bigger in Texas than Young

AUSTIN, Texas -- Maybe Vince Young is too good. Maybe the challenges of a normal college football season aren't enough to satisfy the University of Texas quarterback's sense of adventure. It's almost as if he's telling opponents, ''Come on, show me what you've got" or ''Is that the best you've got?"

Young is again on the cusp of greatness, locked in a race for the Heisman Trophy against last season's recipient, Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart, and the heir apparent, Trojans tailback Reggie Bush. But it is about more than individual honors for Young as he prepares for tomorrow's Big 12 title game against Colorado and the ultimate challenge ahead -- a date with No. 1 USC in the Rose Bowl.

The Longhorns haven't lost since Oct. 9, 2004 (a 12-0 loss to Oklahoma), as they've won 18 straight and matched the Trojans win for win, touchdown for touchdown, highlight film for highlight film.

But it is about more than simply winning. If this is, indeed, the final college season for the junior phenom, Young's Texas legacy will be as much about how he put up the numbers as the actual statistics.

Take what happened last month in Stillwater, Okla., where the Longhorns were feeling a little too good after turning back a challenge by previously unbeaten Texas Tech. In a classic letdown game, Texas trailed Oklahoma State, 28-9, and Young didn't look like the best QB in the game, much less the country.

No problem. All Young did was come out in the second half and lead a comeback of almost record proportions as Texas put up 38 unanswered points en route to a 47-28 victory. The numbers? Oh, a career-high 267 yards rushing, another 239 yards passing, and four touchdowns -- two passing, two running.

It wasn't even his best comeback against Oklahoma State. That came a year ago, when he brought the Longhorns back from a 28-point halftime deficit to a 56-35 victory.

Just add it to the résumé of comebacks Young has put together, including a remarkable five-touchdown effort (four running, one passing) in last year's 38-37 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl. This season, he has had to rally the 11-0 Longhorns in three games, after doing it seven times last season.

''I'm the guy," said Young matter-of-factly, sitting in the lounge of the Longhorn football complex a few weeks ago. ''And I'm going to be a leader. That's my role."

Young takes that role seriously, even though he does it by ''not being uptight."

When you're uptight, ''You throw interceptions, fumble, make misreads," he said. ''I take it on myself to stay loose. Just ask the guys in the huddle how much I make them laugh."

OK, we will.

''The guy is a character," said tight end Neale Tweedie. ''He's so confident and he just knows he's going to make something happen. It's just a matter of time."

Take the Oklahoma game this season. After five straight losses to its conference rival, Texas was sure it would end the Sooner jinx. But it was a nip-and-tuck game until the final seconds of the second quarter, then Texas rolled on to a 45-12 victory.

''There was a TV timeout," said Young. ''The [OU] defense was going on how we were going to sprint to the left. Our offensive line turned around said, 'They know the play.' I told the guys, 'OK, they know the play. After we score, we'll be laughing about it.' They turned around laughing. After I threw the ball to Billy Pittman [a 64-yard TD pass], you could see everyone in the end zone falling on each other, laughing."

During the final hectic minutes of a come-from-behind 25-22 win over Ohio State, Young told his teammates to turn around and look at the Buckeyes. ''Don't they look ugly?" he said.

Young has been in charge all his life. Not so much because he wanted to be, but because he felt he had no choice. He was the man of the family when he was still a boy.

He was only 4 when his father, Vincent, disappeared, committed to a life that Young still hasn't quite accepted. Vincent Young is in prison, serving a 16-year sentence for burglary and various crimes that have kept him in jail and out of his son's life.

Vince grew up in Houston, in a household dominated by his mother and his grandmother. The Hiram Clarke section of Houston is still Young's home.

''I go out there in my front yard and sit there and kick it in with the guys," said Young. ''When they see me, everybody stops. I know everybody in the neighborhood. I got to go home, back to my roots, and think what I did on the corner when I was little."

Some of it was good, some of it bad, some of it life-threatening.

When he was 7, he was riding his bike home and trying to get the attention of a girl riding next to him. Young was struck by a car as he made a turn. The next thing he saw was his mother, Felicia, running down the street toward him with tears in her eyes. The handlebars had been jammed into his stomach, causing internal injuries.

Or there was the time when he was in seventh grade at the Dowling Middle School, and Young was playing the role that his friends wanted him to play: neighborhood enforcer.

''If I kept running with that crowd, I'd be in so much trouble now," said Young. ''One time, when I was in seventh grade, I actually got arrested at school before spring break. Our school was mostly gangs and I was hanging around the Bloods and we had this brawl with this Hispanic gang. I got caught up and got handcuffed.

''I called my mom. She was upset. All I was thinking was I was going to get a whupping. But she came in mad at them because they had handcuffs on me. She said, 'Take them handcuffs off of him.' They took them off. I got suspended and the whole ride home, my mom was telling me, 'If you hang with them, you're going to end up dead or in prison.' "

Five years later, Young was headed in a different direction. He had turned into a star at Houston's Madison High School, and he was seriously recruited by several colleges. Young said he also considered Arkansas, Miami, and Southern Mississippi.

But the more he thought about it, the more he felt he needed to stay closer to his roots -- closer to his mother, grandmother, and his friends in the neighborhood. ''Close to home, my family could see me play, a two-hour drive away," said Young. ''I came here and it was the only place I wanted to go."

Young has been good to go ever since, trying to maintain his balance in a world that can seem out of kilter in a heartbeat.

Earlier this season, he was talking to a sideline reporter, who told him that she knew Leinart. ''I gave her my home number and told her to pass it to Leinart," Young said. ''I told her to tell him I respect him. I respect how he has stayed poised."

A few days later, Young's phone rang. ''Vince, this is Matt," said the caller.

''At first I thought it was [backup Texas QB] Matt Nordgren," said Young, who then said the two quarterbacks exchanged compliments and a ''Maybe I will see you down the road."

It would seem the meeting will occur in January. Young says he will rely on the counsel of others in contemplating his future. People such as Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, who has been a friend and an adviser.

McNair first saw Young when Young attended McNair's football camp in Mississippi. ''I tore the camp up," said Young. ''Ever since then, he's been like a father figure, a big brother to me."

Young knows the game. He knows each one is different. ''Football is like a street fight," he said. ''It's like one neighborhood against another when you are out there. It's about respect. You want to talk trash? OK. Don't disrespect us."

For Texas, and for Vince Young, that hasn't happened for a while.