Bush Makes Up for Lost Ground

From the first days of training camp, Reggie Bush made little secret of his desire to win the Heisman Trophy. Through the first half of the season, he announced his candidacy with highlight-reel runs.

Two touchdowns in the opener at Hawaii.

Impressive performances at Oregon and Arizona State.

Then, at Notre Dame, he provided three touchdowns and a timely shove to help quarterback Matt Leinart score the winning touchdown.

But somehow, over the last few weeks, the big plays had dried up and Bush acknowledged, “I’m human, so I’ve been a little frustrated.”

The tailback was looking to take out some of that frustration on 16th-ranked Fresno State at the Coliseum on Saturday night.

He succeeded -- in a huge way -- by carrying 23 times for 294 yards, scoring two touchdowns and breaking loose on several momentum-changing runs that powered the top-ranked Trojans to a 50-42 victory.

That included a school record 513 all-purpose yards.

The most important yards came in the third quarter.

Bursting through a wide hole on the left side of the line, Bush outsprinted the Fresno State defense on the way to a 45-yard touchdown and USC’s first lead of the game.

Minutes later, a zigzagging 50-yard run widened the gap to 41-28.

But these were merely two explosions on a night when Bush found lots of ways to make up for lost ground.

This season, he had consistently ranked among the Heisman favorites. A weekly poll by the Rocky Mountain News -- which samples 10 voters from across the nation -- had him atop the list at one point.

As Bush’s production dipped, Texas quarterback Vince Young came on strong. Young took over the No. 1 spot on Nov. 1 and has held it ever since.

After practice last week, Bush said: “You’re not going to be able to break a big run every game. A team is going to do all they can to stop you, especially when they see you making plays on TV.”

California had limited him to a mediocre day the previous Saturday at Berkeley. Coach Pete Carroll credited the Golden Bears, saying their defensive backs had done a good job tackling, keeping short gains from turning into longer ones.

“Sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn’t,” Carroll said. Against Fresno State, he added, “we’ll certainly have [Bush] all over the game plan.”

The Bulldogs’ defense came into Saturday’s game ranked 23rd in the nation against the rush, surrendering an average of 116 yards. They were even better at keeping opponents out of the end zone, giving up less than 15 points a game, eighth best in the country.

Bush wasted little time getting started.

With USC fans chanting his name, he returned the opening kickoff 28 yards to give his offense good field position.

Minutes later, on the Trojans’ second possession, he sprinted down the sideline, then cut back across field for a 65-yard gain, setting up a touchdown that tied the score, 7-7. By the end of the first quarter, he had gained 74 yards.

In the second quarter, he fueled yet another scoring drive with a run of 12 yards and, on the next play, a 12-yard catch. By halftime, he had 118 yards, his seventh 100-yard game of the season.

Going into the fourth quarter, after those long touchdown runs, he was up to 258 yards.

Add some more kickoff returns, several pass receptions, and Bush was having the kind of night that he had all but predicted a few days earlier.

“You’ve just got to be patient,” he said. “It will come.”