FOOTBALL

USC vs. Louisville In Holiday Bowl

It took longer than expected because the ACC teams were fighting over their bowl assignments, but USC will face Louisville on Dec. 27 in the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park.

Not even Clemson, who many predicted would go to the Holiday Bowl.

This will not excite many people, except Louisville fans.

But this is a worst-case scenario for Lincoln Riley. Louisville is 10-3 and will be motivated for their trip to San Diego.

USC will probably be missing Caleb Williams and have little to be excited about. Riley can start Miller Moss at QB, with Moss knowing Riley wants Kansas State QB Will Howard.

If you’ve never been to a Holiday Bowl, it gets pretty cold at night in San Diego that time of year.

49 thoughts on “USC vs. Louisville In Holiday Bowl”

  1. That Louisville quarterback last night looked like he lost confidence in the 4th quarter and he had that horrible pick in the end zone.

    But the Cardinals (not like Stanford’s Cardinal or whatever) were 10-3 and played some tough teams. And with Moss going for SC the Trojans might be 5-point ‘dogs except if the oddsmakers give SC home advantage in San Diego

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      1. and they beat ND handily….not a good omen for SC which can’t beat anybody incl ND,and ucla which CAL pounded a week later…pounded the new SC DC…

        Liked by 4 people

    3. btw, Louisville —a team picked to be at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the preseason—is a full touchdown favorite over USC!

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      3. So the oddsmakers didn’t even give SC 3-points as a home team,
        possibly because there might be more ‘Louie’ rooters than Trojan fans

        Liked by 2 people

  2. Such an easy prediction that USC will lose, because all it takes is a decent pass rush since they have no reputable running game . And I’ll assume that Louisville has that with a 10-3 record.

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  3. Petco Park ? Why not is SDSU’s new place instead of a lame baseball stadium where most of the seats will SUCK?

    Eh, who cares, meaningless bowl with one team that won’t give a fuck, have fun !

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    1. Snapdragon stadium has a capacity of 35,000. Even Ucla can get fans than that (35,056) so petco it is. The only reason SC is going is because instead of a boring all you can eat dinner at Lawry’s the teams get a pass to the San Diego zoo.

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      2. I commented mainly because you had stopped mentioning me. Make sure to include me going forward when you are composing your conspiracy lists.

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  5. Agreed the Louisville QB had 3 separate opportunities to take the lead in the 4th quarter alone but failed all 3 times. That’s the reason FL St. is NOT in the final four their QB was just as bad save they got one more score.

    It gets cold everywhere in December except during the day.

    LA Bowl has Boise St vs bel-air tech.

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  6. I have been to the most 3 most recent Holiday Bowls USC has played in, all at Qualcomm. Nebraska was freezing. Wisconsin a little better. Iowa not bad. The fact the Holiday has replaced the Rose Bowl as USC’s post season home is disgusting.

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    1. Well we can all thank Lincoln Riley’s blind allegiance to his friend instead of his employer and that with which he was entrusted for missing the Rose Bowl this year. Riley’s got 2 years and then produce or walk. Bohn is long gone – the big money people (Rick Caruso et. al.) are livid at his idiocy in what has been squandered this year.

      Tome to ‘….play the man…’ Riley

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      1. My blood has thinned considerably in the last 25 years living in California. I went to college in Grand Forks ND, which takes cold to another level. The people there move to Minneapolis in the winter for the warm weather.

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  7. Another opportunity to embarrass ourselves. I wish they would have passed and rested up for next season. The players won’t have their hearts in it. Louisville is a very good team.

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    1. they need the practice and prep for next yr q/b’s…also exposes how bad they were this yr due to soft practices…can you see SC going against B10 defenses and those ‘O’ lines vs SC defenses? it will be brutal unless the lincoln changes the way HE has SC practice…even this Louisville team will expose SC…why it is this way I have no idea.

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  8. If Riley is smart, he is using this time period to test players for next year and make changes to his strategy. Why not put Paige and Noa in the o-line, move Monheim to right tackle and let Kingston and Tarquin prepare for the NFL? They can get a real feel for how far off these players are.

    I could also see the young receivers for next year getting full run. Put in Jakobi, Duce and Makai along with Zachariah and see if they perform. On defense, its about time that Fequon got some run. I noticed one open field tackle he made that was excellent in the UCLA game. How about more Christian Pierce? And what about telling Raesjon and Tackett that next year is theirs for the taking, if they can step up?

    I feel like this team has decent talent but really needs better coaching all around.

