In sports the bottom line is as simple as it gets… in the illustrious words of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis: "Just win, baby." That being said, it absolutely amazes me when so-called "experts" point out every single flaw they can find in Texas signal-caller Vince Young’s mechanics without stating the obvious -- he simply will not allow his team to taste defeat.

Since Young arrived in Austin and strapped on the pads for the first time, two things have been certain; 1) Young is nothing short of great, and 2) He would be battling critics just as much as opponents throughout his college tenure. Conventional logic dictates number one should cancel out number two, but not in the sports world; therefore, Young has basically been on "trial" since his first start in 2003, with his constant heroics serving as his defense.

As a redshirt freshman, Young only started seven games, winning six of them and earning Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors while rushing for 998 yards and 11 touchdowns and throwing for another 1,100 yards and six touchdowns. The following season he led the Longhorns to an 11-1 record, capping it with one of the best performances the Rose Bowl had ever seen (at the time) in its storied history.

With Texas trailing Michigan by 10 points in the fourth quarter, Young simply put the team on his back and willed them to victory by adding two touchdown runs to the two he already had and leading his team down the field for the eventual game-winning field goal as time expired. His final line: 180 passing yards (1 TD), 192 rushing yards (4 TDs) including touchdown runs of 20, 23, and 60 yards.

Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr would later say, "He was tough to tackle, but we should have gotten to him several times." That’s just it though -- great players do not allow you to do what normally comes easy for you. Carr did not say a thing about Young’s "funky" or sloppy" throwing mechanics as they’re often referred to, because when a play had to be made, he made it. That is what Young and so many others such as Michael Vick possess that scouts and coordinators cannot measure. There is no test for that at the combine. I could not care less if you can throw a football 60 yards downfield from your knees. Can you make a play when I need you to?

After taking down the Wolverines, Young still faced numerous doubters. The man just won the Rose Bowl, the "Granddaddy of ‘em all," with a performance for the ages and people were still talking about what he could not do as opposed to what he just did. The haters were out in full force: "All of that running around won’t work in the pros" or "He didn’t throw the ball well." Are you kidding me? Why won’t it work? Young accounted for 372 yards, while Michigan had a grand total of 352. An NFL team can’t use production like that!

In most cases, a season-ending performance like this from a QB would have Mel Kiper, Jr. and NFL draft gurus everywhere vaulting Young to the top of their draft board, but instead he was labeled a "tailback playing quarterback." How is that possible? You’re either one or the other, correct? So Young shook his critics off like he does would-be tacklers and stiff-armed another knock on him early in the 2005 season. "He can’t win a game with his arm" they would say. "He can’t win a road game in a hostile environment" they’d scream. The Rose Bowl, after all, was a neutral site and his passing numbers were nothing to write home about. Fair enough.

On September 10, 2005 in Columbus, Ohio, Young quickly put those critics to sleep in the season’s second game. With a Horseshoe-record crowd of 105,565 cheering their Buckeyes on, Vince THREW for 270 yards and two touchdowns, capping it with a 24-yard go-ahead touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to lead the Longhorns to yet another come-from-behind victory over number four-ranked Ohio State. To his critics, that was a big, "Now what?!"

Never at a loss for words, critics didn’t stop: "He got lucky," "So he had one good passing game," "and He’ll never win a championship." Oh really?

Sometimes it’s best to just shut up, watch greatness, and respect it because critics’ latest comments set the stage for what took place Wednesday night. In one of the finer performances in college football history, Young was up to his old tricks. It’s called winning.

Down 12 with only six minutes to go in the national championship game? No problem. Two drives and two Young touchdown runs later… Texas 41, USC 38. With the game and possibly his college career in the balance, Young scored on an eight-yard run on fourth-and-five with 19 seconds left, breaking the Trojans 34-game winning streak and ending their bid for a third consecutive championship. He would finish the game with 467 total yards (200 rushing), three touchdowns, and zero turnovers… not bad for a guy with all of those "sloppy" mechanics.

Now the question is where Young will go if he decides to enter the NFL Draft with some scouts still saying he isn’t even a top 10 pick at this point. Pardon me while I gag. He is still considered the second-best quarterback in college to USC’s Matt Leinart. Yes, that Leinart, the same guy he beat in front of the entire nation, the same guy that could not will his team to victory like Young. I have to give Leinart some credit though… his mechanics are awesome!

Resisting the temptation to move Young to another position last season as many people suggested, Texas’ head coach Mack Brown decided to live with his erratic mechanics and throwing motion because of his natural talent, and one national championship later I’m sure he’s pretty happy with his decision.

NFL coaches will certainly attempt to fine-tune Young’s mechanics, but to think he can’t succeed on the NFL level as a QB is ridiculous. You can preach technique until you are blue in the face, but you can not teach someone how to make something out of nothing when a play breaks down. That is an innate ability that a chosen few are blessed with, while the rest of world can only marvel at those blessed with it. Young is a winner. It’s all he does. It’s all he knows. And that, my friends, is all that matters.