Miller Moss, Caleb Williams share special moment after Holiday Bowl
Wednesday night, ahead of the Holiday Bowl, USC quarterback Miller Moss prepared for something he’s never done at the college level. He was going to be the starting quarterback against Louisville — and, boy, did he live up to the occasion.
Moss had a record-setting day, completing 23 of 33 passes for 372 yards and a Holiday Bowl record six touchdowns to lead USC to the 42-28 victory and win the game’s offensive MVP award. It was quite the performance in place of Caleb Williams, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Williams was there, though, and he shared a special moment with Moss after the game.
Moss served as Williams’ backup the last two seasons after the latter came in from Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley. This year, he appeared in four games in mop-up duty, throwing for 309 yards and a touchdown in that time.
Wednesday night, in just four quarters, he had more yards and six times as many touchdowns. It was a lot to process, and he made that clear in his postgame interview.
“I can’t really describe it,” Moss told FOX Sports’ Jenny Taft. “I’m trying to pinch myself right now. But I’m just really, really happy for this team. The work we put in, in the last six weeks, the way we came together. I’m really, really happy with how we finished. We finished on a good note after all the adversity this year. I’m really proud of these guys.”
Miller Moss helped USC end the 2023 season on a high note
Moss’ top target Wednesday night was Tahj Washington, who hauled in seven receptions for 99 yards and two touchdowns to lead the USC pass-catchers. It was quite the way to get the eighth win of the season, even without Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner who stood on the sidelines.
The Trojans finish Riley’s second season with an 8-5 record despite bringing some high expectations into the year. Williams was looking to defend his Heisman and become the second repeat winner, and USC looked like it had momentum after a 10-3 record in 2022.
Instead, it was a rollercoaster ride. The Trojans started the year 6-0 before dropping five of their last six games prior to the Holiday Bowl. In addition, the program parted ways with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch as the defense ranked 11th in the Pac-12 in points allowed per game.