Arizona Wildcats	Southern Cal Trojans ©
Played October 8, 2005 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	5	13	13	0	.500	6	4	0	.600	6	9	0	.400	1	0	0	1.000
Southern Cal ©	9	62	10	3	.847	26	3	2	.871	28	6	1	.814	8	1	0	.889

 

Previous Belt Meetings

 

 

 

The top-ranked, 4-0 Southern Cal Trojans of coach Pete Carroll welcomed the 1-3 Arizona Wildcats of coach Mike Stoops to the Coliseum for their Pac 10 battle.  The Wildcats were 5-time Belt holders but had lost last year’s match-up with the Trojans 49-9.  Another slow 1^st half offensively was no impediment for the champions as RB LenDale White scored 4 touchdowns while the offense totals 724 total yards & the Trojans’ defense held Arizona to just 64 yards rushing leading Southern Cal to a 42-21 victory.  The Wildcats had no answer for White last season either when he scored 3 touchdowns in the rout.  White capped a 13-play, 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run as the Trojans took a 7-0 on their first possession.  The Wildcats got on the board late in the 1^st quarter when QB Richard Kovalcheck connected with TE Brad Wood for a 4-yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 7-7.  The only points for either team in the 2^nd quarter came on another long Trojans' drive.  Southern Cal took 14 plays to go 88 yards with All-Pac 10 QB Matt Leinart, who threw for 360 yards, hitting All-American WR Dwayne Jarrett on a 22-yard touchdown pass as the teams went to halftime with Southern Cal leading 14-7.  As had become typical for this Southern Cal team, a scoring drive opened the 2^nd half.  White’s second touchdown came on a 2-yard run to finish the 9-play, 83-yard drive giving Southern Cal a 21-7 advantage.  Arizona stayed close when Kovalcheck hit WR Mike Thomas on a 42-yard touchdown pass but Southern Cal’s next possession resulted in a 7-play, 80-yard drive with White scoring his third touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run for a 28-14 Southern Cal lead.  A 56-yard pass from Leinart to WR Steve Smith to putting the ball at the Arizona 11-yard line highlighted the scoring drive.  The stubborn Wildcats stayed in the game when WR Syndric Steptoe returned the ensuing kick-off 63 yards to the Southern Cal 22-yard line.  Six plays later, Kovalcheck connected with RB Gilbert Harris on a 1-yard touchdown pass & the Wildcats were within 28-21 at the start of the 4^th quarter.  Another 80-yard drive followed for the Trojans with Leinart connecting with Jarrett on another touchdown, this one from 29 yards, for a 35-21 edge.  Arizona’s hopes of an upset ended on their next possession as Trojans' S Ryan Ting intercepted a Kovalcheck pass at the Southern Cal 4-yard line.  The Trojans then went 96 yards in just 2:00 with Heisman Trophy winning, All-American RB Reggie Bush providing the big play with a 65-yard run before White’s fourth touchdown of the day came on a 6-yard run.  For Southern Cal, White finished with 179 yards rushing with his 4 touchdowns, Bush added 110 yards rushing, Jarrett finished with 9 catches for 116 yards with his 2 scores, & Smith totaled 7 catches for 135 yards.  For Arizona, Kovalcheck threw for 181 yards with 3 touchdowns but the Wildcats only had the ball for 23:00 of the game compared to the Trojans’ 37:00.  Southern Cal finished the season 0-1 which includes 12 wins vacated as a result of All-American RB Reggie Bush being declared ineligible by the NCAA; Pac 10 Champions & ranked 2^nd nationally while the Wildcats finished 3-8.  Arizona has not played for The Belt again.