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No. 1 USC Blows Out Warriors In Honoulu

POSTED: 7:43 pm HST September 3, 2005

Dwayne Jarrett had three touchdown catches and Reggie Bush added two rushing TDs to lead top-ranked Southern California to a 63-17 thrashing of Hawaii at Aloha Stadium.

The Trojans (1-0) are coming off back-to-back national championships and have now won 23 straight games. The last time USC lost was in a 34-31 setback to California on September 27, 2003.

Jarrett ended with seven catches for 86 yards and Bush rushed for 86 yards on 12 carries.

Last year's Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart, who surprised many people by returning to USC for his senior season, threw for 332 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. Leinart now has 74 career TD passes and is the school's all-time leader in that category, breaking the previous record of 72 set by Carson Palmer.

"They did a beautiful job," said Trojans head coach Pete Carroll of his team. "We did a really nice job with the offense and I'm real pleased with the opening."

Colt Brennan connected on 21-of-32 passes for one TD and one interception for the Warriors (0-1), who fell to 0-6 all-time against USC.

Hawaii drove into Trojan territory on its first possession of the game, but Darnell Bing intercepted a Brennan pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown to make it a 7-0 game.

The Warriors cut the deficit to 7-3 on Dan Kelly's field goal with 1:24 left in the first, but that was the closest they would get.

Leinart found Jarrett wide open in the end zone to give the Trojans a 14-3 advantage early in the second quarter. Bush added a 41-yard touchdown run with 7:26 remaining to make it a 21-3 game before halftime.

The Trojans put up 28 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

Leinart tossed a 28-yard TD pass to Jarrett with 9:32 left. Hawaii sliced it to 28-10 when Brennan connected with Bryan Maneafaiga on a 27-yard touchdown pass.

However, three touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the quarter staked USC to a 49-10 cushion. Leinart and Steve Smith combined for a 67-yard touchdown reception, Bush added a one-yard TD run with 2:27 left and Desmond Reed returned a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the Trojans the 39-point lead.

John David Booty took over the quarterbacking duties for Leinart late in the third quarter and tossed a two-yard TD pass to Jarrett early in the fourth to make it 56-10.

Tyler Graunke tossed a seven-yard TD pass to David Farmer to make it 55-17 with 2:30 left. Reed , though, added a 29-yard touchdown run with just nine seconds left to account for the final score.

Game Notes

Palmer is 26-1 as a starter...The Trojans have never lost a season-opener the year after winning any of their 11 national championships...Bush also added four catches for 58 yards...The Warriors were playing their first game against a No. 1 team since losing to Nebraska, 45-3, on December 4, 1971.

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