October 16, 2004 Week 8 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 45–7, at home over Arizona State.

Home · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 45

Away · Challenger

Arizona StateAP No. 15 7

AP poll, week 8: Arizona State No. 15 at USC No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 289 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 5 defenses already behind it; this was its 6th defense. USC went on to defend it 19 more times before Texas took it on January 4, 2006, 734 days after the reign began.

For Arizona State this was its 8th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 4 times before.

It was the 4th of 5 belt games between the two; going in, Arizona State led the belt series 2–1; all-time USC leads 3–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

USC dominated Arizona State from start to finish, with Matt Leinart orchestrating an explosive offensive performance to retain the belt. The Trojans struck quickly with two touchdown passes in the first quarter to Reggie Bush and LenDale White, then put the game completely out of reach in the second quarter with a relentless scoring barrage. An interception by Matt Grootegoed set up a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett, and USC would eventually score five touchdowns in the quarter alone, including a remarkable 52-yard touchdown pass from Bush to Jarrett and a 34-yard touchdown pass to the same receiver in the final moments before halftime. Arizona State's only score came on a short 2-yard touchdown run by Hakim Hill in the second quarter, and the Sun Devils never threatened again as USC's defense limited them to just 243 total yards.

Reggie Bush and LenDale White touchdowns in Q1 (10-0 lead) -- USC established early dominance
Matt Grootegoed interception in Q2 leading to Jarrett TD -- set tone for second quarter explosion
Five touchdown passes by Leinart in second quarter -- effectively ended the game before halftime
Reggie Bush's 52-yard TD pass to Dwayne Jarrett in Q2 -- highlighted USC's explosive playmaking

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

USCArizona State

Total yards446243

Rushing yards14524

Passing yards311264

First downs2313

3rd down conv.3/95/17

Turnovers12

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession18:0718:31

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 10:30	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q1 10:30	USC	+10 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle complete to Reggie Bush (USC) for a 10 yard touchdown.
Q1 9:00	Arizona State	+21 yd	Andrew Walter (ASU) pass right side complete to Derek Hagan (ASU) for 21 yards.
Q1 7:00	Arizona State	+47 yd	47 yard field goal by Jesse Ainsworth (ASU) is no good.
Q1 1:15	USC	+9 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle complete to LenDale White (USC) for a 9 yard touchdown.
Q1 1:15	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 13:45	Arizona State	+40 yd	Andrew Walter (ASU) pass right side intercepted by Matt Grootegoed (USC). Returned for 40 yards.
Q2 13:45	USC	+19 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass right side complete to Dwayne Jarrett (USC) for a 19 yard touchdown.
Q2 13:45	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 11:15	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by Reggie Bush (USC), recovered by Ishmael Thrower (ASU), returned for no gain.
Q2 8:00	Arizona State	+0 yd	Extra point by Jesse Ainsworth (ASU) is good.
Q2 8:00	Arizona State	+2 yd	Hakim Hill (ASU) rushed up the middle for a 2 yard touchdown.
Q2 7:49	Arizona State	+22 yd	Kickoff returned by Desmond Reed (USC) for 22 yards.
Q2 7:00	USC	+35 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass right side complete to Reggie Bush (USC) for 35 yards.
Q2 6:15	USC	+22 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Dominique Byrd (USC) for 22 yards.
Q2 5:15	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 5:15	USC	+1 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) rushed up the middle for a 1 yard touchdown.
Q2 2:30	USC	+52 yd	Reggie Bush (USC) pass right side complete to Dwayne Jarrett (USC) for a 52 yard touchdown.
Q2 2:30	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 1:05	Arizona State	+41 yd	Punt by Chris MacDonald (ASU) returned 41 yards by Reggie Bush (USC) to the Sun Devils 34.
Q2 0:49	USC	+34 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Dwayne Jarrett (USC) for a 34 yard touchdown.
Q2 0:49	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q3 10:45	Arizona State	+0 yd	Andrew Walter (ASU) pass left side intercepted by Darnell Bing (USC). Returned for no gain.
Q4 9:15	USC	+34 yd	34 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.

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

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	QBR
Matt Leinart	13/24	224	9.3	4	90.5
Reggie Bush	1/1	52	52.0	1	100.0
Matt Cassel	3/3	25	8.3	0	80.4

Arizona State

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Andrew Walter	19/34	181	5.3	0	2	21.8
Rudy Burgess	1/1	-8	-8.0	0	0	1.1

Rushing

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
David Kirtman	4	24	6.0	0	14
Reggie Bush	5	21	4.2	0	8
Hershel Dennis	5	19	3.8	0	6
LenDale White	16	68	4.3	0	9
Lee Webb	4	16	4.0	0	7
Matt Cassel	1	6	6.0	0	6
Desmond Reed	1	0	0.0	0	0
Matt Leinart	2	-9	-4.5	1	1

Arizona State

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Hakim Hill	12	31	2.6	1	8
Preston Jones	4	18	4.5	0	8
Rudy Burgess	3	13	4.3	0	9
Andrew Walter	8	-35	-4.4	0	8

Receiving

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dwayne Jarrett	5	139	27.8	3	52
Dominique Byrd	3	49	16.3	0	22
Reggie Bush	2	45	22.5	1	35
LenDale White	2	22	11.0	1	13
Chris McFoy	1	19	19.0	0	19
Alex Holmes	1	14	14.0	0	14
David Kirtman	1	7	7.0	0	7
Fred Davis	2	6	3.0	0	4

Arizona State

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Zach Miller	8	102	12.8	26
Derek Hagan	5	52	10.4	20
Moey Mutz	2	25	12.5	15
Terry Richardson	2	24	12.0	15
Rudy Burgess	2	11	5.5	11
Hakim Hill	1	6	6.0	6
Jamaal Lewis	1	5	5.0	5
Lee Burghgraef	1	2	2.0	2
Andrew Walter	1	-8	-8.0	0

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

USC

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Matt Grootegoed	1	41	0
Darnell Bing	1	0	0

Arizona State

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Ryan Killeen	1/1	100.0	34	6/6	9

Arizona State

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Jesse Ainsworth	0/1	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punt Returns

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	4	49	12.3	41	0
Greig Carlson	1	0	0.0	0	0

Arizona State

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Rudy Burgess	1	8	8.0	8	0

Punting

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Malone	3	146	48.7	0	0	62

Arizona State

No recorded stats in this category.

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 242900030) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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