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    1. You lost me when you got to the “all they need is better coaching” part….
      #OnDefense,They’llBeCoachedByGuysWhoKnowThey’reFired…
      #OnOffense,RileyWillBeLostWithoutCaleb,Dedich,Austin&MaybeLloyd
      #[It’sTotallyUpToThe2024PlayersToWinThisOneOnTheirOwn]

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      3. Re that last subordinate phrase [i. e., “what’s the point?”] — you need to drop a tab or two of good acid and confront yourself with that question —I’ll be there to talk you down when you can’t come up with an answer and begin weeping….

        Liked by 5 people

  9. probably going to be most of the Oregon State and Washington State players who think they have a real chance at a future in the NFL entering the portal tomorrow. this could be a real chance to get o and d line talent.

    of course, many of those o-line guys might be going to michigan state

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  10. Louisville struggles against really good defenses but readily beats decent and lesser ones. With a few bowouts, with a lot of guys likely headed out, truth is this team needs no further practice. It is literally a waste of time. They should have declined the bowl, started the staff turnover, figure out what the portal does to the team, let Lynn and his connections procure a decent S&C team and get the transformation started.
    My guess is if you thought the fucla game sucked, this might be worse.

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    1. Why did USC accept the invitation? Simple. They can’t see the train wreck around the corner. When MarShawn Lloyd was asked if he’d play in a bowl game he said “I don’t know.” That’s what Justin Dedich said too. Naturally, it’s what Caleb said. “I don’t know” is the answer the coaches tell you to give when the answer is “fuck, no.”

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  11. Lest we forget, USC hung on to barely beat Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl in 2014 under coach Sark, 45-42, after blowing most of an 18-point, third-quarter lead, then fell badly to Wisconsin the following year 2015, 21-23 in an uninspired effort, and lost brutally to Iowa 24-49 in 2019, both thanks to soft-as-play-dough hell-ton coaching – all games before and after the Sam Darnold era. Louisville has yet to play in the Holiday Bowl, and USC has yet to play Louisville in program history…

    We likely will go in as underdogs and deservedly so…especially without Caleb Williams playing…

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  12. Hey Lincoln,

    What about a big back and full backs/TEs that can block as well as run and catch?

    What about roll outs, designed QB runs, tunnel screens, pop passes, slants, well structured bubble screens and WR blocking?

    What about teaching receivers some new release techniques because as talented as they are they’re getting jammed up by physical cornerbacks?

    What about putting a QB lined up under center a bit especially in the red zone and short yardage giving both better short yard conversion and the opportunity for serious play action fakes and tosses?

    What about adding a half dozen more run plays (because the entire run game being the Counter Trey is ridiculous), for both the inside and the outside, including some tosses to take advantage of better athletes?

    You have a new DC who gave up 30 something to Cal, and really you hired because his father and him are Texas high school legends and really well connected coaches in NFL circles, and his pops is a Texas Tech legend, and you try to keep Texas recruiting ties and don’t give a sht about California because your dream job is Texas or Texas A&M, just before you finally get out of coaching in the next decade, as you’ve explained in the press because you’re already burned out and don’t love the game. I’m damned sorry you didn’t get the Texas A&M gig myself.

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      1. Agree that was a mouthful, maybe 2.
        Not sure this guy is a global consultant but he sounds as if he could coach the Trojans

        Liked by 2 people

  14. Michigan has the best chance at the title (according to oddsmakers)
    then Alabama and Texas with Washington being the longshot

    And I know they set up the format of these bowl games in advance
    but couldn’t they have tweeked the system a bit and allowed the Rose Bowl
    one last shot of a west coast team playing in it

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  15. With the introduction of the 12-team playoff system in 2024
    there will be less controversy between the 12th and 13th teams
    than there is today beween the 4th and 5th teams

    Liked by 2 people

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  16. SC as a 6 1/2 point ‘dog means the oddsmakers factored in that Celeb and probably ‘Number-0’ will not play with ‘0’ certainly trying his hand hand at the NFL next year

    Liked by 1 person

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  17. It’ll be memorable Florida St being effectively ‘voted out’ of the Final-4.
    The Seminoles’ Athetic Director wrote a learned complaint citing how this undermines the entire playoff system and cheapens the regular season, not to mention the ‘morality’ of keeping an undefeated team out
    Well, we feel for Florida St in the same way as if it had happened to SC instead. But if the “rules” say the “best teams” and not the top rated teams are elected to the Final-4, and I don’t know if the bylaws state that, then Florida St must bend to the “rules”
    These sometimes unfair ‘Final-4’ decisions over the years
    will never be borne again with the ‘Top-12’ format

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  18. Washington already played Texas only a year ago and won soundly.
    Why can’t they do it again although this Longhorns team
    has ‘longer horns’

    Michigan v Alabama, you would think Wolverines by a small margin
    but I am suddenly enamored with the Crimson Tide mystique
    similar to what we Trojans experienced with McKay and Carrot

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