Bush turns in record-setting performance in Saints win over 49ers

Down on all fours after crashing across the goal line, Reggie Bush shook off the pain of a mild shoulder sprain and rose to his feet as the Louisiana Superdome crowd chanted his name.

“REG-GIE, REG-GIE,” they hollered, just as they had in the heady days when the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner showed up at a downtown restaurant or local golf tournament shortly after being drafted last spring.

From the time he had arrived in New Orleans, a hurricane-battered town needing something to cheer about, Bush had been welcomed like a savior.

He acted like it off the field, giving $50,000 to a school for special needs children, paying to resurface a flood-damage high school football stadium or donating Hummers to a metro area police force.

On the field, through 11 games, he had merely been good, until his 12th game on Sunday, when he was great.

Bush tied Joe Horn’s franchise record by scoring all four of the Saints’ touchdowns and gained 168 total yards as New Orleans beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-10. The victory helped the Saints (8-4) remain alone in first place in the NFC South, while reducing the 49ers (5-7) to playoff longshots.

“Obviously, I haven’t had the flashy runs or the breakthrough game like everybody has been expecting, but at the same time, I’m adjusting to the NFL,” Bush said. “It’s the kind of a game I’ve been waiting for, too. It finally came.”

Most of Bush’s gains were modest, but his stunning acceleration, fancy footwork and leaping ability were evident in all of his touchdowns and numerous drive-sustaining plays. He finished with 131 yards on nine receptions and 37 yards on 10 rushes.

It was fitting that Bush looked more comfortable than he had previously, since so many elements from his past had converged in this game.

San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith was Bush’s high school quarterback in San Diego. Their high school coach was at the game. Even the man Bush considers his father, LaMar Griffin, took in his first game at the Superdome since his son had turned pro.

“He told me, ‘Dad, I need you to come to this game, you haven’t been here,’ and he tore it up,” said Griffin, a longtime 49ers fan who was wearing Bush’s No 25 Saints jersey as he stood outside the New Orleans’ locker room alongside Bush’s mother, Denise. “It was good to see him get in the swing of things.”

San Francisco was as close as 14-10 early in the third quarter after Smith connected with Antonio Bryant for a 48-yard score. But Smith was done in on two subsequent passes intended for Bryant, both of which were intercepted by Mike McKenzie and led to 10 points for New Orleans.

That left Smith to watch Bush do the types of things he had seen so often when the two were high school teammates.

“He’s a special talent. I knew it from early on,” Smith said. “He’s unique. He has a lot of potential, a lot of game-breaking potential.”

Missing leading receiver Marques Colston, who was inactive with a sprained ankle, and Joe Horn, who aggravated his previously injured groin on his first catch of the first quarter, Drew Brees failed to reach 300 yards passing for the first time in six games. He finished 17-of-28 for 186 yards.

Deuce McAllister rushed for 135 yards on 27 carries, including a successful fourth-and-1 conversion, and the Saints rushed for 190 yards as a team.

Smith, who was sacked four times, finished 14-of-28 for 171 yards. The Saints’ held Frank Gore to only 40 yards rushing and 28 yards receiving.

Bush’s first touchdown was a 1-yard dive over pile at the goal line, although the play that set that up was even more impressive. Bush turned a short pass out of the backfield into a 14-yard gain by badly faking out a first defender on a stutter-step, then carrying a band of tacklers on his back down to the 1.

Bush’s second score came when he bounced outside and used his speed to gain the corner, stepping inside the pylon for an 8-yard touchdown run. His slippery moves helped him snake through traffic for his third touchdown on Brees’ shovel pass on a third-and-goal from the 5.

He put the game away by turning a short pass into a 74-yard gain to set up his fourth TD, in which he dived and stretched to reach the goal line while taking a hard hit. Bush was in pain after the play, but he looked fine when the game ended as he skipped to the edge of the stands and celebrated with fans.

“Obviously it was great to hear the fans chanting my name,” Bush said. “Our whole season is dedicated to the City of New Orleans. Everybody who lived in New Orleans or is from New Orleans that went through Hurricane Katrina last year, it’s really at the end of the day about them. Because we know, obviously, if we win, that’s going to give them something to be proud of.”

Notes:@ San Francisco offensive lineman Adam Snyder had to be helped off the field with an injured right leg in the first quarter. He was taken to the locker room on a cart and did not return. … Saints owner Tom Benson drew a big applause when he spoke to fans from the sidelines during the two-minute warning, thanking them for selling out the Louisiana Superdome for the season, and announcing a freeze on season-ticket prices for next year.