During a press conference after Saturday’s game, a
reporter asked USC’s Reggie Bush whether his performance all
but ensured the Heisman Trophy would be returning to USC.
For the first time all day, Bush was caught from behind.
“It won it for him,” said Trojan quarterback Matt
Leinart, who had just entered the conference room and snared the
question away from his unsuspecting teammate.
“Reggie’s got my vote.”
Leinart likely wasn’t the only one convinced, as
Bush’s effort against UCLA’s maligned rushing defense
was as much a mismatch on paper as it was on the football field as
well.
Bush ran around, ran through, and jumped over UCLA’s
defense on Saturday at the Coliseum, adding to the Bruins’
misery as well as his personal season filled highlight reel nearly
every time he touched the ball.
The USC junior finished with 18 carries for 228 rushing yards
and two touchdowns ““ in the first half. That’s all the
Trojans would need.
By game’s end, Bush’s 260 rushing yards had paced a
Trojan rushing attack that gained a season-high 430 yards on the
ground, 307 of which came in a dominant first 30 minutes.
“I like being conservative, but hopefully it (wrapped the
Heisman up),” said Bush, who rushed for over 200 yards for
the second consecutive time against UCLA.
Bush gave potential voters a myriad of lasting images from
Saturday’s game to consider when punching their ballots this
week.
He did it with his jumping ability. In the first quarter, Bush
cleanly leapfrogged Bruin cornerback Marcus Cassel en route to a
nine-yard gain.
He did it with his speed. At the start of the second quarter,
Bush took a third-down handoff from his own 3-yard line and raced
down the field for 65 yards, where he was eventually gang
tackled.
He did it with flair. Just like last year, Bush flipped into the
end zone for a touchdown, this time over Cassel, to give USC a 24-0
lead.
“On a scale of one to ten, ten,” said Bush on how
easy it was to run against UCLA’s defense.
“Our offensive line did a great job. It’s really
about what they were able to do up front, able to move the line,
receivers able to get on their blocks and keep them out of our
faces … it was just great today.”
It was a performance that not only drew praise from the Bruins
trying to defend him, but admiration from those watching from the
sideline.
“When there is absolutely nothing there, he finds
it,” UCLA senior safety Jarrad Page said. “He’s
just so fast.”
“Reggie Bush is something else,” UCLA quarterback
Drew Olson said. “I have never seen anything like
it.”
Neither had the Bruins’ run defense, which had struggled
containing some of the Pac-10’s best runners, but never like
this.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the Trojans boasted one of
the nation’s strongest rushing attacks, while the Bruins were
among the worst teams in Division I-A in stopping the run.
That coincidence wasn’t lost on USC coach Pete
Carroll.
Of the Trojans’ first 12 plays, 10 were on the ground. And
though USC only came away from its first possession with a field
goal, the Trojans had set the physical tone they wanted early.
“We were on fire,” Bush said. “From the
beginning of the game, we knew we could do whatever we wanted with
these guys, as long as we executed.”
Not even three weeks off was enough time for the Bruins to
figure a way to mask their smallish defensive line and troubles
stopping the run.
And even when UCLA surrendered the pass to the Trojans in the
hope they wouldn’t run, USC still did.
Already one of the worst teams in stopping the run, UCLA
finished Saturday’s game ranked dead last of all Division I-A
teams in rush defense, prompting rumors to escalate that defensive
coordinator Larry Kerr’s job may be in jeopardy. Kerr was
unavailable for comment following Saturday’s game.
“We are undersized up front, and that does keep us from
being able to do certain things we may like to use against the
run,” Page said.
With a Sun Bowl showdown on Dec. 30 against Northwestern, UCLA
will have four weeks to prepare for yet another high-powered
offense.
But the Bruins will have an entire offseason pondering how to
strengthen a run defense that for two consecutive years, will have
ranked near dead last among Division I teams, and allowed opposing
running backs to put on shows like the one Bush did on
Saturday.
With reports from Sagar Parikh, Bruin Sports Senior
Staff