Tag: Bush Push

Matt Leinart and Julian Edelman relive “The Bush Push”

The Bush Push certainly feels different in light of the Tush Push, doesn’t it?

Before there was the “Tush Push” with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles, there was the Bush Push in the 2005 USC-Notre Dame game. Matt Leinart remembers it well. He was pushed by his teammate, Reggie Bush, into the end zone to complete a 34-31 win in one of the great games in college football history. It was technically not legal at the time for teammates to push players forward the way Bush did for Leinart, but in all candor, the violation of that rule was hardly ever called to begin with. If you’re at least 45 to 50 years old and have an awareness of how football games were officiated 25 and 30 and 40 years ago, you know the Bush Push was not called against offensive teams very often. The rule might have been occasionally enforced, but hardly with any regularity. It was much like the palming violation in the NBA and college basketball.

Matt Leinart was recently joined by New England Patriot Super Bowl champion Julian Edelman to turn back the clock and discuss the Bush Push and everything it meant. That one push owns an enormous amount of historical importance nearly 20 years after it happened.

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Watch: Matt Lienart re-enacts ‘Bush Push’ in front of Brady Quinn

18 years later and it still stings

Few college football games in history stack up to what 2005’s edition of Notre Dame vs. USC presented.

An all-time exciting game with an all-time finish.

Notre Dame was one play away from snapping USC’s 27-game winning streak and knocking off No. 1 but thanks to help from Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush, quarterback Matt Leinart found the end zone.

To this day that play is remembered as the “Bush Push”.  I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know if you’re a Notre Dame or USC fan but two stars from that game are on campus this weekend.

Former Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Brady Quinn[/autotag] works with Leinart on the Fox Sports “Big Noon Kickoff” show that is broadcasting from South Bend for the first time Saturday.

On Thursday night the two were on the field to re-enact the legendary play that still stings Irish hearts to this day.  Check it out below as we’re certain there will be a piece on the show Saturday morning.

Don’t miss: Notre Dame-USC staff predictions

Notre Dame football: Most painful losses in recent memory

It’s not that each loss occurred but instead, how. The end result for all: pain.

If you’ve been a fan of Notre Dame football for the last couple of decades then heartbreak is something you’re used to.

Since winning their last national championship in 1988 there have been some extreme highs but none included hoisting the championship trophy at season’s end (although some could have).

There have been some heartbreaking losses since then. Some have costs chances at national championships, some have simply just ended in anguish and pain.

Which was the worst though?

After losing to Ohio State in truly incredible fashion we thought we’d take a look at some of the candidates and let you decide which one stings the worst.

How social media reacted to Notre Dame-Ohio State: Irish side

Fans sound off after the spiritual successor to the Bush Push.

Current Notre Dame students are too young to remember the Bush Push. When Ohio State was on the precipice of Notre Dame’s end zone in the final seconds with the Irish holding a slim lead, the hope was that an equally heartbreaking ending could be avoided. Instead, there’s a new generation of pain for Irish fans to endure as a similar play unfolded to give the Buckeyes a 17-14 win.

As we have said all week on this site, a victory would have completely changed the narrative surrounding the Irish. With this loss, the talking point that they can’t beat the teams in the top tier of college football will remain in spite of the fact that they nearly pulled it off. To paraphrase a famous quote in “We Are Marshall”, folks only remember one thing, and it isn’t how a losing team played. Results are all that matter.

Here are some Irish fans licking their wounds on social media:

Watch: Brady Quinn Shares Memories of Loudest Stadium, Toughest Foes at Notre Dame

Quinn discusses some of the best environments he played in and shares a story of just how loud Neyland Stadium in Tennessee was when the Irish pulled the upset of the Vols in 2004.

It’s been the way of the sports media world since live events shut down just over a month ago – old games and story time of sports from yesteryear.  Former Notre Dame quarterback and now rising star in the media, Brady Quinn joined Barton Simmons on “Social Distance” a new show 247Sports is putting on.

Quinn discusses some of the best environments he played in and shares a story of just how loud Neyland Stadium in Tennessee was when the Irish pulled the upset of the Vols in 2004.  He also takes you down memory lane a bit with stories of the “Bush Push” game and the satisfaction of earning a BCS berth in 2005 after the struggles Notre Dame had early in his career.

Take a watch below and remember some of the happy and some of the more painful memories in semi-recent Notre Dame history through the eyes of one of all the all-time Fighting Irish greats.

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The 38’s in regards to the Michigan game in ’04 was fun but Derrelle Revis baiting Quinn back in 2005 was probably my favorite story shared.  I always enjoy hearing stories of stars before they were seen nationally as stars and also enjoyed his openness about being out-matched in terms of physical ability against Ohio State and LSU during his college years.

