January 4, 2006 Postseason Neutral site Belt changed hands

Texas takes the belt, 41–38, at a neutral site over USC.

Home · New Holder

TexasAP No. 2 41

Away · Defending Holder

USCAP No. 1 38

AP poll, week 14: USC No. 1 at Texas No. 2 · No. 1 that week: Wisconsin. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

Texas took the belt here, ending USC’s run of 734 days and 25 defenses (reign #258) and starting reign #259. It lasted 248 days and 1 defense, until Ohio State took it on September 9, 2006.

For Texas this was its 4th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before — and it took it back here.

This is the only time Texas and USC have met with the belt on the line.

AI-Written

Recap

USC struck first with a LenDale White touchdown run in the first quarter, but Texas answered with a furious second-quarter assault that included a Vince Young rushing touchdown and a Ramonce Taylor scoring run to take a 17-10 halftime lead. The Trojans refused to go away, with White punching in two more touchdowns in the third quarter to reclaim the lead, but Texas stayed in striking distance thanks to another Young rushing score. In a back-and-forth final period, Reggie Bush's 26-yard touchdown run gave USC a 41-38 advantage, but Texas found a way to answer and secure the belt with a final score of 41-38 in the Cotton Bowl.

Ramonce Taylor's 30-yard TD run in Q2 gave Texas momentum and a 17-10 halftime lead
LenDale White's two touchdown runs in Q3 swung momentum back to USC and put them ahead
Vince Young's 45-yard scramble late in Q3 kept Texas in position to win the championship

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

TexasUSC

Total yards556574

Rushing yards289209

Passing yards267380

First downs3030

3rd down conv.3/118/14

Turnovers12

Penalties–yards0–00–0

Time of possession17:1919:20

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 12:29	USC	+4 yd	LenDale White rush for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q1 12:29	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q1 12:50	USC	+23 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to David Kirtman for 23 yards to the Texas 6 for a 1ST down.
Q2 14:53	USC	+35 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Reggie Bush for 35 yards, fumbled at the Texas 18, recovered by Michael Huff at the Texas 18.
Q2 13:23	Texas	+26 yd	Vince Young pass complete to Brian Carter for 26 yards to the USC 27 for a 1ST down.
Q2 10:38	Texas	+21 yd	Greg Johnson kickoff for 59 yards returned by Darnell Bing for 21 yards to the USC 27.
Q2 10:38	Texas	+46 yd	David Pino 46 yard field goal GOOD.
Q2 4:57	Texas	+25 yd	Greg Johnson kickoff for 57 yards returned by Reggie Bush for 25 yards to the USC 33.
Q2 4:57	Texas	+12 yd	Vince Young rush for 12 yards, lateral to Selvin Young for 10 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 2:34	Texas	+0 yd	David Pino extra point GOOD.
Q2 2:34	Texas	+30 yd	Ramonce Taylor rush for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q2 0:02	USC	+43 yd	Mario Danelo 43 yard field goal GOOD.
Q3 15:00	USC	+29 yd	Troy Van Blarcom kickoff for 65 yards returned by Ramonce Taylor for 29 yards to the USC 29, Texas penalty 10 yard holding accepted.
Q3 12:41	USC	+24 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 24 yards to the Texas 22 for a 1ST down.
Q3 10:36	USC	+3 yd	LenDale White rush for 3 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 10:36	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 8:34	Texas	+0 yd	David Pino extra point GOOD.
Q3 8:34	Texas	+14 yd	Vince Young rush for 14 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q3 8:34	Texas	+22 yd	Greg Johnson kickoff for 61 yards returned by Reggie Bush for 22 yards to the USC 26.
Q3 6:30	USC	+24 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 24 yards to the Texas 21 for a 1ST down.
Q3 4:07	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q3 4:07	USC	+12 yd	LenDale White rush for 12 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 14:55	Texas	+31 yd	David Pino 31 yard field goal MISSED.
Q3 2:46	Texas	+45 yd	Vince Young rush for 45 yards to the USC 20 for a 1ST down.
Q4 11:19	USC	+26 yd	Reggie Bush rush for 26 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 11:19	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 10:47	Texas	+22 yd	Vince Young pass complete to Billy Pittman for 22 yards to the USC 35 for a 1ST down.
Q4 8:46	Texas	+34 yd	David Pino 34 yard field goal GOOD.
Q4 6:42	USC	+22 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Dwayne Jarrett for 22 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 8:33	USC	+33 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to David Kirtman for 33 yards to the USC 46 for a 1ST down, Texas penalty 15 yard roughing passer accepted.
Q4 6:42	USC	+0 yd	Mario Danelo extra point GOOD.
Q4 4:21	Texas	+17 yd	Vince Young rush for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 4:03	Texas	+0 yd	David Pino extra point GOOD.
Q4 3:58	Texas	+30 yd	Greg Johnson kickoff for 61 yards returned by Reggie Bush for 30 yards to the USC 34.
Q4 0:19	Texas	+8 yd	Vince Young rush for 8 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.
Q4 0:19	Texas	+0 yd	Two-point conversion attempt, Vince Young rush GOOD.
Q4 0:08	USC	+26 yd	Matt Leinart pass complete to Reggie Bush for 26 yards to the Texas 43 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

Texas

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Vince Young	30/40	267	6.7	0	0	89.2

USC

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Matt Leinart	29/40	365	9.1	1	1	69.8
Dwayne Jarrett	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	3.3

Rushing

Texas

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Vince Young	19	200	10.5	3	45
Jamaal Charles	5	34	6.8	0	15
Ramonce Taylor	4	12	3.0	1	30

USC

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
LenDale White	20	124	6.2	3	15
Reggie Bush	13	82	6.3	1	26
Dwayne Jarrett	1	5	5.0	0	5
Matt Leinart	6	2	0.3	0	14
Chris McFoy	1	-4	-4.0	0	0

Receiving

Texas

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG
David Thomas	10	88	8.8	18
Limas Sweed	8	65	8.1	14
Billy Pittman	4	53	13.3	23
Brian Carter	3	52	17.3	26
Quan Cosby	2	16	8.0	9
Ramonce Taylor	2	-3	-1.5	0

USC

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Dwayne Jarrett	10	121	12.1	1	24
Reggie Bush	6	95	15.8	0	37
David Kirtman	3	61	20.3	0	33
Dominique Byrd	4	32	8.0	0	12
Steve Smith	3	29	9.7	0	15
Fred Davis	2	19	9.5	0	12
Brandon Hancock	1	8	8.0	0	8

Show more stats (4 more categories)

Interceptions

Texas

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Michael Griffin	1	0	0

USC

No recorded stats in this category.

Kicking

Texas

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
David Pino	2/3	66.7	46	3/4	9

USC

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Mario Danelo	1/1	100.0	43	5/5	8

Punt Returns

Texas

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Aaron Ross	2	19	9.5	15	0

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Reggie Bush	1	0	0.0	0	0

Punting

Texas

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Richmond McGee	2	68	34.0	0	0	39

USC

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Tom Malone	2	83	41.5	0	0	43

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 260040030) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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