From TributeToTroy

USC 55, Oklahoma 19

Top-ranked USC won its 11th national championship–-and second consecutive-–in overwhelming fashion by thumping No. 2 Oklahoma, 55-19, in the BCS Championship Game in the 2005 Orange Bowl before a sold-out crowd of 77,912 in Miami’s Pro Player Stadium and a national prime time ABC-TV audience. USC became just the second team ever to hold the AP No. 1 ranking from the preseason through the bowl (Florida State did it in 1999). The Trojans also became the 10th team to win consecutive AP national championships. It was Troy’s 22nd victory in a row, including a school-record 13 in 2004. USC’s 55 points tied its most ever in a bowl (and were the most ever allowed in a bowl by Oklahoma). It was a school-record eighth time in the season that USC won by 30-plus points. USC scored 38 of its points off of OU turnovers. QB Matt Leinart, the game’s MVP, threw an Orange Bowl record (and USC record-tying) 5 touchdowns, including 3 to WR Steve Smith (tying both an Orange Bowl and USC record). PK Ryan Killeen set the USC career scoring record (with 329 points). Oklahoma looked impressive early, driving 92 yards for the game’s first score midway through the opening quarter on a 5-yard pass from QB Jason White to WR Travis Wilson. But USC countered on the ensuing possession to start a 28-point scoring run, as TE Dominique Byrd made a spectacular one-handed TD grab of a 33-yard Leinart aerial. Then, late in the quarter, USC S Josh Pinkard recovered a botched OU punt return and TB LenDale White ran for a 6-yard TD on the next play. S Jason Leach intercepted White’s desperation heave on Oklahoma’s next series and Leinart soon after hit WR Dwayne Jarrett on a 54-yard scoring bomb. White was picked off again on OU’s next drive, this time by CB Eric Wright, and 3 plays later Leinart hit Smith for a 5-yard score with 9:17 to go in the half. After Oklahoma responded with a 29-yard field goal by PK Garrett Hartley, USC took just 4 plays to score again, this time on Smith’s impressive one-armed reception of a 33-yard Leinart pass. When Oklahoma fumbled the ball away on its following possession (LB Matt Grootegoed had the recovery), Killeen nailed a 44-yard field goal with 3 seconds to go to put USC up 38-10 at halftime. USC scored on its first 2 drives of the second half: a 4-yard Leinart-to-Smith pass and a 42-yard Killeen field goal. The Trojans capped a 27-point scoring outburst when White ran for an 8-yard TD just 5 plays after Grootegoed intercepted White early in the fourth quarter. The Sooners scored twice late in the game against mostly Trojan reserves, getting a safety when Leinart fell on a fumbled snap in the end zone and then on White’s 9-yard pass to Wilson. USC piled up 525 total yards (averaging 8.3 yards per play) to the Sooners’ 372, even though OU ran off 13 more plays (76 to 63) and held the ball for 35:06. But USC didn’t turn the ball over, while Oklahoma had 5 giveaways. For USC, Leinart was 18-of-35 for 332 yards, White ran for 118 yards on 15 carries, Smith had 7 catches for 113 yards, Jarrett had 5 receptions for 115 yards and TB Reggie Bush had 149 all-purpose yards (75 yards on 6 rushes, 36 yards on 2 kickoff returns, 31 yards on 2 catches and a 7-yard punt return). LB Lofa Tatupu had a game-best 12 tackles, S Darnell Bing added 10 stops and Leach and Grootegoed each had 7. OU’s White was 24-of-36 for 244 yards, but threw 3 interceptions, Wilson caught 7 passes for 59 yards and TB Adrian Peterson ran for 82 yards on 25 tries. It marked the first time that a pair of Heisman Trophy winners (Leinart and White) faced each other in a game (in fact, 4 of the 2004 Heisman finalists played in the game, including Bush and Peterson).

Oklahoma  7  3  0 9 -- 19
USC      14 24 10 7 -- 55

Scoring: USC--Touchdowns, S. Smith (3), White (2), Byrd, Jarrett. PAT, Killeen (7). Field Goal, Killeen (2). Oklahoma--Touchdowns, Wilson (2). PAT, Hartley. Field Goal, Hartley. Safety, Team.

Attendance: 77,912

Date: January 4, 2005