2023 Holiday Bowl Preview

2023 Holiday Bowl Preview

Time Stamp: December 13, 2023 3:21 PM
Source Node: 3012376

The 2023 Holiday Bowl features the 10-3 Louisville Cardinals against the 7-5 USC Trojans. Here is the 2023 Holiday Bowl Preview.

Louisville Cardinals (10-3)

Louisville won 10 games to make their third straight bowl game. They defeated seven bowl-eligible teams this season: Georgia Tech, Boston College, NC State, Notre Dame, Duke, Virginia Tech and Miami. One of their losses was to a team that didn’t make a bowl game: Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals score 30.9 points per game, ranking them 45th in the country. They pass for 244 yards (ranked 53rd) and rush for 175.3 yards per game (ranked 47th).

Jack Plummer has started at quarterback for the Cardinals this season after transferring from Cal and Purdue. He has passed for 3,063 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 63.5 percent completion. Six pass-catchers have at least 200 yards on the season. Jamari Thrash has led the team in receiving yards with 858 and six touchdowns.

Three running backs have over 200 rushing yards on the season. Jawhar Jordan leads the team with 1,128 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He is a game-time decision for the bowl game. Behind him, Isaac Guerendo has 649 rushing yards and Maurice Turner has 251.

Defensively, the Cardinals give up 19.7 points per game, ranking them 20th in the country. They allow 101.9 rushing yards (ranked 12th) and 205.4 passing yards per game (ranked 35th). Linebacker TJ Quinn leads the team in tackles with 86. Ashton Gillotte has 11 sacks this season to pace the team. Devin Neal has six passes defended and four interceptions in the secondary.

USC Trojans (7-5)

USC won seven games to make their second-straight bowl game. They defeated three teams who made bowl games this season: San Jose State, Arizona and Cal. All five of their losses were to teams that qualified for a bowl game.

The Trojans score 41.7 points per game, ranking fourth in the country. They pass for 329.8 yards (ranked fifth) and rush for 138.8 yards per game (ranked 91st).

Caleb Williams was the starting quarterback after winning the Heisman last season, but he won’t play in this bowl game. Miller Moss will likely get the start at quarterback after passing for 309 yards and a touchdown. Eight players have at least 200 receiving yards this season. Tahj Washington leads the team with 963 yards and six touchdowns. Second-leading receiver Brenden Rice had 12 touchdowns this season, but he declared for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Two running backs have received most of the work out of the backfield for the Trojans. MarShawn Lloyd has 820 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season. Behind him, Austin Jones has 417 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.

The Trojans’ defense concedes 34.9 points per game, which ranks 120th in the country. They allow 183.7 rushing yards (ranked 114th) and 255.2 passing yards per game (ranked 115th). Mason Cobb leads the team with 77 tackles after transferring in from Oklahoma State. Solomon Byrd and Jamil Muhammad are tied for the team-high with six sacks. Christian Roland-Wallace has stood out in the secondary with nine passes defended and two interceptions.

Prediction

While a few of the key players are entering the draft for USC, Lincoln Riley will still have the offense running well. Louisville will have a tough time keeping up, especially with some key players questionable for the game themselves.

USC Trojans 31 Louisville Cardinals 27

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