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

USC 29

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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Drew OlsonUCLA	20/34	278	8.2	1	2	36.3
Matt LeinartUSC	24/34	242	7.1	0	1	34.9

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Manuel White Jr.UCLA	7	13	1.9	1	9
Wesley WalkerUCLA	1	11	11.0	0	11
Chris MarkeyUCLA	8	5	0.6	0	4
Michael PitreUCLA	1	4	4.0	0	4
Brandon BreazellUCLA	2	3	1.5	0	6
Maurice Jones-DrewUCLA	2	-5	-2.5	0	0
Drew OlsonUCLA	4	-14	-3.5	0	0
Reggie BushUSC	15	204	13.6	2	81
LenDale WhiteUSC	16	75	4.7	0	18
Tom MaloneUSC	1	-15	-15.0	0	0
Matt LeinartUSC	3	-24	-8.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Junior TaylorUCLA	5	89	17.8	0	39
Tab PerryUCLA	3	78	26.0	0	39
Craig BraggUCLA	6	67	11.2	0	30
Marcedes LewisUCLA	4	29	7.3	1	20
Manuel White Jr.UCLA	1	11	11.0	0	11
Michael PitreUCLA	1	4	4.0	0	4
Reggie BushUSC	6	73	12.2	0	35
Dwayne JarrettUSC	5	44	8.8	0	12
Steve SmithUSC	4	37	9.3	0	16
Jason MitchellUSC	2	36	18.0	0	31
Alex HolmesUSC	1	21	21.0	0	21
LenDale WhiteUSC	2	13	6.5	0	10
Dominique ByrdUSC	2	8	4.0	0	5
David KirtmanUSC	1	7	7.0	0	7
Lee WebbUSC	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Justin LondonUCLA	1	4
Jason LeachUSC	1	6
Lofa TatupuUSC	1	4

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Justin MedlockUCLA	1/2	50.0	43	3/3	6
Ryan KilleenUSC	5/5	100.0	42	2/2	17

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Craig BraggUCLA	3	96	32.0	96	1
Chris HortonUCLA	1	6	6.0	6	0
Jarrad PageUCLA	1	0	0.0	0	0
Reggie BushUSC	3	19	6.3	15	0
Greig CarlsonUSC	2	6	3.0	6	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Chris KluweUCLA	7	307	43.9	0	0	52
Tom MaloneUSC	4	180	45.0	0	0	59

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

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