University Southern California Trojans
Top-Ranked USC Football Makes First-Ever Visit To BYU
September 12, 2004 | Football
Sept. 12, 2004
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Top-ranked and defending national champion USC puts its 11-game winning streak on the line when it makes its first-ever visit to BYU this week. It's just the second meeting between the Trojans and Cougars, following last year's closer-than-the-final-score USC victory. It's been 87 years since the Trojans have played a football game in the state of Utah. It should be a difficult environment for Troy, as 64,045-seat LaVell Edwards Stadium could be at capacity. It'll be a homecoming for USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who returns for the first time to the school where he spent 27 years as an assistant. For the second time in USC's first 3 games of 2004, Trojans such as Heisman Trophy candidate QB Matt Leinart, talented TBs LenDale White and Reggie Bush and All-American defensive candidates Matt Grootegoed, Mike Patterson and Shaun Cody will take their acts on the road. For the second week in row, USC is playing a Mountain West Conference opponent (last week, the Trojans blanked Colorado State at home). BYU played another Pac-10 team last week, falling at Stanford. USC is coming off a 322-yard ground performance last week, but the Cougars are seventh nationally in rush defense. The Watkins brothers (USC's Travis and BYU's Todd) will be on opposite sidelines. The game will be shown live nationally on ESPN, USC's second appearance on that network's air this year after a 12-year drought.
TICKETS -- Tickets for the USC-BYU game, priced at $25, are available at the USC Ticket Office (213-740-GO SC) and www.usctrojans.com.
RADIO-TV -- Live national cable TV: 7 p.m. (PDT), ESPN, Dave Barnett, Bill Curry, David Norrie, Alex Flanagan. Live national radio: 7 p.m. (PDT), Westwood One, John Castleberry, Foge Fazio.
Live local radio: 3:30 p.m. (PDT), KMPC-AM (1540 The Ticket), Pete Arbogast, Paul McDonald, John Jackson, Mark Willard, Suzy Shuster and Harvey Hyde (includes 3-and-a-half hour pre-game and 2-hour post-game shows. Eight other stations are included on the USC radio network: KSPA-AM 1510 in Ontario/ Orange County, XEMM-AM 800 in San Diego, KGEO-AM 1230 in Bakersfield, KXPS-AM 1010 in Palm Springs, KVEN-AM 1450 in Ventura, KSZL-AM 1230 in Barstow, KSFB-AM 1220 in San Francisco and KFSN-AM 1140 in Las Vegas. Fans also can hear the live KMPC broad-cast on www.usctrojans.com, on SIRIUS satellite ra-dio or by dialing 1-800-846-4675 ext. 5933. Live local Spanish-language radio: 7 p.m. (PDT), KMXE-AM (830), John Laguna, Pepe Mantilla. USC Sports Magazine Show: 11 p.m., Thursday (Sept. 16), FOX Sports Net West 2, Lindsay Soto. USC Insider Show : 7 p.m. (PDT), Tuesdays dur-ing football season, KMPC-AM (1540) and KPLS-AM (830), Pete Arbogast, Petros Papadakis. USC Trojan Talk: 7 p.m. (PDT), Sundays during football season, KDWN-AM (720), Harvey Hyde, Chuck Hayes. Fans also can hear the live KDWN broadcast on www.usctrojans.com.
USC ONLINE -- The USC athletic department has an official "home page" on the World Wide Web, fea-turing current and historical information about Trojan sports. For access, type www.usctrojans.com.
IT'S NOT SOUTHERN CAL -- Note to the media: In edi-torial references to athletic teams of the University of Southern California, the following are preferred: USC, Southern California, So. California, Troy, Trojans and (for women's teams) Women of Troy. PLEASE do not use Southern Cal.
PAC-10 ONLINE -- Pac-10 information, press releases, statistics and links to all league schools are available online at www.pac-10.org.
PAC-10 SATELLITE FEED -- The Pac-10 provides a weekly satellite feed featuring interviews with coaches and players regarding upcoming games along with highlight footage. The half-hour feed airs every Wednesday (through Dec. 1) at 11:30 a.m. (PDT). Coordinates are IA5/14 (formerly Telestar 5/ 14 C-Band). Trouble numbers: (310) 543-1835, (805) 231-3229 (888-451-5861 pager) or 925-932-4411.
