USC beat Louisville in the Holiday Bowl 42-28. It was the Trojans’ first game without the top NFL draft Prospect Caleb Williams. This meant the first start for sophomore quarterback Miller Moss. Watching the game, it was hard to tell it was Moss’ first-ever start. Moss showed out and proved he could be the guy to step into Williams’ place as the USC starting quarterback next season. He even broke a Holiday Bowl record as he led the Trojans to a win over the Cardinals.
New Quarterback in Town
Coming into this game, many people wondered how Lincoln Riley and USC would find someone to step into Williams’ place as he heads to the NFL draft. After this game, it looks like Moss is that guy. Moss threw a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdowns against Louisville. He connected with four different receivers while doing this as well. Two went to Tahj Washington who made plays all night for the Trojans. He had seven total receptions and 99 yards to go with those two touchdowns.
Two others went to Ja’Kobi Lane, while Duece Robinson and Kyron Hudson snagged one each as well. At the finish, Moss completed 23 of 33 pass attempts for 372 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception.
USC Plays Defense
The Trojans’ defense has not been good much of this season. They were in the bottom 15 in total defense entering this game. While the rush defense still did not do much in this game, the pass defense was strong. The USC defense held Louisville to less than 150 passing yards on the night and zero touchdowns through the air. The other thing the Trojan defense did well was force turnovers. USC recovered two fumbles, one of which led to a score on the following offensive drive. This gave the Cardinals the advantage in the turnover margin.
Cards Run Game Not Enough
The one thing Louisville did do very well in this game was run the ball. The Cardinals finished with 220 total rushing yards on the night. Running Back Isaac Guerendo especially had a great game. He ran the ball 23 times for 161 yards and three touchdowns. Outside of Guerendo’s tough running, not much else went well for Louisville. The passing game could not get anything going downfield. Jack Plummer completed 21 passes out of 25 attempts but for only 141 yards and no touchdowns.
Defensively, the Cards gave up 443 total yards of offense. Of those yards, 372 came through the air. They also gave up six passing touchdowns to a first-time starter. Louisville looked unprepared for what the Trojans threw at it on both sides of the ball, which is unusual for a Jeff Brohm team. With the season now over though, Brohm and the staff can now evaluate what went wrong. Not just in this game, but over the last few weeks of the season where his team seemed to not do enough to finish as strong as it started.
For USC, this is a game it can build off of after a disappointing season. The biggest thing is it has seemingly found a quarterback the coaches can trust in Moss. This bowl win against a top-15 team should give the Trojans momentum as they enter their first year in the Big 10.
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