Los Angeles 3-peat pursuit: Trojans needed just two yards vs Texas

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to win a three-peat MLB World Series championship for the first time in the franchise’s rich history. USC football came agonizingly close to a three-peat title twice. The first time was in 1933 after winning national championships in 1931 and 1932. The second failed three-peat is the one every Trojan knows: 2005, punctuated by the 2006 Rose Bowl against Texas.

We don’t have to walk through all the details of that Rose Bowl game. You know them and don’t want to relive the game too deeply or fully. We can simply say that going into the game against Vince Young and the rest of the Longhorns, USC had forged a 34-game winning streak and a three-game BCS bowl winning streak. That BCS bowl streak began with the 2003 Orange Bowl blowout of Iowa. It continued with the 2004 Rose Bowl win over Michigan. It then moved to the 2005 Orange Bowl demolition of Oklahoma before arriving at the 2006 Rose Bowl against Texas.

USC football was a dynasty at the height of its powers and searching for a unique feat other great programs and coaches have not won. Nick Saban never three-peated at Alabama. He won in 2011 and 2012 but not 2013. He won several other years but could not repeat in those situations.

Kirby Smart won back-to-back national championships at Georgia in 2021 and 2022, but he couldn’t win in 2023.

Winning a three-peat in the 2005 season would have set USC and Pete Carroll apart. By the slimmest and smallest of margins, this special piece of history and immortality eluded the Trojans. What might have been.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football 3-peat bid, 34-game win streak ended in Texas Rose Bowl

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