2005: USC bowls over UCLA

Their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback was out of sync, his timing and mechanics lost in a flood of pregame tears.

USC had anticipated that Matt Leinart would be emotional in his final game at the Coliseum, but not overcome as he was at the start of Saturday’s game against rival UCLA.

No problem for the top-ranked Trojans.

They did what any college football team would love to do.

They turned to this year’s probable Heisman winner.

In what might have been his last game at the Coliseum, junior tailback Reggie Bush rushed for 260 yards and two touchdowns as the Trojans ran over, around and through 11th-ranked UCLA in the 75th edition of the cross-town rivalry, winning, 66-19, before a sellout crowd of 92,000.

On a spectacularly clear and breezy day, USC blew out the Bruins for the fourth time in five years and completed its second straight perfect regular season.

USC’s seventh consecutive win over UCLA extended its winning streak to 34 games, clinched the Pacific 10 title outright and earned the Trojans a trip to the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl, this season’s bowl championship series title game, where they will play No. 2-ranked Texas and attempt to complete their quest for a third straight national championship.

“We’ve done everything we can do to this point,� Coach Pete Carroll said. “We’ve done it with a little bit of flair and a little bit of drama along the way.

“This game was an exclamation point for this 12-game run.�

With Bush leading the way, USC amassed 430 of its 679 total yards on the ground against a Bruin defense that ranked nearly last nationally against the run.

“It’s a difficult game to swallow, but you have to swallow it and move on,� said UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell, whose team is probably headed to the Sun Bowl.

Bush, who averaged 10.8 yards a carry, scored his first touchdown on a spectacular 13-yard run that ended with a flip over cornerback Marcus Cassel. He also scored on a 10-yard run to give USC a 31-6 halftime lead.

“From the beginning of the game we thought, ‘OK, we can do whatever we want to against these guys,’ � said Bush, who accumulated 513 all-purpose yards two weeks ago against Fresno State and is regarded by many as the possible No. 1 pick in the draft if he decides to turn pro.

Junior tailback LenDale White had nursed a bruised left shoulder throughout the week but he added 154 yards rushing, averaging 11.0 a carry, and scored three touchdowns as USC won its 27th consecutive home game.

“When [Bush] is spinning and juking and all that and I come in and try to beat up on you, that definitely takes a lot of energy off the defense,� said White, who also is draft-eligible.

Leinart’s emotional state after the seniors were introduced before the kickoff caused the Trojans to run the ball seven consecutive times to start the game. He overthrew receivers multiple times and completed only eight of 20 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

“I probably let my emotions get to me a little bit, but I’m happy with the way I played, especially the second half,� said Leinart, who finished 21 for 40 for 233 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. “The team did well. That’s all that matters.�

UCLA had hoped to top last year’s effort against the Trojans, when the Bruins played tough into the final minute before losing, 29-24.

Just like last season, the Bruins had three weeks to prepare, this time for a Trojan team that had given up 42 points in its last game against Fresno State.

But USC’s much-maligned defense shut down the Bruins, who were averaging 40 points a game. They managed only two first-half field goals by Justin Medlock before scoring two touchdowns against Trojan reserves in the final 3:33. UCLA converted only two of 15 third downs.

“We heard a lot of criticism after giving up 42 points,� linebacker Brian Cushing said. “We wanted to turn that around. It sparked us to play better. I think Coach Carroll took it personally.�

USC forced five fumbles, recovering three -- one that cornerback Justin Wyatt returned for a touchdown -- and defensive end Lawrence Jackson recorded three of the Trojans’ five sacks against Bruin quarterback Drew Olson. The Trojans limited UCLA to 275 yards -- 169 below the Bruins’ average -- and kept the ball out of Maurice Drew’s hands by pooch-kicking on kickoffs and never punting.

“I’m disappointed and embarrassed,� said Olson, who completed 14 of 32 passes for a season-low 146 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. “We came in to put up a good fight and the opposite happened.�

With Leinart struggling, UCLA limited the Trojans to a field goal on the game’s first possession. But Leinart put the Trojans ahead by 10 points with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Jarrett with 3 minutes 3 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Trojans increased their lead to 17-0 on White’s 19-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and turned a fumbled kickoff by Kahlil Bell into Bush’s first touchdown. Bush’s second touchdown gave him 228 yards rushing in the first half.

UCLA had overcome double-digit deficits four times this season, but USC gave the Bruins no chance in the second half.

Leinart’s 15-yard scoring pass to tight end Fred Davis with 6:31 left in the third quarter put the Trojans up, 38-6. On the first play of the ensuing possession, linebacker Rey Maualuga forced Drew to fumble, and Wyatt snatched the ball out of the air and ran 38 yards for a score.

USC added a 24-yard touchdown pass from Leinart to White in the last minute of the third quarter and actually caused the scoreboard to malfunction when White scored on an eight-yard run early in the fourth.

Carroll was ecstatic as he ran off the field.

“It couldn’t have been sweeter,� he said. “There’s no question about what’s going on. This is what we’re all about.�

Follow Gary Klein on Twitter @LATimesklein