USC football and the Holiday Bowl: Miller Moss and 7 more Trojans thoughts

SAN DIEGO — USC’s season will come to a close Wednesday in a matchup with top-15 Louisville in the Holiday Bowl.

The Trojans won’t resemble anything close to what they looked like during their 7-5 regular season. Quarterback Caleb Williams, running back MarShawn Lloyd and receiver Brenden Rice are among those who won’t play in the Holiday Bowl.

That doesn’t mean this game won’t be interesting. Miller Moss, who patiently has waited for three seasons, finally will start a game at quarterback for the Trojans, and plenty of other younger players will receive more playing time than they ever have before.

As the game approaches, let’s go through some USC thoughts for the matchup with the Cardinals.

1. Moss will be in the spotlight Wednesday night, and his patience has been well-documented, but it’s wild to think about who Moss has seen come and go since he committed to the Trojans 3 1/2 years ago.

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Moss committed to USC with Clay Helton as the head coach and Graham Harrell as the offensive coordinator, when fellow four-star, top-100 prospect Jake Garcia already had committed. Moss signed even though Jaxson Dart joined the class (Garcia eventually signed with Miami).

Moss stayed even though he lost a battle for the backup job to Dart. Moss witnessed Dart and Kedon Slovis enter the transfer portal after USC hired Lincoln Riley and remained with the program even though Caleb Williams followed Riley to Los Angeles months later. Moss wasn’t deterred when five-star prospect Malachi Nelson joined the program in January.

Moss has backed up the Heisman Trophy winner. He has seen Dart, Slovis and Nelson all enter the program and leave. During that time, Moss has been molded by Harrell, Riley and Kliff Kingsbury.

And now, Moss finally gets his chance to start. He has stated that he’ll return to the program even though Riley is recruiting a transfer quarterback and potentially two. We’ll see how Moss’ performance weighs into the Trojans’ quarterback discussion this offseason.

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2. It has been more than a week since former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard visited USC, but he hasn’t committed. And during the weekend, there was speculation about Ohio State gaining traction with Howard.

If Howard were to commit to Ohio State or decide to test the NFL waters, it would be interesting to see which direction Riley goes at quarterback.

Calen Bullock has started at safety for USC for the past three seasons. (Jessica Alcheh / USA Today)

3. Calen Bullock declared for the draft during the weekend. Bullock has started at safety for USC for the past three seasons. In his draft declaration, Bullock didn’t state whether he would play in the Holiday Bowl.

Bullock has been viewed as a top-50 draft prospect as recently as November, so it certainly would be no shock if he didn’t play in the bowl game.

USC still has Max Williams, who announced he’ll try his hand at the NFL after this game, and Bryson Shaw at safety, and Anthony Beavers Jr. has played in Bullock’s absence in the past.

4. Safety will be an interesting spot to watch for the Trojans next season. The coaching staff has brought in two transfers at the position: UCLA’s Kamari Ramsey and Oregon State’s Akili Arnold.

Ramsey started for new USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn at UCLA. Arnold started at Oregon State. But Zion Branch, who is one of the best athletes on the Trojans defense, will be coming back off an injury and freshman Christian Pierce is a young player with plenty of promise.

Cornerback will have a new look to it in 2024, too. One starter, Christian Roland-Wallace, has exhausted his eligibility. The other, Domani Jackson, has entered the portal.

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The staff just brought in two transfers — John Humphrey (UCLA) and DeCarlos Nicholson (Mississippi State) — and has some returning options, including Jacobe Covington and Ceyair Wright. Top-100 prospect Marcelles Williams, Max’s younger brother, will enroll in January.

5. With Lloyd declaring for the NFL Draft and Raleek Brown and Darwin Barlow transferring, the running back position goes to Austin Jones and true freshman Quinten Joyner. Joyner hasn’t received a carry since late in the team’s blowout loss to Notre Dame.

A’Marion Peterson has only two carries this season, but he could be in the mix, as well.

After the Holiday Bowl, Mississippi State transfer Jo’Quavious Marks likely will jump to the forefront of the group. Marks has been a solid all-purpose back for the Bulldogs. In four seasons, he has posted 1,883 rushing yards and 1,225 receiving yards with 27 touchdowns from scrimmage.

6. Since the end of the regular season, USC has lost Rice, Mario Williams and Michael Jackson III at receiver. Williams and Jackson entered the portal. Those are three players who were all part of the receiver rotation.

With those departures, it figures some of the younger players like freshmen Duce Robinson and Ja’Kobi Lane will receive extended playing time in the Holiday Bowl. That might be the case going forward, too.

USC signed only one receiver in its high school class and still hasn’t added any receivers through the portal, although that remains a possibility.

7. One receiver USC won’t have next season but will have for the Holiday Bowl is Tahj Washington, who has been arguably the program’s most underappreciated player in recent years. Other receivers have had bigger names, more recruiting pedigree and more hype, but Washington has been a steady, consistent playmaker.

Washington transferred from Memphis in spring 2021 and displayed his playmaking ability during camp that year. Harrell tried to utilize Washington as an outside receiver, and he was often targeted on deep passes, but that wasn’t the most effective way for Washington to be used. He still caught 54 passes for 602 yards.

He took off when Riley and Williams arrived. Washington moved primarily to the slot in 2022 and caught 50 passes for 785 yards and six touchdowns. He also contributed in a significant way with his blocking.

This season, he became Williams’ favorite target, and when Williams played out of structure, Washington was often the first receiver Williams looked to. Washington caught 52 passes for 963 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season.

He’s just 37 yards away from a 1,000-yard receiving season, which would be a nice cap to Washington’s USC career.

8. What will the future hold for defensive line coach Shaun Nua and outside linebackers coach Roy Manning? USC has hired Matt Entz to coach linebackers, which likely means current linebackers coach Brian Odom is on the move. USC hired former Houston defensive coordinator Doug Belk to coach the secondary. Current secondary coach Donte Williams is headed to Georgia.

During his early signing period news conference, Riley said USC was still finalizing its defensive coaching staff. The defensive personnel is getting a sizable overhaul this offseason. Will the coaching staff be completely new, too? It’s something we likely will learn in the days and weeks after the Holiday Bowl.

(Top photo of Miller Moss: Jordon Kelly / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)