October 15, 2005 Week 7 · Regular Season Belt defended

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

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Notre Dame 31

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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

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Brady QuinnNotre Dame	19/35	264	7.5	1	1	68.6
Matt LeinartUSC	17/32	301	9.4	0	2	36.4
Reggie BushUSC	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	1.8

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Darius WalkerNotre Dame	19	72	3.8	0	20
Travis ThomasNotre Dame	18	52	2.9	1	16
Brady QuinnNotre Dame	13	21	1.6	1	6
David GrimesNotre Dame	2	8	4.0	0	8
Reggie BushUSC	15	160	10.7	3	45
LenDale WhiteUSC	10	26	2.6	1	8
Matt LeinartUSC	6	-11	-1.8	1	2

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Jeff SamardzijaNotre Dame	6	99	16.5	1	32
Anthony FasanoNotre Dame	4	86	21.5	0	46
Darius WalkerNotre Dame	4	43	10.8	0	26
Maurice StovallNotre Dame	3	30	10.0	0	15
Matt SheltonNotre Dame	1	5	5.0	0	5
Asaph SchwappNotre Dame	1	1	1.0	0	1
Dwayne JarrettUSC	4	101	25.3	0	61
Steve SmithUSC	4	90	22.5	0	40
Dominique ByrdUSC	2	56	28.0	0	52
Reggie BushUSC	4	35	8.8	0	13
Chris McFoyUSC	3	19	6.3	0	12

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Mike RichardsonNotre Dame	1	13
Chinedum NdukweNotre Dame	1	0
Keith RiversUSC	1	14

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
D.J. FitzpatrickNotre Dame	1/2	50.0	32	4/4	7
Mario DaneloUSC	0/0	0.0	0	4/5	4

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tom ZbikowskiNotre Dame	4	87	21.8	60	1
Reggie BushUSC	4	13	3.3	21	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
D.J. FitzpatrickNotre Dame	5	199	39.8	0	0	45
Tom MaloneUSC	6	275	45.8	0	0	62

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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