Bush got the hype, but Jones-Drew was worthy of some notice too

No matter what takes place in Saturday’s showdown at the Rose Bowl, UCLA has already pulled off a major upset over USC.

It has happened not on the college field but in the NFL, where former Trojan Reggie Bush, the Heisman Trophy winner, has been upstaged among rookies by his old cross-town rival, Maurice Jones-Drew.

Although it’s too early to say that the former Bruin is the better pro back, Jones-Drew has been far more impressive as a ball carrier than Bush, drafted second overall by the New Orleans Saints.

Jones-Drew, a second-round pick who added Jones to his name this season to honor his late grandfather, is averaging 5.0 yards per carry to Bush’s 3.0, and has rushed for six touchdowns to Bush’s one. While Bush has looked hesitant and overly determined to bounce runs outside, Jones-Drew has done his best work between the tackles, averaging 5.2 yards a carry and scoring five of his touchdowns that way.

At 5 feet 7 inches and 212 pounds -- and with thighs one NFL scout compared to Earl Campbell’s -- Jones-Drew must make tacklers feel like they’re catching a falling safe.

He has averaged 2.43 yards after contact, which is better than every AFC back except Tennessee’s Travis Henry, New England’s Laurence Maroney and Jacksonville’s Fred Taylor. In other words, if you want to bring down Jones-Drew, bring friends.

“I’ve played defense before, so I know how to make it hard for people to tackle you,” he said. “If you put your arm out, I’m running through that. And if you put your body in the way, you’re not going to like it too much. So you’ve got to come downhill at me, and I don’t have a problem with that at all.”

This is not to say Bush is having a disappointing rookie season. His 64 receptions tie him with Arizona’s Anquan Boldin for most in the NFC and he frequently draws double-team coverage, which creates opportunities for teammates. The Saints (7-4) are atop the NFC South and have the league’s No. 1 offense and passing offense.

At 6-5, Jacksonville is four games behind Indianapolis in the AFC South but remains in contention for a wild-card berth. In addition to his 454 yards in 90 carries, Jones-Drew has caught 32 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns, and has returned 21 kickoffs for 521 yards.

When it comes to running the ball, Jones-Drew has been better than Bush. And who would have guessed that a year ago? Jones-Drew didn’t get a sliver of the media coverage Bush did -- including in this space -- and was widely seen as, at best, a third-down back.

“I’ve never had a whole lot of believers,” he said in a phone interview this week. “Coming out of high school, people didn’t believe. And then coming out of college, everyone in the draft didn’t believe except for a couple of people. That’s how I ended up in Jacksonville.”

He wore No. 21 in college but switched to 32 in the pros as a reminder of how many teams passed on him in the first round.

“The hardest part was listening to everybody tell you how bad you are,” Jones-Drew said. “I had all these reporters, especially that draft guy, what’s-his-name ... ?”

Mel Kiper?

“Yeah, Mel Kiper. He just put me into the dirt. He’d say, ‘He’s too small to be an every-down back. I’d give him a third- or fourth-round grade. He’s just a returner.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, are you serious?’ I’ve had better stats than every running back in the draft. And he’s telling me that because I’m 5-7 I can’t do it? I’m thinking, if anything, that should be a boost to what I’m doing. Because all these other guys are 5-9 or 5-10, and I’m doing all that plus more.”

That said, Jones-Drew said he understands why Bush got so much media attention last season. First of all, Bush had a phenomenal year. Second, the Trojans were playing for a third consecutive national title, whereas the Bruins were 6-7 and 6-6 in Jones-Drew’s first two seasons before going 10-2 a year ago. Bush deserved to be the story.

But, had Jones-Drew played in another part of the country, out of the long shadow of USC, surely more people would have known his name. He set UCLA season and career records for all-purpose yardage, set an NCAA record for punt-return yardage, and, as a sophomore, rushed for a school-record 322 yards and five touchdowns at Washington.

Is it any wonder he keeps two lists in his head, one shamefully long and the other depressingly short. The long one is the list of NFL teams that, despite needing a running back, passed him by in the draft. The short list is a tally of people -- family members and friends, mostly -- who he thinks truly believed he could make it this far.

He looks at his NFL success much the way he looks at Saturday’s game against USC. It’s foolish, he says, to overlook the Bruins.

“The boys are going to be wearing the baby blue, and you’ve always got to play great when you’re wearing that,” he said. “Last year, [USC] got lucky they didn’t play us at home, because we were undefeated at home. Some teams get lucky, you know?

“You’ve got to give the guys in red their respect, but the boys in blue have got something waiting for them. I have a feeling.”

Some might call that farfetched. Jones-Drew can live with that. He’s heard it before.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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Doubly dangerous

Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew of UCLA and New Orleans’ Reggie Bush of USC are the only two NFL rookies to have at least 300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards this season:

*--* Player Rush. Rec. Reggie Bush 331 431 Maurice Jones-Drew 454 317

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Source: STATS LLC