Reggie Bush, Amateur Star of the Year

02-17-2005

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

San Diego prepared itself for its fourth Heisman Trophy winner at college’s football’s hallowed award ceremony in December, raising the possibility of adapting a sports variation to the city’s favorite moniker. Anybody prefer AFFC -- America’s Finest Football City?

Reggie Bush, USC’s sophomore running back, was a finalist for the award last year, along with his Helix High School teammate, Utah quarterback Alex Smith. It was the first time high school teammates were among the five finalists.

Smith has turned pro, but Bush is expected to make another run at the Heisman as a junior in 2005. He already has the endorsement of San Diego’s first Heisman Trophy winner, Marcus Allen.

“I think he’s an awesome football player, and he’s such a good kid, too,” Allen said. “I had a good talk with, and one of the things I like about him is he’s a student of the game. As he learns more about the game, he’s going to be unstoppable. I think he’s already starting to do that. I told him to go out and study the secondary and see what they’re doing when they line up in this position that position. What is the defensive coordinator looking for? I’m obviously pulling for him to win the Heisman. He’s from San Diego.”

Many things have to fall into place for a football player to win the Heisman, but Bush already has talent, a national title contender and name recognition on his side if he hopes to follow in the footsteps of Allen, the 1981 Heisman winner at USC from Lincoln High; Rashaan Salaam, the 1994 Heisman winner at Colorado from La Jolla Country Day; and Ricky Williams, the 1998 Heisman winner at Texas from Patrick Henry High.

Bush has been a five-way threat for the Trojans, scoring touchdowns rushing, receiving, returning a kickoff, returning a punt and passing. The first-team All-American shared the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year award with teammate Matt Leinart, USC’s quarterback who won the Heisman.

Adding up Bush’s sophomore season resulted in 2,181 all-purpose yards in 12 games. He ran for 833 yards on 137 carries (6.1 average) for six touchdowns, caught 41 passes for 478 yards (11.7) and with seven touchdowns, returned 23 punts for 369 yards (16.0) for two touchdowns, returned 19 kickoffs for 501 yards (26.4) and threw one 52-yard touchdown pass.

He biggest game of the year was the regular-season finale when he led the Trojans past UCLA. He finished with 335 all-purpose yards. He carried 15 times for 204 yards (13.6), scoring on zig-zag runs of 65 and 81 yards.

Another Heisman number to ponder for Bush is he could become USC’s sixth Heisman Trophy winner. That would be OK with Marcus Allen, too.