Arizona State Sun Devils	Southern Cal Trojans ©
Played October 16, 2004 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California

  

 

Teams' Belt Records

 

Team	Belt Reigns	Overall Record				Home Record				Away Record				Neutral Record
		W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT	W	L	T	PCT
Arizona State	4	10	7	0	.588	7	5	0	.583	3	2	0	.600
Southern Cal ©	9	50	10	3	.817	21	3	2	.846	22	6	1	.776	7	1	0	.875

 

Previous Belt Meetings

 

 

The 15^th ranked, 5-0 Arizona State Sun Devils of coach Dirk Koetter traveled to Los Angeles to battle the top-ranked, 5-0 Southern Cal Trojans of coach Pete Carroll.  The Sun Devils were 4-time Belt champions coming into the game with a 9-7 record in Belt games with a 2-1 record against Southern Cal in Belt games.  But after 2 close games against Stanford & California, Southern Cal wanted to show their dominance over ranked teams again.  The Trojans used their explosive offense & crushing defense to even their record against the Sun Devils in Belt games & extend their reign to 6 games with a 45-7 win.  Southern Cal's WR Dwayne Jarrett made touchdown receptions of 19, 52, & 34 yards, all in the 1^st half while Heisman Trophy winning, All-American QB Matt Leinart threw for 224 yards with 4 touchdowns on only 13 completions.  The Trojans took control on their opening drive as Leinart led an 8-play, 45-yard scoring drive capped with a 10-yard touchdown pass to All-Pac 10 RB Reggie Bush.  Arizona State drove to the Southern Cal 30-yard line but Sun Devils' PK Jesse Ainsworth had his 46-yard field goal attempt blocked by Trojans' All-American DE Shaun Cody.  Just before the end of the 1^st quarter, Leinart threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to RB LenDale White giving Southern Cal a 14-0 lead.  On Arizona State's next drive, Trojans' All-American LB Matt Grootegoed intercepted Sun Devils' QB Andrew Walter's pass & returned it 41 yards to the Arizona State 19-yard line.  On the next snap, Leinart completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett.  The Sun Devils finally got a break when Bush fumbled on a punt return giving Arizona State the ball at the Southern Cal 33-yard line.  Sun Devils' RB Hakim Hill finished the short drive with a 2-yard touchdown run leaving Arizona State trailing 21-7.  Leinart's 1-yard sneak put the Trojans back in front by 3 touchdowns at 28-7 with 5:08 left in the half.  Southern Cal used some trickery on their next drive as Bush took a pitch then found Jarrett open on a halfback option pass for a 52-yard touchdown.  But the Trojans were still not done for the half.  Bush returned a punt 41 yards to the Sun Devils' 34-yard line & on the next snap, Leinart again connected with Jarrett.  The 34-yard touchdown catch put Southern Cal ahead 42-7 at intermission.  The 2^nd half was a show of dominance by the Trojans' defense as Arizona State's offense got no closer than the Southern Cal 37-yard line.  Trojans' PK Ryan Killeen scored the only points of the half, kicking a 34-yard field goal early in the 4^th quarter.  Jarrett finished with 5 catches for 139 yards with his 3 scores.  For Arizona State, Walter had 181 yards passing with 2 interceptions while being sacked 6 times & WR Zach Miller had 8 catches for 102 yards in the losing effort as the Trojans' defense held the Sun Devils to 24 net yards rushing on 30 carries.  Southern Cal finished the season 11-0 which does not include 2 wins that were vacated by the NCAA as Bush was ruled ineligible for the final 2 games of the season; Pac 10 Champions & National Champions while the Sun Devils finished 9-3 & ranked 19^th nationally.  Arizona State would play for The Belt again in 2005.