December 3, 2005 Week 14 · Regular Season Belt defended

USC defends the belt, 66–19, at home over UCLA.

Home · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 66

Away · Challenger

UCLAAP No. 11 19

AP poll, week 14: UCLA No. 11 at USC No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

USC came in 702 days into reign #258, which began with a win over Michigan, with 24 defenses already behind it; this was its 25th defense. It was the last defense: Texas took the belt in the very next belt game, on January 4, 2006.

For UCLA this was its 18th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 9 times before.

It was the 9th of 9 belt games between the two; going in, USC led the belt series 6–2; all-time USC leads 7–2. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

USC dominated this Pac-10 rivalry game from start to finish, with the Trojans' defense forcing four UCLA turnovers while their offense methodically dismantled the Bruins. Matt Leinart orchestrated a balanced attack, connecting with receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Fred Davis for touchdowns while Reggie Bush was a workhorse on the ground, including a spectacular 65-yard burst in the second quarter that set up LenDale White's rushing touchdown. The turning point came early in the third quarter when Maurice Drew's fumble at the UCLA 39 was returned for a touchdown by USC's Justin Wyatt, extending the Trojans' lead to insurmountable levels. Despite UCLA's kicker Justin Medlock accounting for the Bruins' only scores with two field goals, USC's defense and special teams proved decisive in what became a one-sided affair that kept the belt firmly in Troy's possession.

Reggie Bush's 65-yard rush in Q2 that set up LenDale White's touchdown, showcasing USC's dominant ground game
Maurice Drew's fumble returned for a touchdown by Justin Wyatt in Q3, a defensive score that broke open the game
Matt Leinart's early touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett in Q1 that established USC's offensive rhythm
UCLA's four turnovers forcing them into constant three-and-outs while USC controlled time of possession

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

USCUCLA

Total yards679275

Rushing yards430129

Passing yards253169

First downs3519

3rd down conv.10/162/15

Turnovers24

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession18:0000:00

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 14:08	USC	+29 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 29 yards to the USC 44 for a 1ST down.
Q1 9:12	USC	+35 yd	Mario Danelo 35 yard field goal GOOD.
Q1 3:03	USC	+8 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 3:55	USC	+23 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 23 yards to the UCLA 18 for a 1ST down.
Q1 3:03	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 14:31	USC	+65 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 65 yards to the UCLA 32 for a 1ST down.
Q2 13:02	USC	+19 yd	LenDale White rush for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 13:02	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 10:57	USC	+13 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 10:57	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q2 10:52	USC	+23 yd	Troy Van Blarcom kickoff for 41 yards returned by Chris Markey for 23 yards to the UCLA 47.
Q2 10:40	UCLA	+24 yd	Drew Olson pass complete to Andrew Baumgartner for 24 yards to the USC 29 for a 1ST down.
Q2 8:09	UCLA	+43 yd	Justin Medlock 43 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 4:00	UCLA	+43 yd	Justin Medlock 43 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 1:33	USC	+10 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 10 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 2:23	USC	+33 yd	LenDale White rush for 33 yards to the UCLA 15 for a 1ST down.
Q2 1:33	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 6:31	USC	+15 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Fred Davis for 15 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 8:37	USC	+30 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 30 yards to the UCLA 32 for a 1ST down.
Q3 6:31	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 6:18	UCLA	+39 yd	Maurice Drew rush for 39 yards, fumbled at the UCLA 39, recovered by Justin Wyatt, returned by Justin Wyatt for 39 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 6:18	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 0:55	USC	+24 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to LenDale White for 24 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 0:55	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 13:57	USC	+20 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dominique Byrd for 20 yards to the USC 41 for a 1ST down.
Q4 12:48	USC	+20 yd	LenDale White rush for 20 yards to the UCLA 36 for a 1ST down.
Q4 11:28	USC	+8 yd	LenDale White rush for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 11:28	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 12:32	USC	+23 yd	LenDale White rush for 23 yards to the UCLA 13 for a 1ST down.
Q4 3:33	UCLA	+15 yd	Jebiaus Brown rush for 15 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 3:33	UCLA	+0 yd	Justin Medlock extra point GOOD.
Q4 3:28	UCLA	+41 yd	Justin Medlock kickoff for 8 yards returned by John Walker for 41 yards to the UCLA 2.
Q4 3:23	USC	+2 yd	David Kirtman rush for 2 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 3:23	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 0:11	UCLA	+13 yd	Drew Olson pass complete to Matt Willis for 13 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.

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

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	21/40	233	5.8	3	0	36.6
Dwayne Jarrett	1/1	11	11.0	0	0	99.4
John David Booty	1/3	5	1.7	0	1	1.0

UCLA

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Drew Olson	14/32	146	4.6	1	0	12.4

Rushing

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
John Griffin	1	4	4.0	0	4
Reggie Bush	24	260	10.8	2	65
LenDale White	14	154	11.0	2	33
David Kirtman	3	6	2.0	1	2
Steve Smith	1	3	3.0	0	3
Matt Leinart	6	3	0.5	0	12
John David Booty	1	2	2.0	0	2

UCLA

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Maurice Jones-Drew	14	84	6.0	1	15
Chris Markey	6	22	3.7	0	9
Kahlil Bell	4	20	5.0	0	13
Drew Olson	9	3	0.3	0	8

Receiving

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dwayne Jarrett	6	83	13.8	1	30
Dominique Byrd	6	56	9.3	0	19
LenDale White	2	35	17.5	1	24
Steve Smith	3	28	9.3	0	11
David Kirtman	3	16	5.3	0	6
Fred Davis	1	15	15.0	1	15
Matt Leinart	1	11	11.0	0	11
Dale Thompson	1	5	5.0	0	5

UCLA

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Marcedes Lewis	3	30	10.0	0	18
Marcus Everett	3	28	9.3	0	15
Andrew Baumgartner	1	25	25.0	0	25
Chris Markey	2	19	9.5	0	15
Joe Cowan	2	15	7.5	0	9
Maurice Jones-Drew	1	14	14.0	0	14
Matt Willis	1	13	13.0	1	13
Ryan Moya	1	2	2.0	0	2

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

USC

No recorded stats in this category.

UCLA

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Rodney Van	1	11	0

Kicking

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Mario Danelo	1/1	100.0	35	9/9	12

UCLA

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Justin Medlock	2/2	100.0	43	1/1	7

Punt Returns

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	1	1	1.0	1	0

UCLA

No recorded stats in this category.

Punting

USC

No recorded stats in this category.

UCLA

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Aaron Perez	6	238	39.7	0	0	48

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 253370030) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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