Los Angeles – The play may not have given him the Heisman Trophy, but it sure made people stand up and scream his name. Even his opponents.
It came Nov. 19 in the third quarter against a Fresno State team bent on the once-a-generation upset that defines one program and stains another. The Bulldogs trailed top-ranked Southern California 34-28. USC had the ball at midfield.
Reggie Bush took the ball on an off-tackle play and broke through a hole. He raced to the sideline, where a squadron of Bulldogs waited. Suddenly, he stopped his full-speed trajectory at the sideline and put the ball behind his back as the first defender nearly ran into a water cooler.
Bush changed directions, left the second wave of defensive backs in his wake and crossed the field into the end zone for a 40-28 lead. The packed house of 92,000 stood and applauded. So did one fan in the Fresno State section.
UCLA running back Maurice Drew.
“Some of the stuff he does is out of control,” Drew said. “I was at the game to watch my best friend (Bulldogs cornerback Damon Jenkins). When you do that, you can only applaud. Fans for Fresno State were upset, but when he gets the ball everyone’s on their feet.”
They will be Saturday night in New York when he wins the Heisman Trophy, barring an upset akin to Fresno City College beating USC.
It’s not so much that Texas quarterback Vince Young was merely mortal in the regular-season finale at Texas A&M. It’s just that Bush has been immortal the past two years, and this year has the numbers to back the hype.
To wit:
He leads the nation in all-purpose yards with 217.6 a game.
He leads the nation with 8.9 yards per carry, more than a half-yard over the next best.
He is fourth nationally in rushing at 138.2 yards a game.
His 1,658 rushing yards are the most by a USC back since Marcus Allen’s 2,427 yards in 1981.
His 18 touchdowns average 31.9 yards.
In USC’s five games against ranked opponents, Bush has averaged 198.8 yards rushing and scored 10 touchdowns.
“If he could throw,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said, “he’d be Michael Vick.”
Said former USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu, now the Seattle Seahawks’ leading tackler, a year ago: “I’ve even told guys on the other team: ‘Don’t feel bad. He got me with that play twice this week in practice, too.”‘
Bush is cut from a different Heisman cloth than his predecessor, USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who will join him on the New York stage. Leinart was the poised, mistake-free leader who piled up huge numbers with a precision passing game that methodically sliced up opponents.
Bush is college football’s assassin. He cuts the heart out of every opponent that ventures near upset territory. He did it against Oregon, Notre Dame and, of course, Fresno State. He does it with the fastest change of direction this side of Indianapolis, and we’re talking on grass, not asphalt. Early in his career, USC coach Pete Carroll gave Bush a highlight tape of Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. Bush grew up idolizing Marshall Faulk at San Diego State, near his home.
The moves have made Bush college football’s biggest superstar. As he tried to explain the unexplainable last Thursday at practice, a gaggle of cardinal-clad children and their autograph books were held at bay.
“It’s always come natural to me,” Bush said. “I don’t even know how to coach someone on that. I just do it to avoid defenders; it’s that simple. It’s not like a plan or anything. I do it every day in practice. I’ve been doing it since I was young.”
Believe it or not, that was Bush’s problem. Out of Helix High, Bush averaged 10.4 yards per carry on his way to 1,691 yards as a senior in 2002. His 10.42 time in the 100 meters was about the only indication he could also run straight ahead.
“He showed those kinds of crazy runs in his high school film to the point where we thought that he’d never run downhill because he was all over the place,” Carroll said. “But we saw enough of the burst and this unique creativity in his running style that made him one of a kind.”
Bush knew his rap. A year ago he had a pedestrian 908 rushing yards and six touchdowns. However, he came to fall camp bigger, stronger and a little faster. At 6-feet, 200 pounds, no one will ever confuse him with a scatback, even though Bush runs – and thinks – like one.
“Sometimes when we’re watching film of other teams, we see running backs and I’d say, ‘Oh, I would’ve cut back right there,”‘ Bush said. “And the coach would start laughing and say, ‘Not everybody’s as fast as you.”‘
Nor as good. As the practice ended, Bush slowly made his way off the field as he frantically signed for the posse of children that had gathered around the new Pied Piper of college football. Not far away, Leinart, the reigning Heisman winner, walked off alone.
Tthe torch has passed.
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
