Texas QB determined to earn himself and his team some respect.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Jimmy Burch

PASADENA, Calif. _ Vince Young considers himself the quarterback of one of college football's least appreciated elite teams.

Sure, No. 6-ranked Texas owns a six-game winning streak and a 10-1 record. But there were no Longhorns in New York when the Heisman Trophy was handed out. To the masses, Texas' impending debut in a Bowl Championship Series contest came wrapped in controversy, rather than celebration, when the Longhorns slipped past California into fourth in the final BCS standings to land the last available at-large berth in one of the high-profile games.

Young insists he is not complaining. But he's puzzled why there hasn't been more positive national buzz about a Texas team that has run the table since a 12-0 loss to No. 2 Oklahoma, including three double-digit victories over teams that have been ranked in the Top 25 during that stretch (Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State).

"We're doing a lot of good things over here," Young said. "Ever since the OU game, we've been winning all of our games. And hard games, at that. But we don't hardly get the type of (attention) that we should."

That is about to change. Once the Longhorns take the field on Saturday in Pasadena, Calif., for the school's first appearance in the Rose Bowl, the national spotlight _ as well as the ABC-TV cameras _ will be shining brightly on the Texas football program. The glare will be big enough that Texas coach Mack Brown said he feels "a tremendous responsibility" to justify his team's status as a BCS participant.

That's where Young comes in. A proven commodity as a runner, Young owns a career average of 6.7 yards per carry (1,885 yards, 21 touchdowns) and will be facing a Michigan defense that has struggled against mobile quarterbacks this season. After some midseason struggles in the passing game, Young heads to the Rose Bowl on a hot streak. In his past five outings, Young has completed 64.2 percent of his passes (70-of-109) for 911 yards and three touchdowns.