Peterson is the real deal.. Bush is not.. Bush is a trick play.. he is entirely average when it comes to actually running the ball.. yes, he is a gamebreaker, but give him the ball 30 times in a game and he will average 3-4 yards a carry for most of those and break one or two... alot of his big runs came off of screens or reverses that set him up for success.. his recieving yards came on mismatches with linebackers and safeties... he is NO marshall faulk... Lendale white is a better runningbakc than him and if white goes down and cannot carry the load for USC, Bush will be exposed quick.
That is exactly what Marshall Faulk is, or was when he was still incredibly productive. Guys like Faulk, Sayers, Sims, Sanders and Bush have always averaged about 4 yards per carry and then broke big ones, that's the way of their game. Bush is the real deal, he has every attribute that a runner with his style needs.
Hilarious. :rofl: :rofl: I know what you mean, though. It's not like QB where you have a million other things to worry about or that could go wrong.
USC's Bush is a game breaker & an amazing athlete - a great runningback... not so much. Chow had plays designed specifically around Bush's abilities, the slants, sweeps etc. I firmly believe that the only reason they ever had Bush try to straight run was to keep the defense on their toes by not knowing where he would come from. He got tackled in the backfield more than any other running back in the country. Why? Because he isn't effective until he gets some space. That means he isn't the type of back that can support a team. He can't be used to gather yardage, only to occassionally make big plays. Thats what USC relies on Lendale White for being a running back that can actually build yardage. I don't think teams worry about USC's running game all that much, compared to their passing atleast. They worry about Bush's playmaking ability but not their running game in the traditional sense. Oklahoma at number 2 might seem a little high because we are thinking that the placement comes solely from Peterson. Peterson had an amazing freshman year & hopefully he can build on that, but they also have Kejuan Jones who is pretty good. At the same time, some people might be overexagerrating LSU's strength at running back. Vincent is not the back he once was - although it sounds good to say the National Championship MVP is now 3rd string... In reality, we have Addai whom many people think highly of because he's tough as nails, good attitude & very capable of busting out long yardage plays; Broussard - a bruiser back with alot of ability to pound out yards; Vincent - a slasher type back who didn't produce much results last year; Carey - a talented back, but doesn't see the field to much. None of our backs have gotten over a 1,000 yards (except Vincent, but I don't think he'll be doing that again). Last year our running game was good, but not that good because the opposing always stuffed the box because of our QB inconsistencies. This group has alot of potential, but they aren't the combination that Cadillac & Brown were.... yet.
Reggie Bush might possibly be the most exciting player to watch at the college level today, but I still think that his future at the next level is as a WR.
But we did outrush them in the game last year. I don't know what the season totals were, I just like repeating that little tidbit as much as possible.
If we could tackle worth a d*mn that game we would have outrushed them by alot more. We pretty much contained Cadillac, but Brown was getting massive amounts of yards after contact. I really believe that game gave them the confidence to play the way they did the rest of the year. 2003's combo of Ronni/Cadillac was impressive but similar to LSU's current situation - just alot of potential & hadn't done as much as needed to prove it. Hopefully our running game works out as well as theirs did.
LSU's backfield led the SEC in rushing last year. And all four running backs, both fullbacks, and all five offensive linemen return.
Well, in most publications, Reggie Bush is a 1st team Pre-season All-American (and rightfully so, though I hate to admit it) and USC's other RB, LenDale White (6'2" 235) is a 3rd team Pre-season All-American. Granted, I think USC gets more "media love" than they should, but based on having 2 running backs in the 3-team deep All-American honors list, it's not hard to see why they're ranked ahead of us.