PAC-10 COACHES TELECONFERENCE -- Pac-10 foot-ball coaches are available for 10 minutes each on a media teleconference beginning at 10 a.m. (PDT) every Tuesday (through Nov. 16) during the season. USC coach Pete Carroll comes on at 10:40 a.m. (PST). Beginning at 2:30 p.m. (PDT) each of those Tuesdays, a taped replay of the teleconference is available until the next call. Call the Pac-10 office (925-932- 4411) or USC sports information office (213-740-8480) to obtain the media-only phone numbers for the Pac-10 Coaches Teleconference.
PETE CARROLL MEDIA LUNCHEON -- USC head coach Pete Carroll hosts a media-only luncheon in the Heri-tage Hall lounge at 11:30 a.m. (PDT) each Tuesday during the season (except bye weeks). Transcribed quotes from each session are available from the USC sports information office.
FACTS
USC (2-0 overall) vs. BYU (1-1), Saturday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. MST/7 p.m.PDT, LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Ut.
SERIES
In 2003 in its first-ever meeting against BYU, No. 4 USC opened up a big early lead, but the Cougars nearly caught up in the fourth quarter before the Trojans pulled away to win, 35-18, in Troy's home opener in the Coliseum. USC went up 21-0 in the first quarter on QB Matt Leinart's touchdown tosses of 1 yard to WR Mike Williams and 48 yards to WR Keary Colbert on a nice catch-and-run, and then 9 seconds after Colbert's score, DE Omar Nazel returned a point-blank interception 16 yards for a TD. But USC's offense then stalled and BYU picked up some momentum late in the first half by getting a safety when Leinart was called for intentionally grounding in the end zone while being sacked by MLB K.C. Bills (ex-tending BYU's NCAA record scoring streak to 352 games) and then a 53-yard field goal by PK Matt Payne at the gun (2 plays after a Leinart interception). The Cougars continued their unanswered scoring run in the second half on a 14-yard TD pass from QB Matt Berry to TE Daniel Coats and a pair of fourth quar-ter Payne field goals (26 and 52 yards) to pull to 21-18. But USC finally responded on its en-suing series as Leinart found a wide-open Williams for an 18-yard score with 4:11 to play and then, 1 play after BYU lost a fumble, TB Hershel Dennis ran 11 yards for a TD. Williams had another huge game, catching 10 passes for 124 yards and the 2 TDs. Leinart was 19- of-34 for 235 yards with the 3 TDs, while Den-nis ran for 40 yards on 16 carries. The Trojan offense was hampered by BYU's unique 3-3- 5 defense, which limited USC to just 71 rush-ing yards and picked off Leinart 3 times while sacking him 4 times. But USC's defense was staunch, limiting BYU to just 46 rushing yards while posting 6 sacks and getting 5 turnovers. The Cougars converted just 4-of-14 third downs. Berry was 27-of-39 for 297 yards, but was picked off 3 times. Coats caught 8 passes for 114 yards and RB Reynaldo Brathwaite ran for 51 yards on 8 tries. USC LB Lofa Tatupu had a game-high 11 tackles (2 for losses, with a sack), while LB Matt Grootegoed added 9 stops and a fumble recovery. CBs Marcell Allmond and Will Poole had interceptions in addition to Nazel (who also had 5 tackles, including 2 for losses, with a sack). P Tom Malone averaged 52.0 yards on 6 punts, with 5 traveling at least 50 yards. He was named Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week.
VERSUS MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
USC is 12-3-1 all-time against current Moun-tain West Conference teams: 6-3 versus Utah, 2-0-1 versus San Diego State and 1-0 against BYU, Colorado State, UNLV and Wyoming. This is the second week in a row USC has faced a MWC foe, after blanking Colorado State, 49-0, at home last week.
VERSUS OTHER UTAH SCHOOLS
Besides its 1-0 record against BYU and 6-3 versus Utah, USC is 4-0 against Utah State.
IN UTAH
This will be USC's third appearance in the state of Utah, but its first in 87 years. The Tro-jans played at Utah in 1915 (a 20-13 loss) and 1917 (a 51-0 win).
WIN STREAKS
The Trojans have captured their last 16 home games (with 3 shutouts). That's USC's longest Coliseum win streak since getting 19 in a row during the 1931 through 1933 campaigns. Besides that Pac-10 leading 16-game home winning streak, USC also has the longest cur-rent Pac-10 win streaks for overall games (11), Pac-10 games (7) and road games (6).
HIGH RANKING
USC has been ranked in the AP Top 10 for its past 21 games, its longest string since 34 in a row in 1978-80. The Trojans have been in the AP Top 5 in 16 of the last 20 polls.
