Friday Heisman Blogging

It's Friday, it's Heisman time.  We reserve the right to relocate the day during the season, perhaps to a Tuesday, or Thursday.  Or any day ending in 'y'.

Last week we asked you to guess who ResourceAdmin chose as his 2004 Heisman Trophy winner.

Nobody submitted a guess.  Nice job guys.

For those curious, I voted for USC tailback/returnman Reggie Bush.  It was a difficult decision, and I can easily understand anyone else's coherent arguments for all five finalists.

My criteria tend to vary from season to season, but last year what stood out for me about Bush, from all the other candidates, was his ability to win a game for his team.  Let me explain.

USC was locked into a tight road opener against Virginia Tech in the BCA classic last year.  Outside of a handful of Bush plays, neither team really did anything exceptional all night.  USC quarterback Matt Leinart, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, had a noble effort directing a shaky Trojan offense with Leinart as the only returning starter for all intents and purposes.

Bush scored early on a stunning middle screen, what looked like a simple dump pass that turned into a weaving 20-yard scamper untouched past the athletic Tech secondary and linebackers.

The game remained locked and neither team could really push to an advantage until the Trojans selectively fed Bush the ball.

This selection from the AP story does a pretty good job of retelling Bush's evening-

The Trojans said they were prepared to be without the All-American Williams and would be OK with a group of talented but inexperienced receivers.

The results showed otherwise.

Breaking in a new group of starting wideouts, Leinart found few open targets in the first half, going 8-for-16 for 102 yards. And the Trojans' rebuilt offensive line was providing sketchy protection.

So the junior looked to Bush, and the explosive sophomore came through when the Trojans looked as if they were in big trouble - trailing 10-7 late in the third quarter.

Bush lined up as a wide receiver, blew by Virginia Tech's best cornerback, Jimmy Williams, and cradled in a perfect over-the-shoulder throw from Leinart for a 53-yard touchdown with 1:55 left in the third.

Bush also opened the scoring by taking a middle screen 35 yards for a TD in the first quarter.

Otherwise, an offense that averaged 41 points and 447 yards last season struggled for most of three quarters against a Virginia Tech defense that is coming off its worst season in years.

Wide receivers Steve Smith, Dwayne Jarrett and Chris McFoy combined for eight catches and 87 yards.

Leinart picked it up in the second half and finished 19-for-29 for 272 yards, hitting 11 straight at one point. He finally found a wide receiver for long-gainer when he hit Smith for 46 yards in the fourth quarter.

On the next play, Bush sneaked out of the backfield and Leinart found him all alone for a 29-yard score that made it 21-13 with 5:35 left and finally allowed the outnumbered Trojans fans among the 91,665 at sold-out FedEx Field to relax a little.

Basically, Reggie Bush won a tight road opener for the eventual champs, playing out of position but otherwise carrying his team to a difficult victory.

Things heated up for Bush two games later against BYU.  The Trojans were down 3-0 on the road against the Cougars until 8:30 in the second quarter, when Bush caught another middle screen, this time knifing laterally through the BYU defense including a stunning dip-in side-step race towards the near corner of the end zone.

Six minutes later Bush pushed up the middle on a carry, mometarily losing himself inside a crowd of linemen and defenders before bouncing outside to the sidelines and jogging in for another six, silencing another road crowd and giving USC confidence after a shaky offensive first half.

The next week, the Trojans were once again on the road, this time against Bay Area rival Stanford.  In a mismatch on paper, USC fell behind big in the first half, at 28-17, and nearly 28-10 without another early Bush scamper to keep things close and ease the Trojans' offensive nerves.

With the game still close in the fourth quarter, Bush fielded a punt and proceded to spin, cut, lean, whirl and dance through the stanford defense before a gaggle of Cardinal defenders took him down.  It was USC's second-to-last possession, and a crucial one that ended in a LenDale white touchdown run after several tough Bush carries up the heart of the Stanford defense to give USC the victory margin, 31-28.

The following week, USC won in another tight game against California, and Bush struggled with his few carries, but his third-quarter 84-yard kick return made all the highlight shows and pushed USC to a rare offensive series in Cal's side of the field.

