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.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday December 06, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 59 words Type of Material: Correction
College football -- In Sunday's Sports section, the "Keys to the Game" listings for UCLA said the Bruins did not recover a fumble or intercept a pass against USC. The Bruins did both. They recovered a fumble by USC's Matt Leinart in the second quarter and intercepted a pass thrown by USC's John David Booty in the fourth quarter.
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 \o7his\f7 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.
