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Sunny Gardens℠ Lounge => Open Topic => : Sunny Gardens® December 10, 2005, 11:43:55 PM
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Bush was far and away the best choice
Pete Fiutak / CollegeFootballNews.com
Has there ever been more excitement about a Heisman winner?
Some Heisman years have been better than others, with more controversy and more stars in the mix, but the mega-watt college football superstar power of this year's race made it a bit more relaxed — and a lot more fun.
How could there be a wrong choice?
After all, Vince Young was the electrifying leader and transcendent playmaker who took Texas to the national title game. And Matt Leinart, the consummate leader and, arguably the greatest college quarterback of all-time, would hardly be a bad pick. But one player, above the numbers and all the hype, stood out as the signature player of the 2005 season.
Not since Barry Sanders ripped off 2,850 yards and 44 touchdowns for Oklahoma State has there been anyone who made as many jaws-droppers as Reggie Bush did this year. It wasn't just his all-around excellence and sensational numbers, it was the way he attained them … and when.
Honestly, how many times did you watch Young play this year? You saw the Ohio State game, maybe part of the Texas A&M game and possibly the first half of the Big 12 Championship, but Young simply didn't get the all-around exposure Bush did, and he didn't have the panache of "Mr. 619."
When you play for the defending national champions, people tend to pay a little more attention to you. It's not like Bush came from nowhere; he was a finalist for the 2004 Heisman, but he still creeped into the front-runner spot over the first half of the season — despite rushing for 601 yards and scoring eight touchdowns in his first five games.
With 160 yards and three touchdowns, along with four catches for 35 yards, he turned up his game 10 notches in the classic win over Notre Dame. The whole world was watching, and the Heisman race was over. Leinart might have saved the game with his historic fourth-down pass to keep the season alive, and he might have scored the game-winning touchdown, but that was Reggie's game — from the "Bush Push" to the runs needed to keep the Trojans in the game.
He saved the day against Fresno State with big run after big run on the way to a 294-rushing yard, 513-overall yard day.
When UCLA had USC pinned deep with a chance to turn the game around, Bush tore off a big run and the game was over.
He had that kind of a game-changing flair for the dramatic, but it was also the way he made his big plays — with a breathtaking combination of speed and timeliness. In the highlights, watch how many big runs he made before being touched.
No one is leaving this Heisman race with a sour taste in their mouth. Voters weren't just happy to vote for Bush, they were excited about it; they couldn't wait to add him to the Pantheon alongside college football gods.
It was the way he made the voters fired up about every single carry. It was the way he got many stodgy voters excited about voting for the Heisman again.
Unfortunately, he only has unrealistic hype ahead of him, with many already calling him one of the great pro prospects of all time.
No matter what he does in the pros, and whether or not he's the next Gale Sayers, he'll always be included among the most exciting players in the history of college football.