The Holiday Bowl features a clash between a team that matched its best conference record ever and one in transition that will be without its biggest star.
No. 16/15 Louisville (10-3, 7-1 ACC), from the Atlantic Coast Conference, will meet the University of Southern California (7-5, 5-4 Pac-12), in its final season in the Pac-12, at 5 p.m Wednesday at Petco Park.
This marks Louisville’s first appearance in the Holiday Bowl, while USC returns after going 1-2 in prior Holiday Bowls. It will be the teams’ first meeting.
“I’m excited to play in the bowl game,” said USC senior safety Max Williams. “You know, I’m going to give it my all one last time.”
Both teams are coming off losses – Louisville, 16-6 at the hands of Florida State in the ACC Championship game on Dec. 2, and USC, beaten by arch rival UCLA 38-20 on Nov. 18.
Each also will be without some of their stars, most notably, USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner who is widely expected to declare for the NFL draft, opted out of the game, as did wide receiver Brenden Rice.
Louisville will be without Jawhar Jordan, who had 1,128 yards rushing and 246 yards on 21 catches this season, and junior wide receiver Jamari Thrash, who led the squad in receiving with 63 receptions for 858 yards and six touchdowns.
USC had another quarterback defection – freshman Malachi Nelson entered the transfer portal last week. That leaves backup Miller Moss to lead the Trojans at the Holiday Bowl.
Without Caleb Williams and Rice, Trojan standouts include Tahj Washington, who leads the team with 52 receptions for 963 yards, along with six touchdowns. Zachariah Branch, a freshman, recorded 29 receptions for 311 yards and two touchdowns on his way to being named an All-American.
As for Louisville, led by head coach Jeff Brohm, in his first year at the helm with the Cardinals the team reached the ACC title game for the first time. Quarterback Jack Plummer paced an offense that averaged 30.9 points per game while throwing for 3,063 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Defensively, the Cardinals allowed 19.7 points per game, First team All-ACC defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte had 11 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss.
USC’s offense, meanwhile, under Caleb Williams, scored an average of 41.8 points, but the Trojan defense ranked among the nation’s worst, allowing 34.9 points a game. But USC, an 11-time national champion, despite its lackluster season, still has its appeal.
“We’re definitely excited to play (USC) in the Holiday Bowl,” Brohm said. “I think our team understands you play a brand team like that, that it’ll be an exciting game and they have a ton of talent and (are) well coached and I think our guys be fired up to go out there and play.”
Tickets remain for the game, starting at $60.
