Miller Moss seizes his moment as USC upsets Louisville in the Holiday Bowl
After years of waiting for his shot, Moss sets a Trojans bowl game record with six touchdown passes to lead a 42-28 victory in his first career start
Congratulations, coach Riley – your reward is the ceremonial #HolidayBowl egg nog! pic.twitter.com/VPOfmiYiCe
— DIRECTV Holiday Bowl (@DIRECTV_HB) December 28, 2023
I cannot recall a more important minor Bowl game for SC football. It was like SC got to have two spring practices. We got a solid preview of the 2024 team. More than that. We got to confirm that LR is a quality HC. This was virtually a new team and he got it ready to play. We saw huge improvement in all three phases of the game. Candidly, IMO, Moss played the best QB of the year. Best special teams performance of the year. Best D performance of the year. This was a totally different team than that which… Read more »
With 2 years under LR’s QB coaching and 2 more years to come I would say, barring an injury, Miller will be one of the candidates for the Heisman at the 2025 ceremony
Not certain about that. But Moss is a solid talent; I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do next year. I am convinced that SC in 2024 will be definitely improved over SC in 2023 in all phases of the game. Given the level of competition, IMO Moss played the best QB in the Holiday played all year by SC. Objectively, Caleb only outperformed him against Stanford and Stanford has no where near the level of D Louisville does.
I think one of the reasons why the O-Line had problems this year is because of Caleb. He waste the play clock trying to change the play at the LOS. That’s a lot of time that those O-Linemen have to be crouched down in the 3 point stance. Then they hike the ball and he drops back about 10 yards off of the LOS just looking down field because he wants to throw a 75 yard TD pass on every play. That wears out the O-Linemen trying to to protect him that long on every play. By halftime the O-Linemen… Read more »
Off topic, but this cfb bowl junkie would love to see AZ smack the Okies this evening.
Looks like you got your wish. Santa talks about naughty or nice…….you must have been nice this year
Ha, I’d like to think so, or at least have my wife think so.
Great to see the Sooners take it in the shorts. Jedd Fisch did a helluva job with his Wildcat team which could even end up in the Top 10.
I remember about 3-4 years ago, Colin Cowherd was calling for Helton’s termination and recommending Fisch as the SC HC. Fisch has done a remarkable job at AZ. I think that Fisch, LR, DeBoer and Lanning are probably four of the best young HC in the game. How the PAC could disintegrate given all that talent in the coaching ranks is beyond my comprehension. Just amazing.
I know the thing that disintegrated the Pac-12. That thing has a name…..LARRY SCOTT
I used to think that maybe we need another O-Line coach. After doing some research, I’ve definitely changed my mind on that. Henson has tons of experience as a O-Line coach(15 years) and he’s only 48 years old. In his first 13 years(minus the 2 USC years) his running backs have averaged 4.63 per carry. That’s pretty good over a 13 year period at 3 different schools. In his 2 years at USC, the running backs averaged 5.1 and 4.8. In his 15 year career, he’s had 3 years where the running backs only averaged 3.7, 3.7 and 3.5. That… Read more »
I think that Henson is good, but we still need a lot of work on the development of our lineman. We lost major components on our line last year and that was not replaced. Regardless of the kind of player Caleb is and changing of plays he was still running for his life this year many times compared to last year. We are moving into the Big 10. Controlling the line of scrimmage and the trenches becomes that much more important as well as running the football more.
We definitely need an improved running game
Why wasn’t Paige playing all year … he was terrific last night
I think Tarquin was a large part of the problem. Paige is simply better, but then Paige had to develop. Once Paige was ready to go, Tarquin was let go (and entered the Portal again). I think things will get a lot better next year as I doubt we will bring in any transfers this year.
Absolutely right. But in most cases, whoever wins the LOS battle usually controls the clock & the game. Quick fixing the O-line using too much Portal replacements each year just seems counter in developing players & depth. You want backups that are able to substitute during a game to keep everyone fresh playing all 4-quarters if at all possible. And backups to the backups when injuries happen. rotating players in games is so important giving all the players the feeling they are participating and getting experience playing in the games. If LR is guilty of playing favorites, he will continue… Read more »
Take away Austin Jones long run in the 4th quarter and the run game didn’t do squat. The lineman are so used to backing up to pass block, they don’t know how to fire off the line on a running play. Maybe the 3-point stance should be explored again?
USC finally beat a decent team this year, outside of ARIZ in 3 OT. Awesome! Baby steps.
