October 15, 2005 Week 7 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 34–31, on the road at Notre Dame.

Home · Challenger

Notre DameAP No. 9 31

Away · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 34

AP poll, week 7: USC No. 1 at Notre Dame No. 9 · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 653 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 18 defenses already behind it; this was its 19th defense. USC went on to defend it 6 more times before Texas took it on January 4, 2006, 734 days after the reign began.

For Notre Dame this was its 19th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 8 times before.

It was the 9th of 9 belt games between the two; going in, USC led the belt series 5–2–1; all-time USC leads 6–2–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

USC's high-powered offense proved too much for Notre Dame in a back-and-forth affair in South Bend. The Trojans struck first with Reggie Bush's 36-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then built momentum through the first half with LenDale White's short TD and Matt Leinart's efficient passing attack. Notre Dame kept pace with scores from Travis Thomas and Jeff Samardzija, but USC pulled away in the second half when Bush broke loose for a 45-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Despite Notre Dame's late rally behind Brady Quinn and a DJ Fitzpatrick field goal in the fourth quarter, the Trojans' defense held firm to preserve the belt with a 34-31 victory.

Reggie Bush's 36-yard touchdown run in Q1 to establish USC's early offensive rhythm
Tom Zbikowski's 59-yard punt return for a touchdown in Q2 keeping Notre Dame competitive
Bush's 45-yard touchdown run in Q3 giving USC crucial separation late in the game
USC's defense forcing two turnovers including Chinedum Ndukwe's interception to shut down Notre Dame scoring chances

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

Notre DameUSC

Total yards417476

Rushing yards153175

Passing yards284317

First downs2820

3rd down conv.10/195/13

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession23:2013:21

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
Q4 14:32	USC	+31 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 31 yards to the NDame 38, Usc penalty 34 yard holding accepted.
Q1 8:53	USC	+36 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 36 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 8:53	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q1 3:06	Notre Dame	+16 yd	Travis Thomas rush for 16 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 2:59	Notre Dame	+31 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick kickoff for 57 yards returned by Desmond Reed for 31 yards to the USC 39.
Q1 3:06	Notre Dame	+0 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick extra point GOOD.
Q1 2:48	USC	+52 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dominique Byrd for 52 yards to the NDame 9 for a 1ST down.
Q1 2:02	USC	+3 yd	LenDale White rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 2:02	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 12:27	Notre Dame	+32 yd	Brady Quinn pass complete to Jeff Samardzija for 32 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 12:27	Notre Dame	+0 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick extra point GOOD.
Q2 10:23	USC	+59 yd	Tom Malone punt for 40 yards, returned by Tom Zbikowski for 59 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 10:23	Notre Dame	+0 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick extra point GOOD.
Q2 9:16	USC	+37 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 37 yards to the NDame 38 for a 1ST down, Notre Dame penalty offside defense on Freddie Parish declined.
Q2 8:10	USC	+20 yd	Matt Leinart pass intercepted by Chinedum Ndukwe at the NDame 0, returned for 20 yards to the NDame 20.
Q3 12:10	USC	+40 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Steve Smith for 40 yards to the NDame 37 for a 1ST down.
Q3 10:21	Notre Dame	+20 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick punt for 38 yards, returned by Reggie Bush for 20 yards to the USC 49.
Q3 9:28	USC	+45 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 45 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 9:28	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 9:24	USC	+21 yd	Troy Van Blarco kickoff for 61 yards returned by David Grimes for 21 yards to the NDame 25.
Q3 5:42	Notre Dame	+26 yd	Brady Quinn pass complete to Anthony Fasano for 26 yards, fumbled at the USC 6, forced by Darnell Bing, recovered by Keith Rivers at the USC 6, tackled by Darnell Bing.
Q3 1:10	Notre Dame	+22 yd	Brady Quinn pass complete to Anthony Fasano for 22 yards to the USC 21 for a 1ST down.
Q4 14:50	Notre Dame	+32 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick 32 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 14:50	Notre Dame	+28 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick kickoff for 61 yards returned by Reggie Bush for 28 yards to the NDame 32, Usc penalty 25 yard illegal block accepted.
Q4 9:13	Notre Dame	+25 yd	Brady Quinn pass complete to Darius Walker for 25 yards to the USC 20 for a 1ST down.
Q4 7:28	Notre Dame	+34 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick 34 yard field goal MISSED.
Q4 7:00	USC	+22 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 22 yards to the NDame 34 for a 1ST down.
Q4 5:09	USC	+9 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 9 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 5:09	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 2:04	Notre Dame	+5 yd	Brady Quinn rush for 5 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 2:04	Notre Dame	+0 yd	DJ Fitzpatrick extra point GOOD.
Q4 2:52	Notre Dame	+20 yd	Darius Walker rush for 20 yards to the USC 9 for a 1ST down.
Q4 0:03	USC	+1 yd	Matt Leinart rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:14	USC	+61 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 61 yards to the NDame 13 for a 1ST down.

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

Notre Dame

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Brady Quinn	19/35	264	7.5	1	1	68.6

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	17/32	301	9.4	0	2	36.4
Reggie Bush	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	1.8

Rushing

Notre Dame

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Darius Walker	19	72	3.8	0	20
Travis Thomas	18	52	2.9	1	16
Brady Quinn	13	21	1.6	1	6
David Grimes	2	8	4.0	0	8

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Reggie Bush	15	160	10.7	3	45
LenDale White	10	26	2.6	1	8
Matt Leinart	6	-11	-1.8	1	2

Receiving

Notre Dame

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jeff Samardzija	6	99	16.5	1	32
Anthony Fasano	4	86	21.5	0	46
Darius Walker	4	43	10.8	0	26
Maurice Stovall	3	30	10.0	0	15
Matt Shelton	1	5	5.0	0	5
Asaph Schwapp	1	1	1.0	0	1

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Dwayne Jarrett	4	101	25.3	61
Steve Smith	4	90	22.5	40
Dominique Byrd	2	56	28.0	52
Reggie Bush	4	35	8.8	13
Chris McFoy	3	19	6.3	12

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Notre Dame

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Mike Richardson	1	13	0
Chinedum Ndukwe	1	0	0

USC

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Keith Rivers	1	14	0

Kicking

Notre Dame

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
D.J. Fitzpatrick	1/2	50.0	32	4/4	7

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Mario Danelo	0/0	0.0	0	4/5	4

Punt Returns

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tom Zbikowski	4	87	21.8	60	1

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	4	13	3.3	21	0

Punting

Notre Dame

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
D.J. Fitzpatrick	5	199	39.8	0	0	45

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Malone	6	275	45.8	0	0	62

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 252880087) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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