Yes, USC had compiled a huge list of errors during the game, including Reggie Bush's lateral, Matt Leinart's lame ducks, and burning a time out before a Texas 2 point attempt.  But for all that, they might have still had a chance to win-  if they had 30 seconds.  But those seconds were ticked off the clock, never to come back again, no matter how unfair it might be.

  So one would ask:  What makes you say that this time was taken off the clock unfairly?  During the game, with about 6:29 in the fourth quarter (if I recall correctly, but I know it was right around 6:30 somewhere), a Texas receiver was forced out of bounds to end the play.  However, the game clock never stopped.  At about 6:03 in the fourth quarter, Texas snapped the ball to begin the next play.  The announcers called the game noticed it and mentioned it once, but didn't dwell on it.  However, the time discrepency was there and done with, and those 26 seconds would never be added back to the clock.

  Did the failure of the time clock crew change the outcome of the game?  That quation is impossible to answer.  My first thought is that it probably didn't have much effect.  Texas would have simply used one less timeout to make their drive and burned off about 20 to 30 seconds more than they did.  They would have found a way to get the ball back to USC with less than 30 seconds left.  However, perhaps Texas would have scored in the same amount of time using basically the same plays, and given USC the ball back with 45 seconds to work with, instead of 19.  That would make it an entirely different ballgame with Matt Leinart having completed about 80% of his passes during the second half.  USC could have scored a touchdown to win- if they had those extra 26 seconds to work with.  It may have turned out the same, in fact, it probably would have turned out the same.  But what if?