Michigan finished the season at 10-3. USC ran its record to 12-1 and is expected to win its ninth national championship when Associated Press voters cast their ballots following Sunday's Sugar Bowl. If the Trojans are declared national champions, it will the ninth time in program history they have claimed the honor.

"Southern Cal did it everything it had to do to win this game," Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. "I am sure they will get a share of the national championship -- and it's a very deserving one. I am committed to vote the winner of the Sugar Bowl the No. 1 team, but if I was a member of the media poll, USC is very deserving. Maybe you can make me an honorary member."

Senior quarterback John Navarre (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) finished his career by completing 27 of his 46 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown -- the 72nd of his career, the most in school history. Navarre was sacked nine times for minus-70 yards during the game -- a season high for both teams. Navarre finishes his career with 9,254 passing yards, also the most in Michigan history.

USC quarterback Matt Leinart, who was voted the game's most valuable player, completed 23 of his 34 pass attempts for 327 yards and three touchdowns. He did not throw an interception. He also caught his first career pass for a touchdown to cap the Trojans' scoring. Michigan's pass defense was the best in the nation coming into game, having surrendered five touchdowns through the air all season, but all four USC touchdowns came on passes.

Michigan senior tailback Chris Perry (Advance, N.C./Fork Union Miliary, Va.), the first player in school history to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, carried 23 times for 85 yards and one touchdown. Junior wide receiver Braylon Edwards (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallgher HS) led all receivers with 10 catches for 107 yards. He set a Michigan record with his fourth consecutive 100-yard receiving game. Sophomore Steve Breaston (North Braddock, Pa./Woodland Hills HS) contributed six catches for 61 yards.

The Wolverines finished 320 total yards, including 49 net rushing yards. The Trojans finished with 410 total yards, including 68 rushing.

"We could never get into sync, but we never stopped fighting," Carr said. "The key was our inability to handle their pressure up front. We gave up way too many sacks."

USC sophomore wide receiver Mike Williams got most of the media attention before the game, but senior Keary Colbert did the most damage, catching six passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. Williams caught eight passes for 88 yards. Freshman running back Reggie Bush led USC with 46 yards rushing on eight carries.

Carr is now 7-2 in his career against Top 5 teams. Michigan lost its first Rose Bowl after winning in 1993 and 1998. The Wolverines are 8-10 all-time in Rose Bowl games. Michigan is 2-5 against USC in Rose Bowl games and 4-5 against the Trojans in all games. It was the Trojans' largest margin of victory in the series. Previously, their biggest win had been by eight points.

Behind 21-0 after a giving up a touchdown on USC's opening drive of the second half, Michigan answered with a 16-play, 76-yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:56. On second down from the USC 5, Navarre fired a strike to sophomore tight end Tim Massaquoi (Allentown, Pa./Parkland HS), who took a quick slant through double coverage. The touchdown pass was the 72nd of Navarre's career, breaking a tie with Elvis Grbac for the U-M all-time passing TD lead.

The Trojans answered the Michigan score with an eight-play, 72-yard drive to take a 28-7 lead. The touchdown came on a bit of razzle-dazzle, as Williams took a reverse pitch and fired a 15-yard strike to a wide-open Leinart. The touchdown pass and catch were the first of both players' careers.

USC had opened the second half with a four-play, 83-yard scoring drive. On first down from the Michigan 47, Leinart hit Colbert deep up the right hashmark. Fighting off pass interference by Jeremy LeSueur (Holly Springs, Miss./Holly Springs HS), Colbert hauled in the pass with one hand, broke LeSueur's tackle and raced into the end zone for a 21-0 lead a little more than a minute into the second half.

Michigan opened the fourth quarter with an 11-play, 85-yard touchdown drive to cut the USC lead to 28-14 with 11:06 remaining. Navarre hit three big pass plays during the drive -- a 18-yarder to sophomore wide receiver Jason Avant (Chicago, Ill./Carver HS), a 15-yarder to sophomore tight end Tyler Ecker (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge HS) and a 24-yarder to Edwards. Three downs after a USC pass interference penalty gave Michigan the ball at the Trojans 2, Perry took a toss from Navarre and followed his blockers around the right side for the touchdown.

