Young gets better of Bush again
NEW ORLEANS — Vince Young is tired of talking about his supposed rivalry with Reggie Bush.
Heck, the Tennessee quarterback even called up Bush when he needed tickets for the game against the Saints.
"He came through for me," Young said. "That was a good deal by Reg. I appreciate that."
Not that he showed a lot of gratitude on the field.
Young threw a pair of touchdown passes and the Titans kept up the surge that started last season, beating the winless Saints 31-14 Monday night before a Superdome crowd that showered boos on the same players who provided such a pick-me-up to the devastated city a year ago.
The Saints (0-3) rallied from an early 10-0 deficit, going ahead 14-10 midway through the third quarter on Bush's second 1-yard touchdown run.
But Young, just as he did leading Texas to an epic win over Bush and Southern Cal at the 2006 Rose Bowl, brought his team back.
Just don't bring up Pasadena again. Young is more concerned with keeping up the momentum from last year's 8-3 finish after the Titans started 0-5.
"I'm tired of it," Young said of the continuing link to Bush. "A lot of people keep trying to make this a rivalry between me and Reggie. I have so much respect for the guy because of what he does."
While running backs LenDale White and Chris Brown handled the bulk of the workload on the go-ahead drive, Young threaded a key 10-yard pass to Eric Moulds, who was shoved out of bounds at the Saints 1. White, a teammate of Bush's at USC, powered over on the next play to put the Titans (2-1) ahead to stay.
"When it's time for us to get that drive," Young said, "I want to do whatever it takes to win a ballgame."
Drew Brees, who had another miserable game, got the ball knocked away on the first play of the fourth quarter, the second of his five turnovers. Young seized on the fumble to drive Tennessee to the decisive score.
The second-year quarterback completed an 18-yard pass to Roydell Williams, ran for 11 yards and capped the drive with a 3-yard pass to Bo Scaife that put the Titans up 24-14.
Young also hooked up with Brandon Jones on a 35-yard TD and finished off an efficient performance 14-of-22 for 164 yards. For good measure, he ran three times for 23 yards.
While Bush scored both TDs for the Saints, the Tennessee defense kept him bottled up for the most part. He was held to 15 yards on seven carries and managed just 20 yards on his six receptions, the quick stutter-step that froze so many defenders a year ago no longer working.
"Obviously it's not the same as last year," Bush said. "We're just not playing good football. We've got a lot of work to do."