Watch: Secret Base does deep rewind of ‘Bush Push’ game

Watch if you dare.

It’s surprising that some Notre Dame fans call the infamous 2005 “Bush Push” game against USC their favorite involving the Irish. After all, most sports fans prefer to think of wins when considering their top games for their favorite teams. However, there’s no denying that this game was one of the best college football has offered over the past 20 years. Now, YouTube sports channel Secret Base has done a deep rewind of this legendary contest:

Like many Irish fans, I also began celebrating when it appeared time had run out on the Trojans only to be bummed at the events that followed. Why our own Nick Shepkowski continues to fondly recall this game, I have no idea. Whatever the reason, I prefer to limit my exposure to the memories of this game. Also, it was but a momentary setback for me as this happened during the middle of my Chicago White Sox’s run to a World Series championship.

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Bush Push not worth remembering for Notre Dame fans

Why remember this painful memory?

The battle between Notre Dame and top-ranked USC on Oct. 15, 2005, objectively is remembered as an all-time great college football game. The Irish came agonizingly close to one of the best wins in program history but for Reggie Bush giving Matt Leinart enough of a nudge to score the winning touchdown with only a few seconds remaining.

If the Irish’s defense had been able to hold up just a little bit longer, we could have been talking gigantic shifts in the trajectory of the program and in college football. It is for this reason that, unlike our editor, I cannot bring myself to fondly recall this game.

Thinking about what could have been if one of my teams had just one or two more things go their way is one of the most painful things for me to do as a sports fan. On this night in South Bend, it looked like the Irish had done just enough to pull off the seemingly impossible. At least that’s how it appeared for a moment or two. Instead, Irish fans and Trojans haters were left with empty promises.

This game is one of the biggest what-ifs I’ve experienced for a team I have a rooting interest in. It’s up there with moments like Derrick Rose tearing his ACL, the Bears losing to the Packers in the 2013 season finale, and Alec Martinez scoring in overtime to eliminate the Blackhawks in 2014. I’ll even throw in the numerous near-misses the White Sox had at winning the division in the 2000s and early 2010s.

I’m not taking away anything that this game provided. I’m probably just coming across as a bitter sore loser, but this is a Notre Dame site, and I’m not going to apologize for it. I just so happen to be one of those fans that prefers to remember the good times my teams provide and forget the bad ones. If you’re one of those fans, I advise you to do the same.

My favorite college football season ever

If you could pick one college football season to relive, which would it be? Nick Shepkowski remembers his favorite in this piece.

What was your favorite year of college football ever?

If you’re a Notre Dame fan visiting here it doesn’t have to be a year the Irish won it all.  Instead, which year did you enjoy all of college football the most?

I got to thinking about this because of a recent draft of favorite seasons that ESPN put together.  Mine didn’t take much thought, but did have four other seasons go ahead of it in ESPN’s draft.

I know it likely has to largely do with age for most but how can a season be better than 2005?

It may sound boring when you hear that the two top teams in the pre-season polls went on to meet in the national championship, but how each got there was incredible with the defending champion USC team escaping the closest of calls at Notre Dame.  Texas’s biggest challenge was a thrilling Week Two win at Ohio State that sent the Longhorns on their way.

Each week ESPN would air a segment discussing if USC’s current team was the greatest in college football history.  The absurdity of it all was laughable, yet I couldn’t hate-watch it enough.

All year Reggie Bush turned heads for the Trojans while Vince Young did ridiculous things week after week in the Big 12.

It wasn’t just a couple of star players becoming legends on a weekly basis, top to bottom it was a phenomenal year nationwide.

Go look at October 15 of that season alone.  Any of the “Bush Push”, Mario Manningham walking Penn State off or West Virgina out-dueling Louisville would easily be considered the game of the year, but two weren’t even the best on that single day.

Just a year after going 6-7 and 4-7 respectively, Notre Dame and Penn State returned their national brands to a combined 20-4, with the Nittany Lions winning a thrilling Orange Bowl over Florida State.

If that’s not enough, those top two pre-season teams ultimately met in the greatest football game most of us have ever seen.  Despite USC being the greatest thing since sliced bread, underdog Texas pulled off the thriller behind an all-time performance from Vince Young.

I was 19 years old and starting my sophomore year of college in the fall of 2005.  I’m guessing being the same age as the guys playing each Saturday probably only helped the bigness of that season to me, but for my money that was the most enjoyable college football season I’ve ever taken in.