A STAR SNEAKS AROUND BUSH.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI When Reggie Bush Reginald "Reggie" Bush, birth name: Reginald Alfred Bush II (born March 2, 1985 in San Diego, California), nicknamed 'The Human Highlight Reel' and 'The President', alluding to President Bush, is an American football player who plays for the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. blasted off Saturday, he was a well-hyped freshman enjoying a nice game and his team was a less-than-convincing national- championship candidate searching for its ground attack. When he touched down, Bush was the Coliseum's new hero and USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. felt like Tailback U again. It happened early in the second half of the Trojans' 61-32 victory over Hawaii and it turned a nonconference confidence-builder into a 73,654-guest coming-out party. Bush already had carried a handoff 23 yards to his first collegiate score, already had taken a screen pass 28 yards on a cutback cut·back n. 1. A decrease; a curtailment: "The political effects of food cutbacks could be devastating" New York Times. 2. adventure reminiscent of a certain Heisman Trophy Heisman Trophy Annual award given to the outstanding college gridiron football player in the U.S. The trophy was instituted in 1935 by New York City's Downtown Athletic Club and was officially named the following year for the club's first athletic director, the player-coach winner, and already had begun to shake off the doubts created by meager mea·ger also mea·gre adj. 1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty. 2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain. 3. efforts against Auburn and BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding . ``I felt like if I go out every game and be an athlete, it had to come,'' Bush said of the challenge of turning his raw talent into yardage yard·age 1 n. 1. An amount or length measured in yards. 2. Cloth sold by the yard. Noun 1. . It was third-and-9 at the Hawaii 27 when quarterback Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983 in Santa Ana, California) is an American football quarterback (QB) for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Southern California Trojans, leading them to an AP national wheeled to his left and pitched out to Bush, who dropped the low toss before scooping it up in stride Adv. 1. in stride - without losing equilibrium; "she took all his criticism in stride" in good spirits and charged toward the left side of the line. Bush's acceleration is something to behold, and he penetrated the Hawaii secondary in a flash and was heading toward the end zone's left corner flag when the countdown hit zero. Maybe a step inside the 5-yard line, he launched himself into the hazy afternoon air, past a flailing Hawaii defensive back, up and over the Peristyle End goal line, maybe 15 feet from liftoff to touchdown. After he landed, tucked, rolled and bounced to his feet, the ball safe and the score now 38-6 Trojans, the only fans who might not have loved the moment were those who suspected a bit of showboating by the 18-year-old from Helix High in La Mesa (San Diego County). ``I felt like the (Hawaii) safety was coming fast, and he was going to try to cut me off and knock me out of bounds, but I wasn't going to be denied on that touchdown,'' Bush explained on the field minutes after the game ended and seconds before a ``Reggie! Reggie! Reggie!'' chant went up near the locker-room tunnel. ``I was just happy I scored, because if I didn't,'' he said later, referring to dropping the pitchout pitch·out n. 1. Baseball A pitch deliberately thrown high and away from the batter to make it easier for the catcher to throw out a base runner who is standing off a base or attempting to steal. 2. , ``I knew my coaches would have ripped a new hole in me.'' No showboating? ``Maybe this much,'' Bush said with a smile, holding two fingers an inch apart. Listed (I think generously) at 6 feet and 190 pounds, Bush had shrunk into the three-freshman crowd behind sophomore tailback Hershel Dennis in the Trojans' first two victories, gaining nine yards on five carries at Auburn and 19 yards on six carries against BYU. But Saturday, when fourth-ranked USC ran its winning streak to 11 games by beating up unranked Hawaii, Bush netted 54 yards on nine rushing attempts and 28 on his single reception, leading a backfield that got 58 rushing yards and two touchdowns from LenDale White, 57 total from Dennis and 8 total from Chauncey Washington. ``We wanted to see what the young guys would look like in our running attack,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said. ``I thought both Reggie and LenDale had terrific games to show you what they're all about. We finally found the continuity (in the offensive line) to allow those guys to play their games.'' In the Trojans' self-image, Carroll said, ``Reggie and Hershel would be flashy, make people miss and make the big plays, and LenDale and Chauncey would pound the ball in there.'' Bush was flashy from the start Saturday. His first touch of the ball, which didn't come until five minutes remained in the first half, was the 23-yard touchdown run that made it 17-7 USC. His third, with barely a minute to play in the half, was the screen-pass catch that resulted in a cutback run worthy of Marcus Allen. Heading right, Bush pivoted away from tacklers near the yard-line numbers, circled behind the line of scrimmage line of scrimmage n. pl. lines of scrimmage Football Either of two imaginary lines extending across the field parallel to the goal line at the ends of the ball as it rests prior to being snapped and at which each team lines up for , picked up an unexpected block by Leinart, and was forced out of bounds only after going 28 yards forward and about 40 side-to-side. ``We always know he's going to cut back,'' said Jason Leach, the Trojans' free safety. ``He does that in practice to us, too.'' This could have been a forgettable for·get·ta·ble adj. Fit or apt to be forgotten: a movie with very forgettable characters. Adj. 1. forgettable - easily forgotten unforgettable - impossible to forget game for the more than 73,000 on hand. It was 52-6 before Carroll sent in the subs. Reggie Bush made it one to remember. |
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