Miller Moss and Jaylin Smith named Holiday Bowl MVPs
USC quarterback Miller Moss and safety Jaylin Smith were chosen as DirecTV Holiday Bowl MVPs on offense and defense, respectively.
Neither was a difficult choice after their performances in a 42-28 win over the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals.
Moss set a Holiday Bowl and USC bowl game record with six passing touchdowns. The third-year quarterback, making his first start, completed 23-of-33 passes for 372 yards and those six scores, against one interception. He found Tahj Washington twice, Ja’Kobi Lane twice, Kyron Hudson once and Duce Robinson once for scores.
The quarterback caught fire early and had a stretch where he completed 11 of 13 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the third quarter.
Adversity struck when Moss threw an interception in the endzone for his first and only major mistake of the game. He responded by throwing two more touchdowns and keeping the USC offense moving despite the lack of a ground game. The Trojans ran for just 71 yards in the game, with 35 of them coming on a late run by Austin Jones.
On the other side of the ball, safety Jaylin Smith played his best game of the season and finished with 12 solo tackles. The secondary was a disappointment for much of the year and the Trojans were without several major contributors there in Calen Bullock, Christian Roland-Wallace and Domani Jackson. A thin group really stepped up against Louisville, led by Smith.
Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer completed 84% of his passes, but the 21 completions went for just 141 yards and Smith and his fellow USC defenders consistently cut down Louisville receivers immediately after the catch. The Cardinals had just one passing play that went for more than 15 yards.
This isn’t the only connection Moss and Smith share. The two were high school teammates at Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany and signed together with USC in the 2021 recruiting class.
