2001 Miami football team gets more support from ESPN analysts
Johnson and Shockey’s performances came during an era before the BCS had a separate National Championship game. The first BCS National Championship game that was separate from a BCS Bowl Game was in January 2007. That was the season after Texas defeated USC in the Rose Bowl.
Andre Ware and Rod Gilmore disagree with a metric that ranks the 2005 Longhorns as the best title-winning team of the last 20 years.
— ESPN Player (@espnplayer) July 30, 2018
So, is the 2005 Texas team the best title team of the last two decades? pic.twitter.com/I4jCoJ2m6p
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Johnson was the Co-MVP of the Rose Bowl with quarterback Ken Dorsey. He finished with seven receptions for 199 yards and two touchdowns. Shockey had five receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown.
Ware didn’t even name safety Ed Reed, Dorsey, running backs Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Najeh Davenport and Frank Gore and linebackers D.J. Williams and Jonathan Vilma.
The list of Miami stars from the 2001 team is extensive. Gilmore then has his chance to respond to if he was buying into the claim of the 2005 Texas national champions as the best since 1998. He mentioned that he would put USC’s 2004 team up there with Miami.
Like the Hurricanes loss to Ohio State in 2002 after winning the 2001 National Championship, USC’s 2005 team lost to Texas a year after an undefeated National Championship season. If the Hurricanes and Trojans had come up with national titles in those seasons there would not even be this debate.