Keep in mind my criticism of Sanchez in the Oregon State game had to do with the way it went down, not just the fact that they lost.
In that game, they were frustrated all through the fourth quarter, but then Oregon State got into clock-killing mode a little too early with run after run after run, and Pete Carroll started burning timeouts so that he would have one more drive to try and tie the game. They got the ball with 3 minutes left. Instead of even making a valiant attempt though, Sanchez screwed the pooch. His body language before the drive was not good, his body language during the drive was not good, his throws were physically way off the mark (sailing very high on two throws, behind the receiver on another), and his decision-making was suspect (forcing it to Damian Williams in double coverage twice). This was the drive that they were building up to in order to tie the game and instead of pushing the ball down the field and making their stand on the door step of the other team's end zone, Sanchez barely got them a few yards down the field and then tossed what basically amounted to a pick-6.
When Chad Henne faced off with Texas in the Rose Bowl as a freshman, he turned it into one of the most exciting and competitive Rose Bowls of all time. It was a 38-37 shootout and Chad Henne helped Michigan get out to a 31-21 lead before Vince Young got a TD to make it 31-28. Instead of being a deer in headlights, Henne helped get them 61 yards into FG range to make it 34-28. Then Vince Young struck again, Texas took a 34-35 lead. Then Michigan struck again, making it 37-35 with 3 minutes remaining. At that point, Vince Young took Texas on a 46 yards to the Michigan 19 yard line for a game-winning field goal.
Against Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl, he entered the fourth quarter up 21-17 and pushed the ball down the field to make it 28-17. But then Nebraska got a big return and used the short field to score a TD and then got the 2-pt conversion to boot. With the game close at 28-25, Chad Henne went back to work but on his next two drives his teammates fumbled the ball and gave Nebraska the opportunity to go up 32-28. So, here we are with a similar situation, needing a touchdown or you lose the game...but instead of screwing the pooch, Chad Henne helped them get to the Nebraska 18 yard line before the drive stalled in part because of a penalty. If Sanchez had done the same on the Oregon State drive, I wouldn't be criticizing him for it. That's a game finish. You took your stab, you got things rolling, and you just fell short. That's not capitulation.
The Rose Bowl against USC in 2006 was a game that was not competitive. USC had their way with the Michigan defense, and the Michigan offense barely got off the ground. Chad Henne threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter but there was never a point in the game where the game was on the line. There was never a "game in a drive" opportunity.
In the Capital One Bowl against Florida, this was another shootout with four lead changes. Florida went on top 35-31 with 6 minutes to go, and Chad Henne responded with completions of 6, 37 and 18 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. Tim Tebow had 4 minutes left on the clock but couldn't get anything going, gave the ball back to Michigan in field goal range in time to run the ball three times and kick a field goal to make it a 6 point game. Tim Tebow couldn't get them going on the next drive either.
And then of course you've got the Senior Bowl...limited number of drives, probably only four drives total in the first and third quarters before having to give way to the other QBs on the North...he threw the only two touchdowns the North got all game, and it would have been enough to win but for some last-drive heroics on the South that Henne had no control over.
So his numbers were good in all five bowl games, his team was competitive in four of them, and he was personally competitive in all clutch situations that came up. Can't ask for much more.
