Dusty Mangum

Dusty Mangum

Dustin Ross Mangum (Born November 22, 1981) is a former placekicker for the University of Texas at Austin's college football team (The Texas Longhorns) from 2001 to 2004. Mangum, who began his college football career as a walk-on, is best known for capping UT's 2004-2005 season with a 37-yard game-winning field goal as time expired in the 2005 Rose Bowl versus No. 13 University of Michigan. The tipped kick that went in, allowed Texas to finish its season as one of the top 5 teams in the nation.

After the game, according to The Daily Texan, President George W. Bush called UT football coach Mack Brown to congratulate him on the win, and to make sure he knew that he watched the entire game, right down to Mangum's last kick.

According to news reports, just before Mangum's kick, Brown told the senior "You're the luckiest human being in the world because your last kick at Texas will win the Rose Bowl." The kick made him an instant state celebrity — he appeared on radio and television programs, was honored by the Mesquite Independent School District, where he is from, and has appeared at autograph signings at Texas bookstores.

Mangum was also on hand at a celebration in the state capitol, along with UT officials, when the Texas Senate passed a resolution honoring the Texas football team for its Rose Bowl win.

Mangum achieved numerous other honors during his time at Texas, though he was not selected in the 2005 NFL Draft. Although Mangum was no longer with the Longhorns for their 2005 championship season, his last-second kick foreshadowed the Longhorns second trip to Pasadena, where a sprint by Vince Young into the end-zone in the final minute of play gave Texas back-to-back Rose Bowl wins.