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“USC FOOTBALL…A NEW YEAR BEGINS”
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Out with the old.  In with the new.
A new year arrives for USC, before the new year actually arrives.

The Trojans put on a show that was vintage Holiday Bowl football, in their lopsided win (42-28) over the Louisville Cardinals.

Miller Moss, who never started in 3-years, replaced NFL-bound Caleb Williams, and went on a record setting throwing spree.

Resembling a ‘Mad Bomber’ Moss threw a record 6-TD passes, threw for (372Y) in all, guided a (443Y) explosion to rewrite the record books.  Goodbye Trojans TD passing record, the USC bowl passing record, Holiday Bowl passing record too.

Trojans coach Lincoln Riley saw his team skid to 5-losses in the final 6-weeks. A (6-0) start with a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback was wiped out by an incompetent defense, then injuries.

6-weeks ago, Riley walked off the field to boos, after UCLA blasted USC in their rivalry game.

Bad news piled up on bad news, with Willimas opting out of the Holiday Bowl; then the defections began.  19-Trojans filed to go into the Transfer portal.  Why?  What better place to play than for USC?  Then 11-other players either filed for the NFL draft, or faced season ending injury issues.

But in those six weeks, Riley recreated his offense with the next wave of young players.  It was like spring football at warped speed.

The end result of his work was on the field Wednesday night for the whole nation to see.

And now you look forward to the next group of transfers joining the USC program, with the knowledge Riley can reinvent everything with the quality of players he brings in.

And for football fans, what a night.  And for the Holiday Bowl, it continues the saga of how special this Bowl game is.

History writes about games with BYU’s lineage of quarterbacks, Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Robbie Bosco, Texas’ Major Applewhite, and the likes of Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and Penn State’s Blair Thomas.

This bowl game always puts on a show and this was no exception.

USC is back, though painfully headed to the Big 10 next year.

Who knows what teams will be in the Holiday Bowl a year from tonight.

But for a Wednesday night, it was a spectacular night, and for six hours you forgot about the pain of the death of the PAC 12, the transfer portal, and the NIL.

A new year has begun for USC, before the new year arrives, and that’s good for West Coast football.

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