RECORD WHEN NO. 1
USC has a 38-4-2 (.886) record games when it is ranked No. 1 by AP. When a No. 1-ranked Trojan team faces an unranked opponent, it is 24-1-1 (.942).
IN SEPTEMBER
USC has a 145-37-8 (.784) all-time record while playing in the month of September.
CONNECTIONS
USC has no Utah natives on its roster, while BYU claims 23 players from California...USC OG Travis Watkins is the brother of BYU WR Todd Watkins...USC OT Taitusi Lutui, who was a 2003 junior college All-American at Snow J.C. in Ephraim, Ut., is related to current BYU players Ofa Mohetau, David Tafuna and T.J. Sitake (Lutui's brother, Sam, is an assistant coach at Southern Utah, where he also played on the line)...USC offensive coordina-tor Norm Chow spent 27 years (1973-99) as an assistant at BYU, where he coached 6 of the NCAA's top 19 career passing efficiency leaders and such quarterbacks as 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, Steve Young, Jim McMahon, Marc Wilson, Gifford Nielsen and Robbie Bosco...Chow (1965-67) and USC offensive line coach Tim Davis (1978- 80) both were offensive linemen at Utah (Davis also coached the Utes' offensive line from 1990 to 1996).
LAST GAME
USC, making its first Coliseum appearance as a No. 1-ranked team since 1981, opened its 2004 home slate impressively behind 3 rushing touchdowns from TB LenDale White and 4 interceptions by the defense to blank first-time opponent Colorado State, 49-0, on a hot evening before 85,521 Coliseum fans and a regional ABC-TV audience. It was Troy's first shutout in a home opener since 1973 and the first time CSU was whitewashed in 85 games (and its worst loss in 8 years). It also was USC's 11th consecutive win and its 16 straight victory at home. It was the largest crowd for a home opener since 1988. The Trojans rushed for 322 yards, their most since getting 331 at Ohio State in 1990. White, who ran for a game-best 123 yards (the fourth 100-yard outing in his career) on just 14 carries (8.8 average per carry), scored USC's first 3 TDs (11 yards in the first quarter, then 1 and 3 yards in the second quarter). Fellow TB Reggie Bush then added a 7-yard scoring run just before halftime as USC opened up a 28-0 lead at intermission. Bush rushed for 84 yards on 12 tries. QB Matt Leinart, who was 20-of-31 for 231 yards in just 3 quarters of action (he also ran for a career-high 46 yards on 7 attempts), threw a pair of third-quarter TDs, a 5-yarder to WR Steve Smith who caught a career-best 8 passes for 79 yards--and a 4-yarder to WR Dwayne Jarrett, who was celebrating his 18th birthday. USC finished its scoring early in the fourth quarter when DE Jeff Schweiger sacked Rams QB Justin Holland and DT Manuel Wright raced 20 yards into the end zone with the recovery. The Trojan defense forced 6 turn-overs (scoring after 5 of them), with LB Matt Grootegoed picking off 2 passes (CB Eric Wright and LB Dallas Sartz also had interceptions and S Jason Leach had the other fumble recovery). USC had 553 total yards to CSU's 281 (the Rams had just 48 yards on the ground). The Trojans also had 32 first downs (21 in the first half), held the ball 33:13 and limited CSU to 3-of-14 on third down conver-sions. Holland was 19-of-35 for 233 yards, but he was sacked 4 times. CSU WR David Anderson had 9 grabs for 137 yards. USC unveiled its 2003 national championship banner at the game, which also included a moment of silence in honor of the third anniversary of Sept. 11.
SCHEDULE
USC will defend its national championship against a schedule that features 6 opponents who played in bowls last season. The challenge started right away, as the Trojans opened on Aug. 28 against perennial power Virginia Tech in the Black Coaches Association Football Classic in Landover, Md. USC then hosted Colorado State and now travels to BYU and Stanford before having a trio of home games (California, Arizona and Washington) followed by another pair of road contests (Washington State and Oregon State). The Trojans--who have 3 byes in 2004 for the second consecutive year--then return home to host Arizona and Notre Dame before concluding their season on "Championship Sat-urday" (Dec. 4) at UCLA. It's a schedule that could help USC better the average overall (72,806) and home (77,804) attendance school records it set last year...and gives credence to the Trojan marketing department's 2004 slogan of " Still The Hottest Ticket In Town."
