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By the Numbers: Mighty Men of Troy
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By J. Ryan Casey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday, October 7, 2005
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You may already know this, but the Southern California Trojans enter this game as winners of their past 26 games.
They've won 22 straight at home - but you knew that.
You probably know that in Pacific 10 Conference play, the Trojans have won 17 straight overall and 15 in a row at home.
But here are some things you may not know heading into tomorrow's Arizona-USC game:
The mighty Trojans have not only been ranked for the past 36 games, they've been in The Associated Press top 10 for each contest - not to mention being in the AP top five for 38 of the last 40 polls. Oh, yeah - they've also been the No. 1 team in the land for 22 straight polls.
Sixteen different publications picked USC to win the National Championship this year and become the only team in the history of college football to take three straight titles.
USC quarterback Matt Leinart is 29-1 as a starter and needs just four passing touchdowns to break the all-time Pac-10 mark. He already holds the USC mark with 81.
Arizona quarterback Richard Kovalcheck has thrown for three touchdowns twice in his career, including two weeks ago against Purdue. Leinart? He's done it 16 times.
Arizona leads the Pac-10 in passing defense, allowing only 157.5 yards passing per game.
Through four games, the Wildcats have improved from the same period last season in scoring, first downs, passing yards and total offense.
When USC holds its opponent to less than 300 yards of total offense, the Trojans are 23-0 under head coach Pete Carroll. Last year, USC held to the Wildcats to 255 yards in a 49-9 defeat in Los Angeles.
Arizona is 1-0 this year when leading after the first quarter. The Wildcats led 3-0 over the Trojans after the first 15 minutes of last season's matchup.
USC hasn't allowed a pass completion longer than 43 yards in 53 quarters - that's more than 13 games. Arizona's longest pass this season? 42 yards, from Kovalcheck to freshman receiver Mike Thomas against NAU Sept. 10.
The Trojans have had 21 scoring drives take less than three minutes, 10 of which were for 80 or more yards.
The Wildcats have scored 79 points this season. The Trojans put 70 points in against Arkansas on Sept. 17 - not to mention 77 in the third quarter, 140 in the second half and 216 overall.
Arizona's all-time record in Pac-10 games is 103-103-6.
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