Lots more to be done, that’s for sure. But at least things are moving in the right direction. I’ll take it.
Miller runs the play LR called unless it must be changed at the LOS. He gets rid of the ball fast. Caleb would waste the play clock changing the play and sometimes they would have to call a time out to not get penalized. Then he wanted to throw a 75 yard TD on every play and he would hang on to the ball back there. That’s hard on the O-Linemen, They can’t block those guys forever. That’s why Caleb has been sacked 83 times in his 2 1/2 year college career and Miller has only been sacked once in… Read more »
One would have thought LR would have insisted on reeling in his Heisman QB from the exaggerated bad habits he developed game after game this season.
The difference between a guy who knows X’s and O’s and a coach.
I hope he learned something this year…..my issue is for 10 million we should not be having a coach in learning mode.
Ugh … that pick on 1st and goal from the 12, up 28-14 was another dud call by LR. He needs to learn to milk some clock and not take dumb chances like there.
Watch that play again and tell me if the receiver ran a decent route. Did he make any move to the middle before going out. He created zero separation and that is how the db had such good position. JMHO.
Run the ball there … try that play on 2nd down
Better yet lob it up to Duce or Jacobi Lane !!!
Moss made a bad read and throw. It happens. If moss throws it up and away nobody is talking about the call. Riley is as good a play caller as there is. Last night is just more proof.
My dud play of the night was one that hasn’t been talked about because the result was a TD, but before it was a touchdown, it was a broken play and LR let about 35 seconds bleed off the clock just before the half when he had at least 1 timeout to burn. It was gross clock mismanagement that would have been scrutinized had it resulted in no points before the half. LR’s clock mismanagement was once again cloaked by an act by Superman. Furthermore, it followed a silly QB run around the end that went nowhere around mid-field when… Read more »
Miller should start in ’24, but USC still needs 1-2 other QBs IMO.
Since we’re looking for backup types, I’m really interested in how and where LR is gonna find them, where he is in the process, and whether they have been affected one way or another by how USC looked last night?
Agree. We are dangerously thin at QB. Not too many B1G QBs play every snap of the season. Some quality depth is critical.
Really wish Nelson hadn’t checked out, but if he doesn’t want to be a Trojan, fine, we’ll find our QBs elsewhere.
That rule needs to be changed … D is allowed to waddle out there as the game and play clock melt down
LR didn’t seem to want to deal with Caleb probably because he is a Heisman winner. Caleb had too much power. This is not the offense LR ran at Oklahoma where he ran the ball 55% of the time. Last year they threw the ball 57% of the time and ran it 43% of the time.. I think that was because Caleb would rather throw it than hand it off and maybe also because of KK who doesn’t like to run the ball. That offense has a chance to be really good next year with Moss at the helm.
One thing we learned last night is that Moss won’t fold under the pressure. When the big games come up and the whole country is watching on TV, Miller will perform like a champion. The pressure will not get to him. How do we know that? Because last night was a big game….for him. It might have not been a big game for a lot of those other players. For them, that game couldn’t decide the league championship or whether we go to the playoffs.But for him, the pressure was on. If he does well, he will most probably be… Read more »
LR needs some credit. He was taking an absolute pounding for this year, as he should, he is the head coach. With that, he rallied the team in a big way. We were prepared, played hard, and made no excuses.
also, the guy is a great offensive coach. Not just a good play caller, a great play caller. Lots of people taking shots at that part of his coaching of late.
Agree … didn’t see such a strong effort coming. Best part was watching the team and LR celebrating afterwards.
The offense with Moss QB’ing looked inspired and determined to control this game as Miller played solid in charge football. The defense gave up no cheap scores. Yes they couldn’t stop a lot of the cardinal runs up the middle, but Lynn and his rebuilt coaching staff will put a stop to that weakness. Miller’s passing was spot on where it had to be. He has an arm no doubt about it. What I really liked about this game, the defense didn’t run out of energy in the 4th quarter allowing Louisville to get back into it. Riley & staff… Read more »
I’m sure gonna miss this guy, Tahj Washington. What a USC baller he’s been!
One of my all-time favorite Trojans … since 1972!
