Reggie Bush's "Push" For the Heisman

South Bend, Indiana played host to a football game that is sure to be another cornerstone in the lore that is the Notre Dame-USC rivalry. In a game earmarked for ESPN Classic, two weeks of hype and planning finally came to an end and the game began.

It looked like a blowout was starting early in the game when a tipped Brady Quinn (19/35 264 yds 1 TD 1 INT) pass was intercepted by USC at midfield. Two plays later Heisman frontrunner Reggie Bush took of for 36 yards on what would be his first of three touchdowns. The first quarter would finish with the Trojans ahead 14-7.

After the Fighting Irish tied the game at 14, a 60 yard punt return by Safety Tom Zbikowski (zib-uh-kow-skee) catapulted Notre Dame into the lead and stole momentum away from the Trojans making the score Notre Dame 21 USC 14 at halftime.

The back and forth nature of this game would not end in the second half. Reggie Bush ran 45 yards away from all Irish defenders for his second touchdown of the game to tie it at 21. That would be the only score of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter the Irish would take the lead back with a field goal before USC marched downfield again to take a 28-24 lead thanks to Reggie Bush's third rushing touchdown.

Then the game got really interesting. Looking every bit like Charlie Weis' old quarterback Tom Brady, Brady Quinn led the Irish downfield unfazed on an 8 play 87 yard drive. He finished it off himself with a 5 yard scamper into the endzone to give the Irish a 31-28 lead as Touchdown Jesus looked on. The only mistake Quinn and the Irish made on the drive was leaving 2:04 on the Game Clock. USC would have it's chance.

It looked like the Irish defense had the Trojan offense stopped when Heisman winner Matt Leinart and his team faced a 4th and 9 on their own 26. Leinart responded under pressure the same way he always has in his Trojan career. He signaled a "hot" route to his wide receiver (and offseason roommate) Dwayne Jarret. The result was a 61 yard pass to the Notre Dame 13 yard line. Then with time running out and no timeouts Leinart scrambled to his left looking for the pylon and the game winning touchdown. He was met by the Irish defense at the 1 yard line where he was hit in mid air and stopped cold. The ball was knocked from Leinarts hands and sent flying out of bounds. This would prove to save USC's day, and bid for another National Championship. The clock had run out and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, his players, and their fans thought they had won the game. USC head coach Pete Carrol though sprinted down the sideline to point out that since Leinart fumbled out of bounds the clock should be stopped and it should be USC ball. The officials quickly and correctly placed the ball on the half yard line with 7 seconds left on the clock.

"The reaction of the fans being on the field and then seeing how you kind of want it to come out, then seeing the exact opposite all in a matter of minutes," Irish quarterback Brady Quinn said. "People were pretty shocked and devastated."

USC would then line up in a "spike" formation. ( A formation used when a team wants to spike the football after the snap to stop the game clock.) Nobody in South Bend or watching on national television thought the Trojans were actually gonna spike the ball though. After the snap Leinart lunged toward the goal line, and was stopped. He rolled to his left and received a push from his Heisman candidate RB Reggie Bush over the goaline for the Trojan victory.



"I used all 200 pounds of my body to push Matt in," said Bush.

Herein lies the issue. According to NCAA rules what Reggie Bush did was illegal. By rule it is considered a 15 yard personal foul penalty. The officials never called it though. It marks the second time in a matter of days a nationally televised sporting event will end in controversy due to mistakes by an official. (See my post on Game 2 of the ALCS for the other incident.)

The way I see it is yes the officials did miss a call. Pete Carrol being the visiting coach had the option of using instant replay in the game and he declined it. Lucky for him since Weis couldn't challenge the play after. None of this should, however, take away from what a truly magnificent game this was. It was a great Saturday for college football all around the country. While all this was going on in South Bend a few hours away in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Wolverines were scoring a last second touchdown to give Penn State it's first loss of the season. Today was truly a great day to be a college football fan. I only hope that Reggie Bush's "Push for the Heisman" doesn't make the country forget that.