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Miller Moss celebrates in the 2023 Holiday Bowl. | Photo courtesy of USC Trojans/X
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Redshirt sophomore quarterback Miller Moss threw six touchdown passes in his first college start, leading USC to a 42-28 victory over Louisville in the 44th annual Holiday Bowl Wednesday evening at Petco Park in San Diego.
Moss set Holiday Bowl and USC bowl game records for touchdown passes and matched the Pac-12 Conference bowl record.
Moss completed 23 of 33 passes for 372 yards with one interception and was not sacked. He was playing in place of 2022 Heisman Trophy-wining quarterback Caleb Williams, who opted out of the game. He is expected to announce he will forfeit his final year of eligibility and be the first choice in the 2024 NFL draft.
Moss threw touchdown passes on four consecutive possessions, two to Tahj Washington, to give the Trojans a 28-14 lead at halftime.
A 23-yard punt return by Zachariah Branch and 32-yard pass from Moss to Carson Tabaracci gave USC a first-and-goal from the Cardinals’ 8-yard line on its first possession of the second half, but Moss threw an interception on the next play, with Louisville defensive back Quincy Riley returning the ball 61 yards to the Trojans’ 39-yard line.
Isaac Guerendo ran 1 yard for his second touchdown six plays later, cutting USC’s lead to 28-21.
The Trojans responded with an 11-play, 53-yard drive following Justin Dedich’s 10-yard kickoff return and a 15-yard blocking below the waist penalty against the Cardinals, with Moss completing six of eight passes for 54 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Kobi Lane.
Guerendo ran 2 yards for his third touchdown on the ensuing possession, as Louisville again pulled within seven, 35-28, with 12 minutes, 51 seconds to play.
Moss threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Duce Robinson, the game’s longest play, on the next possession, increasing USC’s lead to 42-28 with 10 minutes left.
The Cardinals turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing drive when Jadon Thompson caught a pass from Jack Plummer on a fourth-and-6 play from the Trojans’ 16-yard line, but fell down at the 12-yard line, 2 yards short of the first down with 4:48 remaining.
Louisville got the ball back with 1:32 to play on its 13-yard line following a USC punt, but Thomson fumbled on the first play of the drive after catching a pass from Plummer, with safety Anthony Beavers Jr. recovering for the Trojans at the Cardinals’ 21-yard line.
USC outgained Louisville, 443 yards to 361, but trailed 22-19 in first downs and 36:34-23:26 in time of possession in front of a crowd announced at 35,317.
The Trojans converted six of 10 third downs and was successful in their only fourth down conversion attempt when Jake Jensen entered the game at quarterback facing a fourth-and-1 from the Cardinals’ 13-yard line and ran up the middle for 1 yard and the first down. Moss threw a touchdown pass to Lane on the next play.
The Cardinals converted six of 12 third downs and two of three fourth downs.
Plummer completed 21 of 25 passes for 141 yards and was sacked three times.
The victory ended a three-game losing streak for USC (8-5).
Louisville (10-4) lost its third consecutive game following a four- game winning streak.
The Cardinals opened the scoring on their first possession, with Guerendo completing a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
The much-maligned Trojan defense, which entered Wednesday’s play tied for 124th among the 133 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in scoring defense, allowing 34.9 points per game, stopped Louisville on each of the next three possessions, with rush end Solomon Byrd recovering a fumble by Plummer and USC forcing two punts.
The Trojans tied the score on Moss’ 17-yard pass to Washington with 4:25 left in the first quarter, took a 14-7 lead on a 29-yard pass from Moss to Washington and a 21-7 lead on Moss’ 9-yard pass to Kyron Hudson 6:30 before halftime.
The Cardinals cut the lead to 21-14 on Evan Conley’s 9-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left in the half. USC regained a 14-point lead on Moss’ 31-yard pass to Lane with 19 seconds left in the half.
The Trojans also played without MarShawn Lloyd, who ran for a team- high 845 yards; and Brendan Rice, a son of Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice, who led USC with 12 touchdown catches.
Lloyd and Rice have announced they will both forfeit their final year of eligibility to make themselves eligible for the draft.
USC has had 17 players enter the transfer portal, including redshirt freshman Malachi Nelson, listed as the No. 1 ranked recruit in the nation by ESPN in 2022, who had been expected to be Williams’ successor.
The Cardinals were without Jawha Jordan, who ran for a team-high 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns; and Jamari Thrash, who made 63 catches for 858 yards and six touchdowns, all team highs. Both declared for the draft.
Louisville was also without eight scholarship players, including seven on defense, who entered the transfer portal.
Oddsmakers made the Cardinals a 6 1/2-point favorite. ESPN Analytics gave USC a 53.4% chance of winning.
The Cardinals were ranked 16th in the latest Associated Press poll, released Dec. 3. The Trojans dropped out of the Top 25 following their 52-42 loss to Washington Nov. 4.
This was the first meeting between the teams.
The Trojans were playing in the Holiday Bowl for the fourth time since the Pac-12 Conference began supplying a team for the game in 1997. USC defeated Nebraska, 45-42, in 2014; lost to Wisconsin, 23-21, in 2015, and lost to Iowa, 49-24, in 2019.
Louisville was playing in the Holiday Bowl for the first time. It was the second time any Atlantic Coast Conference team has played in the game. Under an agreement announced in 2019, the ACC will supply a team for the game at least through 2025.
The Cardinals were playing in California for the third time. They tied Long Beach State, 24-24, in the 1970 Pasadena Bowl, and San Jose State, 10- 10, in 1990. Louisville will return to California in 2024 to play at Stanford, which has joined the ACC.
USC coach Lincoln Riley was doused in eggnog following the victory in an attempt by the bowl to establish a new tradition. Eggnog was the choice of bowl organizers after it topped a nonbinding social media poll with 44.9%. Mini tacos placed second with 28.6%, beach sand third with 16.6% and sunscreen last in the field of four with 9.9%.