I couldn’t be happier for Miller Moss. He’s put in his time at USC and then didn’t miss on his time to shine. I love it when a local guy does well for SC. I’m very optimistic about next season with Moss at the controls. He will get tested early with the first game vs LSU. I also liked how the young receivers like Lemon and Robinson stepped up in this game. Tahj Washington was brilliant as usual. Moss surprised me with his ability to throw outside of the pocket and on the run. I want to wish everyone here… Read more »
“This team grew like no other team I’ve been a part of the last six weeks” — Tahj Washington
This is a great slow mo
https://twitter.com/mollybetssports/status/1740225202964054517/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1740225202964054517¤tTweetUser=mollybetssports
Thank U Coach Lynn !
Thank goodness USC and LR nailed down D’Anton Lynn…
He’s a game-changer for us, and I really like the other two additions on D as well.
I could not be happier for Moss, more than anyone he deserved this.
not will to say great days lay ahead for next year. But this certainly makes me feel better
Tom Brady would be challenged with next year)s schedule … but feel much better now with a smart gamer like MM. Once he settled down (those early 100 mph fastballs to Duke and ZB) he was fantastic.
Now we know why Malachi Nelson jumped into the portal! Starting to doubt that Will Howard was the reason.
You could be very right on that Rock. Riley and his new staff has to be competent judges on player attitudes as well as their talent possibilities. Work with Jen Cohen on how to deal with NIL that has taken control recruiting elite athletes and build depth.
Being doused with Gatorade has been replaced by bowl traditions. Being doused with eggnog cannot be as awful as having mayonnaise being dumped over your head. Which begs the question; what if the coach is Vegan?
So I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. We are a QB factory. Now what he doesn’t deserve to start!?!?! As I said before what is the purpose of investing more in a
tranfer portal QB when we already have the talent and we are not competing for a National Championship at the moment and regardless of who we already got in the transfer portal defensively and on the offensive line do we or do we not have issues in those areas? 6 TD’s !!!! But wait I need a better QB he’s not good enough.
I do not recall a single offensive line penalty in the Holiday Bowl. Another product of a qb staying in the pocket and getting rid of the ball quickly?
John it has to be easier for receivers to run their routes and keep their eyes on where the QB is throwing their passes, if he’s not scrambling around so much as CW did. Miller has good pocket awareness.
Excellent comments
College Bowl Contest Update:
Scoochnew still leads with 4 points and there are 5 people with 3 points.
Click on the link to see the results: https://trojandailyblog.com/tdb-college-football-bowl-contest-2023/
Would you come to USC from KSU if you were Will Howard now?
No way, especially because Caleb has not declared to nfl either.
Seeing what the next up means in quarterback at SC, I wouldn’t be surprised to see our portal ex recruit return. But I wouldn’t jump ship hoping I could steal the heart of the team from Moss.
Miller Moss just won the audition I would say.
He’s ready. The team loves him. I doubt Howard would walk into this Trojan situation if he expects to see the field next season. If he does, he must be exceptionally confident.
This is exactly what I keep saying Allen. We are a QB factory. No matter what you are paying for a QB in the portal there was just an article a month ago about it and the cost of it. So no matter what why invest in it when you already have the talent from recruiting especially when you can be using those proceeds to build more depth to your defense and offensive line. Not only that we’re not competing for a National Championship.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Before tonight, nobody knew USC had the Holiday Bowl Offensive MVP on the roster. The world of USC football has changed since that game.
Had Miller played a bad game and USC lost, I’d definitely want Will Howard wearing Cardinal & Gold. ✌
I agree, but I also think we don’t take enough consideration into the talent of our recruits at that position, and that those talents are overlooked. And I think the talent proved itself tonight.
Hard question to answer now. But Riley has to have a solid back up QB going into a physically dominating conference where QBs will get hit and hit hard. You just can’t put a freshman QB into game where the starter got injured being tackled. You’ll be looking at fumbles & picks for sure.
USC has only two QBs on the roster. Will be very interesting to see how the position fills out and with whom, because injury disaster always lurks.
I think that is slightly over rated. Washington smashed Mich St, The Cougs handled Wisconsin, Colorado smashed Nebraska. The Big10 just has really bad QB play and offenses, so they default to the run. Only Ohio St, Mich, and Penn state are good teams. The rest are average. Washington and Oregon are significantly better than the rest.
The Pac always had dangerous qbs … the Big 10 has garbage qbs most the time. The new teams will be fine. They will not be losing to F ing Iowa 12-10.
That’s going to be a tough sell for Riley. Come be the backup here and then compete with Juju the following year. If anything, he can point to Moss as how he develops the QB’s no matter the playing time.
I agree, but I do not see Miller, or Howard as a backup.