Lane Kiffin recalls famous ‘Bush Push’ play: ‘It’s a really dumb thing to do’
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Lane Kiffin has a very big game to coach in on Saturday afternoon when his 5th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels visit 9th-ranked Georgia in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ABC.
That’s the issue at hand now for the 50-year-old Kiffin. But almost exactly 2 decades ago, on Oct. 15, 2005, Kiffin was coaching in another very big game as USC’s offensive coordinator when the then-defending national champion Trojans visited Notre Dame in a showdown for the ages.
USC was ranked No. 1 and came into the game on a 27-game winning streak. The Trojans were seemingly unbeatable back in the mid-2000s, but on this particular Saturday in South Bend it looked like 9th-ranked Notre Dame was going to do the unthinkable and knock off USC to add another magical chapter in its football lore.
The Fighting Irish had taken a 31-28 lead with just over 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and they were 1 defensive stop away from shocking the college football world. If only they knew what was coming.
Of course, USC answered with a drive of its own and had the ball at the Notre Dame 1-yard line after some confusion over whether the game was actually over. But it wasn’t over, the clock showed 7 seconds left, and on the final play of this epic battle quarterback Matt Leinart took the snap, fell forward and was pushed by running back Reggie Bush into the end zone, giving USC a 34-31 victory in 1 of the craziest endings in the sport’s history.
It became known as the “Bush Push” play, and during a segment on ESPN’s College GameDay, which was being held in Athens on Saturday morning, Kiffin did what only Kiffin can do — he injected some humor into a legendary call and a legendary game.
“If you actually think about the ‘Bush Push’ it’s a really dumb thing to do, because you should be throwing (the ball) in that situation, so you have 2 plays right there,” Lane Kiffin said.
Here is the full clip of Kiffin discussing the end of that memorable battle 20 years ago:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
