December 4, 2004 Week 15 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 29–24, on the road at UCLA.

Home · Challenger

UCLA 24

Away · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 29

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

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 338 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 11 defenses already behind it; this was its 12th defense. USC went on to defend it 13 more times before Texas took it on January 4, 2006, 734 days after the reign began.

For UCLA this was its 17th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 9 times before.

It was the 8th of 9 belt games between the two; going in, USC led the belt series 5–2; all-time USC leads 7–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

USC dominated this Pac-10 rivalry game throughout, with Reggie Bush's two explosive rushing touchdowns—a 65-yarder in the first quarter and an 81-yarder in the second—setting the tone early. The Trojans built a commanding lead through the first half, adding field goals from Ryan Killeen to reach 26 points by halftime while UCLA struggled offensively, managing only a 96-yard punt return touchdown by Craig Bragg and a field goal. UCLA mounted a brief third-quarter comeback with Manuel White Jr.'s 9-yard touchdown rush, but it proved too little too late as USC's balanced attack and superior field position allowed them to hold on for the belt-retaining victory.

Reggie Bush's 65-yard touchdown run in Q1 gave USC an early 7-0 lead and established the Trojans' dominance
Craig Bragg's 96-yard punt return touchdown in Q2 was UCLA's best offensive play, cutting into USC's lead and keeping the Bruins in contention
Bush's 81-yard rushing touchdown in Q2 extended USC's lead to 26-3 and essentially put the game out of reach
UCLA's third-quarter touchdown drive with White's 9-yard score showed some fight but couldn't overcome USC's early offensive explosion

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

UCLAUSC

Total yards295477

Rushing yards17235

Passing yards291266

First downs1219

3rd down conv.3/141/13

Turnovers32

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession15:2821:12

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 14:15	USC	+65 yd	Reggie Bush (USC) rushed up the middle for a 65 yard touchdown.
Q1 14:02	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q1 14:02	USC	+50 yd	Kickoff returned by Chris Markey (UCLA) for 50 yards.
Q1 6:25	USC	+37 yd	37 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q1 6:08	USC	+22 yd	Kickoff returned by Chris Markey (UCLA) for 22 yards.
Q2 9:51	UCLA	+0 yd	Extra point by Justin Medlock (UCLA) is good.
Q2 10:12	USC	+96 yd	Punt by Tom Malone (USC) returned 96 yards by Craig Bragg (UCLA) for a touchdown.
Q2 9:51	UCLA	+24 yd	Kickoff returned by Reggie Bush (USC) for 24 yards.
Q2 8:20	USC	+0 yd	Trojans punt blocked, recovered by Tom Malone (USC).
Q2 6:45	UCLA	+39 yd	39 yard field goal by Justin Medlock (UCLA) is no good.
Q2 6:03	USC	+0 yd	Extra point by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q2 6:40	USC	+81 yd	Reggie Bush (USC) rushed up the middle for a 81 yard touchdown.
Q2 6:03	USC	+22 yd	Kickoff returned by Chris Markey (UCLA) for 22 yards.
Q2 4:26	UCLA	+30 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass right side complete to Craig Bragg (UCLA) for 30 yards.
Q2 4:37	UCLA	+30 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass across the middle complete to Tab Perry (UCLA) for 30 yards.
Q2 2:55	UCLA	+43 yd	43 yard field goal by Justin Medlock (UCLA) is good.
Q2 2:50	UCLA	+48 yd	Kickoff returned by Desmond Reed (USC) for 48 yards.
Q2 0:13	USC	+43 yd	43 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q3 9:22	UCLA	+0 yd	Bruins fumble by Drew Olson (UCLA), recovered by Drew Olson (UCLA), advanced for no gain.
Q3 8:23	USC	+31 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Jason Mitchell (USC) for 31 yards.
Q3 7:10	USC	+34 yd	34 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q3 4:47	USC	+0 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle intercepted by Justin London (UCLA). Returned for no gain.
Q3 4:47	UCLA	+0 yd	Bruins fumble by Justin London (UCLA), recovered by Fred Matua (USC), returned for no gain.
Q3 1:52	UCLA	+9 yd	Manuel White Jr. (UCLA) rushed up the middle for a 9 yard touchdown.
Q3 1:52	UCLA	+20 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass across the middle complete to Junior Taylor (UCLA) for 20 yards.
Q3 2:50	UCLA	+39 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass left side complete to Tab Perry (UCLA) for 39 yards.
Q3 1:35	UCLA	+0 yd	Extra point by Justin Medlock (UCLA) is good.
Q4 12:09	USC	+36 yd	36 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q4 8:52	USC	+21 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass left side complete to Alex Holmes (USC) for 21 yards.
Q4 8:42	USC	+35 yd	Matt Leinart (USC) pass across the middle complete to Reggie Bush (USC) for 35 yards.
Q4 6:25	UCLA	+5 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass across the middle intercepted by Lofa Tatupu (USC). Returned for 5 yards.
Q4 4:00	USC	+34 yd	34 yard field goal by Ryan Killeen (USC) is good.
Q4 3:26	UCLA	+39 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass left side complete to Junior Taylor (UCLA) for 39 yards.
Q4 2:24	UCLA	+4 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass right side complete to Marcedes Lewis (UCLA) for a 4 yard touchdown.
Q4 2:20	UCLA	+0 yd	Extra point by Justin Medlock (UCLA) is good.
Q4 3:35	UCLA	+20 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass across the middle complete to Marcedes Lewis (UCLA) for 20 yards.
Q4 1:05	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by Reggie Bush (USC), recovered by Spencer Havner (UCLA), returned for no gain.
Q4 2:20	USC	+29 yd	Reggie Bush (USC) rushed right side for 29 yards.
Q4 0:53	UCLA	+6 yd	Drew Olson (UCLA) pass across the middle intercepted by Jason Leach (USC). Returned for 6 yards.
Q4 0:53	USC	+0 yd	Trojans fumble by Jason Leach (USC), recovered by Kevin Arbet (USC), advanced for no gain.

