September 25, 2004 Week 5 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 31–28, on the road at Stanford.

Home · Challenger

Stanford 28

Away · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 31

AP poll, week 5: USC No. 1 at Stanford unranked · No. 1 that week: Maryland. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 268 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 3 defenses already behind it; this was its 4th defense. USC went on to defend it 21 more times before Texas took it on January 4, 2006, 734 days after the reign began.

For Stanford this was its 15th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before.

It was the 7th of 8 belt games between the two; going in, Stanford led the belt series 3–2–1; all-time USC leads 4–3–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

USC's defense struck early in the first quarter, with Kevin Arbet returning an interception 66 yards to set up a short touchdown pass from Matt Leinart to Steve Smith, giving the Trojans a 10-7 lead after Stanford answered with an Evan Moore touchdown reception. The teams traded scores throughout the first half in a back-and-forth battle, with Stanford taking a 21-17 lead on Kyle Matter's 11-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. However, USC responded with Reggie Bush's 17-yard touchdown run to go up 24-21, only to have Stanford's J.R. Lemon break free for an 82-yard touchdown run with just 10 seconds left in the half, giving Stanford a 28-24 advantage. USC's defense tightened in the second half and the Trojans' passing attack, led by Leinart's 303 yards, ultimately proved decisive as USC held on for a 31-28 victory to retain the belt.

Kevin Arbet's 66-yard interception return in Q1 set up USC's first touchdown and shifted momentum early
J.R. Lemon's 82-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left in the half gave Stanford a 28-24 halftime lead
USC's defense held Stanford scoreless in the second half while the Trojans scored enough to win 31-28

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

StanfordUSC

Total yards327383

Rushing yards14499

Passing yards212303

First downs1723

3rd down conv.9/167/12

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession18:5917:24

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 13:30	USC	+25 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle complete to Alex Holmes (USC) for 25 yards.
Q1 10:43	USC	+23 yd	23 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q1 10:40	USC	+31 yd	Kickoff returned by Marcus McCutcheon (STAN) for 31 yards.
Q1 8:10	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by Fred Davis (USC), recovered by Steve Smith (USC), advanced for no gain.
Q1 5:50	Stanford	+66 yd	Trent Edwards (STAN) pass right side intercepted by Kevin Arbet (USC). Returned for 66 yards.
Q1 5:40	USC	+2 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Steve Smith (USC) for a 2 yard touchdown.
Q1 5:40	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q1 5:36	USC	+21 yd	Kickoff returned by T.J. Rushing (STAN) for 21 yards.
Q1 5:31	Stanford	+20 yd	Trent Edwards (STAN) pass right side complete to Evan Moore (STAN) for 20 yards.
Q1 0:50	Stanford	+3 yd	Trent Edwards (STAN) pass left side complete to Evan Moore (STAN) for a 3 yard touchdown.
Q1 0:50	Stanford	+0 yd	Extra point by Michael Sgroi (STAN) is good.
Q1 5:31	Stanford	+0 yd	Cardinal fumble by Alex Smith (STAN), recovered by Matt Traverso (STAN), advanced for no gain.
Q1 5:31	Stanford	+0 yd	Cardinal fumble by Mark Bradford (STAN), recovered by Evan Moore (STAN), advanced for no gain.
Q2 6:15	Stanford	+2 yd	Trent Edwards (STAN) pass right side complete to Patrick Danahy (STAN) for a 2 yard touchdown.
Q2 6:15	Stanford	+0 yd	Extra point by Michael Sgroi (STAN) is good.
Q2 5:58	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by Steve Smith (USC), recovered by Mike Silva (STAN), returned for no gain.
Q2 5:58	USC	+25 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Steve Smith (USC) for 25 yards.
Q2 3:45	Stanford	+0 yd	Extra point by Michael Sgroi (STAN) is good.
Q2 3:45	Stanford	+11 yd	Kyle Matter (STAN) rushed right side for a 11 yard touchdown.
Q2 3:00	Stanford	+27 yd	Kickoff returned by Reggie Bush (USC) for 27 yards.
Q2 1:00	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 1:00	USC	+17 yd	Reggie Bush (USC) rushed right side for a 17 yard touchdown.
Q2 0:10	Stanford	+82 yd	J.R. Lemon (STAN) rushed up the middle for a 82 yard touchdown.
Q2 0:10	Stanford	+0 yd	Extra point by Michael Sgroi (STAN) is good.
Q3 12:10	Stanford	+0 yd	Cardinal fumble by Trent Edwards (STAN), recovered by Brian Head (STAN), advanced for no gain.
Q3 8:55	USC	+33 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle complete to Steve Smith (USC) for 33 yards.
Q3 4:40	USC	+51 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass right side complete to Steve Smith (USC) for 51 yards.
Q3 3:25	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q3 3:25	USC	+1 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) rushed up the middle for a 1 yard touchdown.
Q3 3:06	USC	+28 yd	Kickoff returned by T.J. Rushing (STAN) for 28 yards.
Q4 11:58	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by LenDale White (USC), recovered by LenDale White (USC), advanced for no gain.
Q4 11:20	USC	+24 yd	24 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is no good.
Q4 9:40	Stanford	+32 yd	Punt by Jay Ottovegio (STAN) returned 32 yards by Reggie Bush (USC) to the Cardinal 41.
Q4 6:30	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q4 6:30	USC	+2 yd	LenDale White (USC) rushed up the middle for a 2 yard touchdown.

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Stanford

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Trent Edwards	23/35	183	5.2	2	1	40.3

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	23/30	284	9.5	1	1	70.8

Rushing

Stanford

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
J.R. Lemon	10	96	9.6	1	82
Kenneth Tolon	9	26	2.9	0	10
Kyle Matter	1	11	11.0	1	11
Trent Edwards	10	11	1.1	0	19

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Reggie Bush	16	95	5.9	1	17
LenDale White	11	24	2.2	1	7
Hershel Dennis	1	1	1.0	0	1
Matt Leinart	4	-16	-4.0	1	2

Receiving

Stanford

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Evan Moore	5	47	9.4	1	20
Alex Smith	5	45	9.0	0	17
Mark Bradford	4	30	7.5	0	11
David Marrero	3	23	7.7	0	9
Patrick Danahy	1	2	2.0	1	2

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Steve Smith	7	129	18.4	1	51
Dwayne Jarrett	5	54	10.8	0	16
Alex Holmes	2	29	14.5	0	25
Chris McFoy	2	28	14.0	0	15
Reggie Bush	4	25	6.3	0	15
Fred Davis	1	15	15.0	0	15
David Kirtman	2	4	2.0	0	3

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Stanford

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Mike Silva	1	0	0

USC

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Kevin Arbet	1	66	0

Kicking

Stanford

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Michael Sgroi	0/0	0.0	0	4/4	4

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Ryan Killeen	1/2	50.0	23	4/4	7

Punt Returns

Stanford

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
David Marrero	3	22	7.3	12	0

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	4	35	8.8	33	0
Greig Carlson	1	5	5.0	5	0

Punting

Stanford

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Jay Ottovegio	5	212	42.4	0	0	50

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Malone	3	121	40.3	0	0	57

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 242690024) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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