Search - 2005 FedEx Orange Bowl National Champions - Southern California on DVD

Sooners' worst nightmare caught on video

Joseph Haschka | Glendale, CA USA | 04/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Land Run of 1889 occurred at noon on April 22nd of that year when 2 million acres of the Oklahoma District were opened up to settlers, each of whom could claim 160 acres. It was, literally, a "run" as thousands lined up along the territory's border to dash across the line at the noon signal and stake their claims. "Sooners" were those who, legally or otherwise, contrived to be in the district beforehand and thus have an edge when it came to claiming the choice plots.

On January 4, 2005, the University of Oklahoma Sooners, the nation's #2 ranked college football team, advanced into Miami's Orange Bowl National Championship Game hoping to lay claim to the #1 title by ambushing the top ranked University of Southern California Trojans. This DVD is the ABC Sports broadcast of the contest minus the commercials and half time show.

It isn't until you see the gridiron action stripped of all irrelevant distractions that you realize what a sound thrashing the Men of Troy visited upon the hapless Sooners. The Trojans not only dismantled the Sooner schooner, but figuratively slaughtered the menfolk, carried the women and children off into captivity, killed their dogs and chickens, and burned the settlers' Bibles. In effect, that's what a 55-19 margin of victory represents in a game of such importance.

A fair-weather USC football fan since the playing days of Mike Garrett, I was stupefied by how easy the Trojans made it look. To be honest, I beforehand thought USC might have a tough go of it. I remembered too well the team's close calls during the regular season, and was maybe just a bit intimidated by the Sooner pre-game chest thumping. Watching the DVD, I could relax and observe the carnage in leisure.

This 2005 FEDEX ORANGE BOWL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME presentation is a must acquisition for all USC fans, who'll bring it out to savor again and again what is perhaps the Trojans' greatest victory in recent memory. Sooner fans will want to buy up all the copies they can just to destroy all evidence of the debacle.

I was tempted to feel a little sorry for The Sooners' celebrated quarterback, Jason White, who, by the end of the contest, looked like a thoroughly whupped dog. But then I remembered the 1971 collegiate football season. I was in the Navy at the time, and my duty section included three shipmates from Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska - all Big 12 schools - and I got thoroughly fed up with the trio's intrasectional posturing. (Remember, that was the year of the Cornhuskers' Johnny Rodgers and the Thanksgiving Day showdown between Oklahoma and Nebraska.) Revenge at the hands of a Pac-10 school is sweet, albeit long overdo.

The DVD includes several special features, including a post-game interview with Coach Pete Carrol, Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart's announcement that he'll return for his senior year, and other stuff of interest to the obsessive fan/alumnus. I'm not either, so I balked at wallowing in the victory to the extent of watching them. I may get hate mail."

WHAT A NIGHT!

Steven Travers | CALIFORNIA | 04/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was of course the top of the mountain for Troy, and as the 2006 Rose Bowl showed getting there is tougher than they made it look in dismantling OU at the Orange Bowl.

One note from that night: the OU fans were classy and their women beautiful.

History will record the 2004 USC team to be one of the best ever, maybe in the top three. Defensively, they were a juggernaut as opposed to the 2005 version.

This DVD also reveals some strange sentiments from the punditry, with Bob Griese saying Matt Leinart had no help from his teammates, who of course were as talented a group as has ever been assembled. What was he thinking?

Before the game, OU was not actually favored but a lot of people saw them as the more physical squad, but SC crushed 'em.

What this also highlights are Leinart's passing and his great receiving corps. TV really was made for the passing attack more than the ground game, which is fun in person because of the dodging and open-field angles, but the camera captures the spirals and the great leaping catches of these Trojan men.

Thanks for th memories from Miami, fellas!

STEVEN TRAVERS, author of
THE USC TROJANS: COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S ALL-TIME GREATEST DYNASTY
BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN

USCSTEVE1@aol.com"

Destruction in Miami

R. K. Anderson | 09/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a Trojan fan, this is a can't miss DVD. With the whole world picking the Big Bad Sooners to destroy the Trojans, the actual outcome was quite different. From the first half onslaught to final gun, this is a truly entertaining game. The DVD has good quality audio and video oppossed to other copies reportedly on the internet."

Great game for Trojan fans, DVD quality is OK.

Nelson Junior | São Paulo, Brazil | 08/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I bought it because the game was showed tape-delayed here in Brazil, with some segments cut for time.
This game was great for me being an USC Alum. Others will find it tedious towards the end, with Oklahoma being totally dominated.
DVD quality is OK, no widescreen in it, and the image sometimes is a little choppy. The extras are mainly interviews, the Leinart announcement, and the ESPN Gameday after the game."