November 12, 2005 Week 11 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 35–10, on the road at California.

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USC 35

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Recap

USC dominated California from start to finish to retain the College Football Belt with a convincing 35-10 victory in Berkeley. The Trojans struck quickly with LenDale White's 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, then methodically built their lead through the second quarter with two more scoring drives, including a pair of short rushing touchdowns by Matt Leinart. White added another touchdown in the third quarter on a 6-yard run following a 50-yard reception, putting USC firmly in control. California managed only three scores—a field goal by Tom Schneider and a late fourth-quarter touchdown—while the Trojans' offense controlled the tempo with 22 minutes of possession and consistently moved the ball, with Leinart connecting on key passes like a 44-yard strike to Dwayne Jarrett to set up another score.

LenDale White's early 1-yard touchdown run in Q1 set the tone for USC's offensive dominance
Matt Leinart's two rushing touchdowns in Q2 (6 yards and 3 yards) extended USC's lead to 21-3 before halftime
USC's control of time of possession (22:04 to 14:36) and 7-14 third-down conversion rate wore down California's defense
California's six turnovers, including an interception of Leinart late in Q3, prevented any momentum from building

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

CaliforniaUSC

Total yards299434

Rushing yards167188

Passing yards140260

First downs1726

3rd down conv.1/87/14

Turnovers61

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession14:3622:04

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 7:15	USC	+1 yd	LenDale White rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 7:15	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q1 3:12	California	+45 yd	Tom Schneider 45 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 8:32	USC	+6 yd	Matt Leinart rush for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 11:07	USC	+20 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Patrick Turner for 20 yards to the Cal 36 for a 1ST down out-of-bounds.
Q2 8:32	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 8:27	USC	+21 yd	Troy Van Blarcom kickoff for 62 yards returned by Marshawn Lynch for 21 yards to the Cal 24.
Q2 4:07	USC	+44 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 44 yards to the Cal 8 for a 1ST down.
Q2 3:01	USC	+3 yd	Matt Leinart rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 3:01	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 2:41	California	+27 yd	Joe Ayoob pass complete to Chris Manderino for 27 yards to the USC 47 for a 1ST down.
Q3 12:10	USC	+50 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to LenDale White for 50 yards to the Cal 6 for a 1ST down.
Q3 11:39	USC	+6 yd	LenDale White rush for 6 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 11:39	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 14:10	USC	+21 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 21 yards to the USC 45 for a 1ST down.
Q3 10:22	California	+21 yd	Joe Ayoob pass complete to Marshawn Lynch for 21 yards to the USC 32 for a 1ST down.
Q3 8:15	California	+41 yd	Tom Schneider 41 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 0:43	USC	+32 yd	Matt Leinart pass intercepted by Harrison Smith at the Cal 15, returned for 32 yards to the Cal 47.
Q3 0:35	California	+35 yd	Marshawn Lynch rush for 35 yards to the USC 18 out-of-bounds for a 1ST down.
Q4 7:43	USC	+2 yd	LenDale White rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 7:36	USC	+34 yd	Troy Van Blarcom kickoff for 61 yards returned by Marshawn Lynch for 34 yards to the Cal 38.
Q4 7:43	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 1:34	California	+1 yd	Chris Manderino rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 1:34	California	+0 yd	Tom Schneider extra point GOOD.

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	INT	QBR
Joe AyoobCalifornia	9/19	98	5.2	4	1.1
Steve LevyCalifornia	4/4	34	8.5	0	91.9
Matt LeinartUSC	20/32	246	7.7	1	86.5

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Marshawn LynchCalifornia	13	87	6.7	0	35
Steve LevyCalifornia	2	36	18.0	0	19
Chris ManderinoCalifornia	3	14	4.7	1	9
Justin ForsettCalifornia	5	13	2.6	0	6
Terrell WilliamsCalifornia	1	7	7.0	0	7
DeSean JacksonCalifornia	1	6	6.0	0	6
Joe AyoobCalifornia	6	4	0.7	0	6
LenDale WhiteUSC	16	90	5.6	3	15
Reggie BushUSC	17	82	4.8	0	20
David KirtmanUSC	2	14	7.0	0	11
Chris McFoyUSC	1	11	11.0	0	11
Matt LeinartUSC	6	2	0.3	2	6
Brandon HancockUSC	2	0	0.0	0	1
Dwayne JarrettUSC	1	-1	-1.0	0	0
Andre WoodertUSC	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
John David BootyUSC	1	-8	-8.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
Chris ManderinoCalifornia	2	37	18.5	27
Marshawn LynchCalifornia	2	26	13.0	22
Craig StevensCalifornia	3	26	8.7	11
Eric BeegunCalifornia	1	15	15.0	15
Robert JordanCalifornia	2	12	6.0	6
DeSean JacksonCalifornia	1	9	9.0	9
Lavelle HawkinsCalifornia	2	7	3.5	4
Dwayne JarrettUSC	5	69	13.8	44
LenDale WhiteUSC	3	61	20.3	49
Steve SmithUSC	5	36	7.2	11
Patrick TurnerUSC	2	29	14.5	20
David KirtmanUSC	1	17	17.0	17
Fred DavisUSC	1	16	16.0	16
Chris McFoyUSC	1	9	9.0	9
Dominique ByrdUSC	1	5	5.0	5
Reggie BushUSC	1	4	4.0	4

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Harrison SmithCalifornia	1	32
Rey MaualugaUSC	1	9
Ryan TingUSC	1	3
Collin AshtonUSC	1	0
Darnell BingUSC	1	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Tom SchneiderCalifornia	1/2	50.0	45	1/1	4
Mario DaneloUSC	0/0	0.0	0	5/5	5

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Tim MixonCalifornia	2	8	4.0	8	0
Reggie BushUSC	2	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
David LonieCalifornia	3	140	46.7	0	0	56
Tom MaloneUSC	4	142	35.5	0	0	42

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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