Bowl season does not mean a lot for most of the participating squads. Especially when there are massive opt outs in certain cases.
USC was one of those teams that had large numbers (20 or so) say NO to San Diego’s Holiday Bowl tilt against Louisville. Seemingly, this was just the latest bit of bad news for a program that had been deluged with recent downers. The Trojans, picked by some to reach the playoffs, dropped 5 games (and were quite fortunate not to drop a 6th against Cal and a 7th against Arizona). The shine had totally gone off the hire of Lincoln Riley. Fans fumed, “Would the guy ever field a squad with a half-decent defense?”
A few weeks ago, 5-star Freshman Malachi Nelson made one of the more head-scratching transfer portal announcements. Nelson appeared to be the heir apparent to the coveted QB job. (Riley may not know a thing about defense but his offenses have always been smoking hot). Even more curious, Nelson was a local guy, prepping at Los Alamitos High School. Was he fishing for more money? Quite possibly.
After all this gloom and doom, the Holiday Bowl provided a shockingly magic elixir for Trojan faithful. Third-year backup, Miller Moss, came off the bench to throw for 6 TD’s and 372 yards, setting a USC bowl record for TD passes. The Trojans, who had shown of the heart of the Tin Man during the regular season, played with lots of energy.
Suddenly, the Trojans have a star QB to replace Heisman Winner Caleb Williams. Suddenly, the talk of KSU QB Will Howard transferring to Los Angeles does not seem at all urgent. Maybe Malachi Nelson knew that he was far from a lock for QB1 on Figueroa Avenue in 2024.
Suddenly, the arc of the USC program has been dramatically altered. All due to a “throw away” bowl.