USC drove to the Michigan 8 in an attempt to put the game away for good, but Leinart fumbled a snap and the ball was recovered by sophomore linebacker Lawrence Reid (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington HS) at the Michigan 10. Navarre completed a 19-yard pass to Avant and a 10-yard strike to Edwards, but the drive ended on downs after Navarre was sacked on the final two plays. USC then ran out the clock.

The Wolverines threatened on their opening possession of the game, as they moved from their own 20 to the Trojans' 21. After a sack pushed Michigan back to its 30, freshman kicker Garrett Rivas' (Tampa, Fla./Jesuit HS) 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked by USC Shaun Cody. The block was Cody's third of the season.

The Trojans took over at their 46 and needed just four plays -- all Leinart passes -- to score. The touchdown came on a 25-yard strike down the left hashmarks to Colbert. The drive lasted just 37 seconds.

USC threatened to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, but Ryan Killeen's 39-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.

Michigan began its next-to-last drive of the first half at its own 6. The Wolverines gained a first down, but on third-and-18 from their 9, Navarre's attempted throwaway pass bounced off Edwards' foot and into the hands of USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who returned the ball 26 yards to the Michigan 3.

On third down from the Michigan 6, Leinart tossed a soft pass to LenDale White in the left flat. White eluded a tackle by LeSueur and scrambled into the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 4:50 left in the half.

Michigan made one last bid to get on the scoreboard, moving from its own 20 to the USC 31. But after the Trojans recorded their fifth sack of the first half, the threat was turned away.

Perry rushed for 49 yards in the first half on 13 attempts. Navarre was 11-of-19 passing for 102 yards and an interception.

The Trojans managed just two yards rushing in the first half, but Leinart completed 11 of his 15 pass attempts for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

USC MICH
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 25
Rushing..................... 6 9
Passing..................... 13 14
Penalty..................... 0 2
Rushing Attempts.............. 25 38
Yards Gained Rushing.......... 101 126
Yards Lost Rushing............ 33 77
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 68 49
NET YARDS PASSING............. 342 271
Passes Attempted............ 35 46
Passes Completed............ 24 27
Had Intercepted............. 0 1
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS......... 60 84
TOTAL NET YARDS............... 410 320
Average Gain Per Play....... 6.8 3.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 2-1 3-0
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 3-22 2-10
Number of Punts-Yards......... 3-140 4-176
Average Per Punt............ 46.7 44.0
Punt Returns: Number-Yards.... 2-4 1-0
Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards. 2-45 2-48
Interceptions: Number-Yards... 1-26 0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yards.. 0-0 0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 25:34 34:26
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 11 9 of 19
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 2 of 4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 9-69 1-11

Michigan Individual Statistics

Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
--------------------------------------------
Perry, Chris 23 93 8 85 1 12 3.7
Breaston, Steve 2 21 0 21 0 13 10.5
Rembert, Pierre 1 1 0 1 0 1 1.0
Navarre, John 12 11 69 -58 0 6 -4.8
Totals... 38 126 77 49 1 13 1.3

Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sck
-------------------------------------------
Navarre, John 46-27-1 271 1 24 9
Totals... 46-27-1 271 1 24 9

Receiving No. Yds TD Long
-----------------------------------
Edwards, B. 10 107 0 24
Breaston, Steve 6 61 0 15
Avant, Jason 4 61 0 19
Ecker, Tyler 3 31 0 15
Perry, Chris 2 1 0 2
Massaquoi, Tim 1 5 1 5
Thompson, Brian 1 5 0 5
Totals... 27 271 1 24

Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20
-----------------------------------------
Finley, Adam 4 176 44.0 48 1
Totals... 4 176 44.0 48 1

Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
---------------------------------------------
Breaston, Steve 1 0 0 1 24 24 0 0 0
LeSueur, Jeremy 0 0 0 1 24 24 0 0 0
Totals... 1 0 0 2 48 24 0 0 0

Field goal attempts
----------------------------------------
Rivas, Garrett 1st 08:45 47 yds - Blocked