Bush Wins 2005 Heisman

It came as no surprise Saturday at the Nokia Theater in New York, or anywhere else for that matter, when the name of USC tailback Reggie Bush was announced as this year's recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Bush received 2,541 points to finish 933 points ahead of Texas QB Vince Young, with teammate Matt Leinart a distant third. Bush also garnered 784 first-place votes, the second-most in Heisman history only to fellow Trojan O.J. Simpson, who had 855 in 1968.

The Heisman Trophy is given annually to college football's most outstanding player. But outstanding barely begins to describe the season Reggie Bush has put together this year. He averaged an incredible 217.6 all-purpose yards over the course of the 2005 season, and was probably already the front-runner for this year's Heisman, but secured the honor by rolling up 776 total yards over the last two games of the season.

Bush is considered by many to be the type of special player who comes along once a decade. He has been compared to Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk, and Gale Sayers, and his versatility causes so many mismatches, and forces defenses to game plan specifically for him.

Bush is the fifth USC tailback to win the Heisman, following Mike Garrett, O.J. Simpson, Charles White and Marcus Allen.

Assuming he leaves school early, it would be a bit of a shocker if he were not the top overall selection in the 2006 NFL Draft. Join the discussion...