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

UCLA

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Drew Olson	20/34	278	8.2	1	2	36.3

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	24/34	242	7.1	0	1	34.9

Rushing

UCLA

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Manuel White Jr.	7	13	1.9	1	9
Wesley Walker	1	11	11.0	0	11
Chris Markey	8	5	0.6	0	4
Michael Pitre	1	4	4.0	0	4
Brandon Breazell	2	3	1.5	0	6
Maurice Jones-Drew	2	-5	-2.5	0	0
Drew Olson	4	-14	-3.5	0	0

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Reggie Bush	15	204	13.6	2	81
LenDale White	16	75	4.7	0	18
Tom Malone	1	-15	-15.0	0	0
Matt Leinart	3	-24	-8.0	0	0

Receiving

UCLA

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Junior Taylor	5	89	17.8	0	39
Tab Perry	3	78	26.0	0	39
Craig Bragg	6	67	11.2	0	30
Marcedes Lewis	4	29	7.3	1	20
Manuel White Jr.	1	11	11.0	0	11
Michael Pitre	1	4	4.0	0	4

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Reggie Bush	6	73	12.2	35
Dwayne Jarrett	5	44	8.8	12
Steve Smith	4	37	9.3	16
Jason Mitchell	2	36	18.0	31
Alex Holmes	1	21	21.0	21
LenDale White	2	13	6.5	10
Dominique Byrd	2	8	4.0	5
David Kirtman	1	7	7.0	7
Lee Webb	1	3	3.0	3

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

UCLA

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Justin London	1	4	0

USC

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Jason Leach	1	6	0
Lofa Tatupu	1	4	0

Kicking

UCLA

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Justin Medlock	1/2	50.0	43	3/3	6

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Ryan Killeen	5/5	100.0	42	2/2	17

Punt Returns

UCLA

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Craig Bragg	3	96	32.0	96	1
Chris Horton	1	6	6.0	6	0
Jarrad Page	1	0	0.0	0	0

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	3	19	6.3	15	0
Greig Carlson	2	6	3.0	6	0

Punting

UCLA

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chris Kluwe	7	307	43.9	0	0	52

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Malone	4	180	45.0	0	0	59

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 243390026) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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