Bush had sound games against Arizona State (TD catch, TD throw) and Washington (TD catch), two predictable wins, and then scored on an amazing punt return against Washington State.  Bush fielded the ball, became pinned along the sideline, spun, and then took a wide arc heading towards the opposite side of the field, and raced untouched for the touchdown.  This was after a first-quarter 19-yard touchdown run where he went untouched after bouncing outside on a run designed up the middle.

The next week, underneath a heavy blanket of fog, USC struggled against Oregon State, falling behind 13-7 at half, with a -3 turnover ratio.  After a Dominique Byrd 1-handed touchdown catch, Bush somehow fielded a punt (he fumbled one earlier after losing it in the fog) and dashed through the Beaver defense for yet another punt return touchdown that finally relaxed a tense Trojan squad and put them up 21-13, in a game that was once again a tight match with the Trojans winning 28-20.

Bush finally had a quiet game against Arizona, a 49-9 Trojan victory.

Against Notre Dame, Matt Leinart basically won the Heisman, but Bush provided a highlight moment, taking a short pass over the head of a Notre Dame linebacker and racing along the sidelines for a 69-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

Bush might have saved his best for last, another close Trojan victory over rival UCLA at the Rose Bowl.  On the game's opening series, Bush dashed into the Bruin secondary and outraced several defenders, picking up a block from Dwayne Jarrett and somersaulting famously into the end-zone for a 65-yard score.  Later, in the second quarter, Bush again went long, racing past a shocked UCLA linebacker corps and secondary to cruise into the end-zone for an 81-yard run.

Bush put together a fine game, rushing for a career-high 204 yards, catching another 73, and 335 all-purpose.  Bush's phantom late fumble somewhat marred a stunning offensive performance in which he humiliated a Bruin defense on their own home field.

Earlier, I said my criteria this year had to do with Bush's uncanny ability to win games for his team.

After thinking about USC's struggles at times in 2004, the one constant was Bush pulling them through the most difficult of games; Virginia Tech, Stanford, California, Oregon State and UCLA.  Each one of those games were memorable if you were watching for a team, or a player, to make a difference.  Each time his number was called, Bush delivered in huge ways.

I found it striking that at the Trojans' weakest, their opener against VT, Bush was already in top form.  It was like every time Tech showed signs of taking command of the game, Bush answered, symbolically telling the Hokies, "I'll be here all night".  I think a critical aspect of football is psychological, and in that sense, Bush was USC's psychological weapon.  He was ruthless on opponents, who had to prepare for him and lose sleep over him, only to see him do something in the most tense and stressing of moments.

Bush closed USC's regular season much as he opened it, bludgeoning his opponent on stunning scores to carry his team on his back.  And of course there were those other highlight performances in easier games that we've mentioned.  The guy scored four (nearly five) ways and will basically bring "all-purpose" yardage back into the college football lexicon this season (much as Rocket Ismail and Desmond Howard did in the early 1990's), opening the door not only for himself, but for players like California's Marshawn Lynch and Ohio State's Ted Ginn, Jr.

So, for me, Bush's impact was entirely critical to his team's success, memorably pulling out at least five victories (four of them on the road, one in inclement weather---Oregon State---and two in highly hostile conditions---Virginia Tech and Stanford) from a non-quarterback position.  Bush has lived up to his recruiting hype and is the safety valve for his team.  No other player can really claim that except perhaps Vincent Young, but even Young was nowhere near as consistent and destructive as Bush in 2004.

Not even close.

Congratulations to Reggie Bush, CollegeFootballResource.com's Heisman Trophy selection.

Comments

[kenneth]

yeah Reggie Buch is one of those players like, Randy Moss, Marshall Faulk, Micheal Vick, and BArry SAnders... in college these guys could not be stopped, even if you tried divine intervention. BUsh is the next what i like to call a true football winner. he takes his talents to another level, in a way, like the others before him, that makes him literally unstoppable when he touches the ball. you can make the case for sean taylor too, i mean you cant do anything to stop these players from doign what they want to do, the most dominating players in college football history but of them only one has a heisman...its a shame.