September 3, 2005 Week 1 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 63–17, on the road at Hawai'i.

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Hawai'i 17

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USCAP No. 1 63

AP poll, week 1: USC No. 1 at Hawai'i unranked · No. 1 that week: Iowa. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 611 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 13 defenses already behind it; this was its 14th defense. USC went on to defend it 11 more times before Texas took it on January 4, 2006, 734 days after the reign began.

For Hawai'i this was its 4th shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 4 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, USC led the belt series 1–0; all-time USC leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

USC dominated Hawai'i from start to finish, with the Trojans' defense setting an early tone when Darnell Bing picked off Colton Brennan and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown just 10 minutes into the game. Matt Leinart and the USC offense proved relentless in the second half, with Steve Smith emerging as a particular problem for the Hawai'i secondary -- he caught touchdown passes of 28 yards and back-to-back long strikes for 67 and 55 yards in the third quarter alone. Reggie Bush added two rushing touchdowns, while Hawai'i managed only a pair of field goals and one touchdown pass to Bryan Maneafaiga in the third quarter. The Trojans' defense also recovered a fumble in the endzone for another score late in the third quarter, sealing a dominant 63-17 victory that left no doubt about who belonged to the belt.

Darnell Bing's 64-yard interception return for a touchdown in Q1 set the tone early for USC's defensive dominance
Steve Smith's three touchdown catches, including a 67-yard score in Q3, overwhelmed Hawai'i's secondary and broke the game open
Reggie Bush's two rushing touchdowns showcased USC's balanced offensive attack and control of the game
The fumble recovery touchdown in the endzone in Q3 effectively put the game out of reach

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

Hawai'iUSC

Total yards437518

Rushing yards60177

Passing yards393345

First downs2324

3rd down conv.5/135/10

Turnovers21

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession20:3316:08

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 10:32	Hawai'i	+64 yd	Colton Brennan pass intercepted by Darnell Bing at the UUB 36, returned for 64 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 11:49	Hawai'i	+26 yd	Colton Brennan pass complete to Ross Dickerson for 26 yards to the UUB 40 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q1 10:32	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q1 1:24	Hawai'i	+30 yd	Daniel Kelly 30 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 13:46	USC	+21 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 21 yards to the HHC 3 for a TOUCHDOWN, USC PENALTY 22 yard unsportsmanlike conduct on Dwayne Jarrett ACCEPTED.
Q2 14:08	USC	+20 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 20 yards to the HHC 21 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q2 13:41	USC	+25 yd	Mario Danelo kickoff for 65 yards returned by Mikhail Kafentzis for 25 yards to the HHC 25.
Q2 13:46	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 7:26	USC	+41 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 41 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 7:26	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 7:02	Hawai'i	+36 yd	Tyler Graunke pass complete to Ross Dickerson for 36 yards to the UUB 47 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q2 0:56	USC	+43 yd	Mario Danelo 43 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 14:43	Hawai'i	+30 yd	Daniel Kelly kickoff for 38 yards returned by Desmond Reed for 30 yards to the HHC 43.
Q3 10:26	USC	+24 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 24 yards to the HHC 20 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q3 9:32	USC	+28 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 28 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 9:32	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 9:09	Hawai'i	+43 yd	Colton Brennan pass complete to Ross Dickerson for 43 yards to the UUB 27 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q3 8:49	Hawai'i	+27 yd	Colton Brennan pass complete to Bryan Maneafaiga for 27 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 8:49	Hawai'i	+0 yd	Daniel Kelly extra point GOOD.
Q3 7:57	USC	+67 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 67 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 7:57	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 3:28	USC	+55 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 55 yards to the HHC 7 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q3 2:27	USC	+1 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 2:17	USC	+17 yd	Mario Danelo kickoff for 65 yards returned by Mikhail Kafentzis for 17 yards, fumbled by Mikhail Kafentzis at the HHC 0, forced by John D Booty, recovered by Desmond Reed, tackled by John D Booty for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 2:27	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 2:12	USC	+22 yd	Mario Danelo kickoff for 65 yards returned by Andre Taylor for 22 yards to the HHC 22.
Q3 2:17	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 12:52	USC	+2 yd	John D Booty pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 12:52	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 3:26	Hawai'i	+22 yd	Tyler Graunke pass complete to Dylan Linkner for 22 yards to the UUB 7 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q4 2:30	Hawai'i	+6 yd	Tyler Graunke pass complete to David Farmer for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 4:41	Hawai'i	+25 yd	Tyler Graunke pass complete to Ryan Grice-Mullen for 25 yards to the UUB 33 for a 1ST DOWN.
Q4 2:30	Hawai'i	+0 yd	Daniel Kelly extra point GOOD.
Q4 0:09	USC	+29 yd	Desmond Reed rush for 29 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 0:09	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 0:00	USC	+54 yd	Mario Danelo kickoff for 61 yards returned by Andre Taylor for 54 yards to the UUB 42.

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

Hawai'i

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Colt Brennan	21/32	250	7.8	1	1	19.2
Tyler Graunke	12/17	127	7.5	1	0	63.1

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	18/24	332	13.8	3	1	84.0
John David Booty	2/5	9	1.8	1	0	60.8

Rushing

Hawai'i

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Tyler Graunke	7	43	6.1	12
David Farmer	3	16	5.3	8
Bryan Maneafaiga	5	10	2.0	5
Colt Brennan	6	-9	-1.5	4

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Reggie Bush	12	86	7.2	2	41
LenDale White	13	69	5.3	0	13
Desmond Reed	5	26	5.2	1	29
Matt Leinart	2	-1	-0.5	0	3
John David Booty	1	-3	-3.0	0	0

Receiving

Hawai'i

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Ross Dickerson	5	116	23.2	0	43
Bryan Maneafaiga	6	61	10.2	1	27
Ian Sample	4	53	13.3	0	14
Davone Bess	4	26	6.5	0	10
Michael Washington	3	25	8.3	0	9
Dylan Linkner	2	22	11.0	0	22
David Farmer	3	17	5.7	1	7
Jason Ferguson	1	6	6.0	0	6

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Steve Smith	7	185	26.4	1	67
Dwayne Jarrett	7	88	12.6	3	28
Reggie Bush	4	58	14.5	0	20
Chris McFoy	1	7	7.0	0	7
Dominique Byrd	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Hawai'i

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Kenny Patton	1	0	0

USC

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Darnell Bing	1	65	1

Kicking

Hawai'i

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Daniel Kelly	1/1	100.0	30	2/2	5

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Mario Danelo	0/1	0.0	0	9/9	9

Punt Returns

Hawai'i

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Davone Bess	2	-2	-1.0	0	0

USC

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

Hawai'i

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Kurt Milne	3	105	35.0	0	0	40

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Taylor Odegard	1	38	38.0	0	0	38

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 252460062) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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