In Run-Up to a Vote, Bush Surely Makes His Case

The Hollywood sign looming beyond one end zone, the downtown skyline shimmering above the other, the players stepped into a perfect afternoon in a city up for grabs.

Then Reggie Bush took it.

He faked it into the deep green grass, juked it across the fresh white chalk, sprinted past it, ducked under it, somersaulted over it, and took it.

Made a deposit with a gumby dash that caused pokey defenders to bang their heads together like three stooges. Closed with an Olympic-style sprint that included a high hurdle and a three-meter dive.

Gained 100 yards in the first 11 minutes. Gained 260 total yards despite carrying only six times in the second half.

Signed it with two touchdowns. Sealed it with USC’s 66-19 victory over UCLA.

And, now, today, Reggie Bush owns Los Angeles, the way Shaq and Gibby and the Great One once owned it, with power and grace and ahhhhs.

The only difference being, none of those guys ever finished a game directing a marching band while holding a rose between his teeth.

“This is everything someone could dream of,” Bush said Saturday after leading the USC musicians in serenading thousands of Trojan fans in the Coliseum’s early evening chill.

It’s certainly everything a city could dream of, serving as a stage for an athlete so solidly good, he doesn’t need swagger or smack talk or even tattoos to prove it.

He even has the good manners to adorn his new purchase with a Heisman Trophy.

Yes, Bush won it two weeks ago against Fresno State, but it was officially engraved Saturday, as, for the final time, he wowed voters both nationally and in his own huddle.

Early in the second quarter, at the far end of the press box, Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe pulled out the express-mail envelope containing his ballot and voted for Bush.

After the game, downstairs at the other end of the stadium, Matt Leinart essentially did the same.

Walking into the interview room, hearing a question about the game’s effect on the award for Bush, Leinart shouted, “It won it for him!”

Leinart, who was last year’s winner, later added definitively for the first time, “Reggie’s got my vote. In all honesty, he deserves it.”

Bush won the Heisman by carrying the Heisman, lifting Leinart after the quarterback missed on his first five passes, overthrew on twice that many attempts and was generally average to awful.

On the Trojans’ first drive, Bush carried the ball on six of their 10 positive plays, including a 28-yard run in which he faked Bruin cornerback Trey Brown into running in the opposite direction.

On USC’s second drive, Bush gained more than half of their 80 yards on runs featuring broken tackles and twisted ankles.

On their third scoring drive, which essentially ended the game before midafternoon, Bush sprinted outside for 65 yards to lead to a touchdown that made it 17-0.

The little white towel flapped from his right side as if he were playing flag football. The blue mouth guard dangled from his lips as if he were playing Pop Warner.

It was as if, as usual, he was in his own little world, and the rest of us, including the UCLA defenders, could only watch and wonder.

During four of Bush’s runs, I couldn’t help it, I shouted out loud in the press box, embarrassing little cries of amazement. They weren’t cheers, they were gut reactions and I wasn’t alone.

You don’t believe me, listen to someone who has seen him do it all his life.

“I was running around the stands going, ‘Ohhhhhh,’ ” said his mother, Denise, easy to spot because she was the one wearing a No. 5 Trojan jersey with “Mom” on the back. “He was flying around out there like he was Superman, like he was playing acrobatic football or something. I was like the fans, I was like, ‘Wow.’ ”

You still don’t believe, listen to someone who watched him from the field.

“He ran so fast past us sometimes, it was amazing,” said guard Fred Matua. “All you can do is try to look like you’re blocking somebody.”

Bush was so unbelievable, he caused his teammates to look at the scoreboard after every play for confirmation.

“You hear the oohs and aahs, and all you want to do is get up and look at the big screen to see what happened,” said center Ryan Kalil.

Bush, as usual, also invoked a different sort of trash talk.

“I’m running down the field, and I see a guy on the other team who Reggie just faked into the ground, and I always lean down and have words for him,” said Matua.

Bad words?

“No, I always tell him, ‘I’ve seen this all year, I know how you feel,’ ” said Matua. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you might as well go to the sideline, because you don’t have a chance.’ ”

Bush wears “619” smeared on his cheeks in honor of his hometown San Diego area code. Who would have thought that it would be just one digit shy of Saturday’s final score?

“The way they run the ball, I’ve never seen anything like that,” said UCLA quarterback Drew Olson.

Bush, a junior, was supposed to be a sideshow to a tearful Leinart’s last Coliseum appearance. Yet he not only stole the town, but the entire day in what could be his final Coliseum appearance.

“I want him to go pro,” his father, Lamar, said afterward. “He’s proved everything he can prove at this level. He’s ready to try the next level.”

Bush won’t confirm it, but he’s as good as gone, his reign here will be short, one game remaining, thrill with him while you can.

“This is a joy,” announced Reggie Bush late Saturday, flowers in his fingers, a city at his cleats.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

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Run the numbers

A look at Reggie Bush’s statistics the last two games:

*--* VS. FRESNO ST. Carries 23 Yards 294 Average 12.8 Touchdowns 2 Kickoffs 7-135 Punts 1-16 Total yards 513

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*--* VS. UCLA Carries 24 Yards 260 Average 10.8 Touchdowns 2 Kickoffs 1-12 Punts 1-1 Total yards 273

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