On December 7 2005 2005 Heisman winner Reggie Bush
In terms of the Heisman Trophy, there’s no position more famous than Southern California running backs. Five Trojans tailbacks have won college football’s most coveted individual award: Mike Garrett (1965), O.J. Simpson (’68), Charles White (’79), Marcus Allen (’81) and Reggie Bush (’05). No USC tailback was as fast or as explosive as Bush, so it only seemed fitting that he would run away from the Heisman Trophy competition, too. During his junior season at USC in 2005, Bush finished with the highest percentage of first-place votes (84.9-percent of the 892 ballots cast) and highest percentage of points (on a 3-2-1 basis) in the 71-year history of the Heisman Trophy. “It’s truly an honor to be elected to this fraternity,” Bush said during his acceptance speech. “I’ve been in college for three years and it’s the first time I’ve been invited into a fraternity.” After running past defenders throughout the 2005 season, Bush left his Heisman competition in the dust, too. He ran for 295 yards and had 513 all-purpose yards — the second-highest total in NCAA history — in a 50-42 victory at Fresno State. In the regular-season finale against rival UCLA, Bush ran for 260 yards in a 66-19 rout of the Bruins. Bush won the Heisman Trophy one year after USC quarterback Matt Leinart won it. They became the first teammates to win the award in consecutive seasons since Army’s Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis accomplished the feat in 1945 and ’46, respectively.
— Mark Schlabach
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