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Big Ten Conference, college football, College Football Playoff, Exposition Park, Fight On, football, Holiday Bowl, L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Pac-12 Conference, Rose Bowl, Trojan Family, Trojan Football, Trojans, University of Southern California, USC, USC Football, USC Trojans
USC’s captains, including Caleb Williams (#13), getting ready to head to mid field to toss the coin before a game. Photo courtesy of twitter.com
(Yes this is a bit early, being that USC will be playing in the Holiday Bowl on December 27th. But so what?)
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TROJANS FOOTBALL – 2023 SEASON
Record: 7-5, 5-4 and tied for fourth in the Pac-12 Conference
- Lost five of their last six games after beginning the season 6-0, including to UCLA, 38-20, on November 18th
- Will be playing Louisville in the Holiday Bowl on Wednesday, December 20th
- Quarterback Caleb Williams led the conference in total touchdowns with 41 (30 passing, 11 rushing)
Team Leaders:
- Caleb Williams, QB: 68.56% completions, 3,633 passing yards, 30 TD, 5 INT // 11 rushing TDs
- MarShawn Lloyd, RB: 820 rush yards, 7.1 ypc, 9 TD
- Austin Jones, RB: 417 rush yards, 5.6 ypc, 7 TD
- Tahj Washington, WR: 52 receptions, 963 receiving yards, 6 TD
- Brenden Rice, WR: 45 receptions, 791 receiving yards, 12 TD
- Mason Cobb, LB: 77 tackles, 7.0 TFL
- Jaylin Smith, S: 63 tackles, 5.5 TFL,
- Calen Bullock, S: 61 tackles, 2 INT
- Solomon Byrd, DL: 45 tackles, 11.0 TFL, 6.0 sacks
- Jamil Muhammad, DL: 42 tackles, 10.0 TFL, 6.0 sacks
Most Valuable Player: Caleb Willliams (for the second straight year)
The Trojans’ MVP for 2023 (DUH!) Photo courtesy of foxnews.com
Analysis and Thoughts:
After finishing the season on such a pathetically dismal note in going 1-5 during the back half of the season, the one win being a barely, skin-by-the-teeth 50-49 outscoring of Cal before losing to Washington, Oregon, and UCLA in a salt-in-the-wound defeat at the Coliseum that lost them the Victory Bell (I’m sure the Trojan Family agonized over seeing the Bruin football players ringing that bell and taking it back to their Westwood campus after that game)
The fact that those Trojans enacted some vengeance on their crosstown rivals by getting Bruin defensive Coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who turned UCLA’s defense into the best in the conference in this one season in Westwood, to come to USC with a contract worth over $2 million, twice what the Bruins were paying him,
Served as a sort of redemption for the Trojan Family, I’m sure.
If Lynn is successful at recruiting, ‘SC’s days of being absolute sieves on defense will likely be over.
And just in time for their entry into the Big Ten Conference, where they will need a smash-mouth shut down defense in order to have any chance to beat the likes of elite blue bloods Michigan – who will be playing Alabama in the College Football Playoff semi finals at the Rose Bowl on January 1st – Ohio State and Penn State.
And to think,
I had those Trojans winning the Pac-12 and in the College Football Playoff at the start of the season, which shows how much I know!
But I also reckoned that they would have trouble in the second half of the season, especially after just barely getting by an Arizona team that in my view ended up being the best team in the conference outside of Washington and Oregon as those Wildcats drove ‘SC crazy and came this close to pulling off the epic upset.
And beginning with their shellacking at the hands of rival Notre Dame, I was proven right.
As they say, it is what it is.
Coach Lincoln Riley and that USC program of his certainly took a good step in the right direction with the hiring of Lynn;
Offering double what UCLA was paying him usually works wonders when getting someone to switch to a rival school.
Now the question is who will fill Williams’ shoes as the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner won’t even play in the Holiday Bowl vs Louisville, which doesn’t surprise me in the least as being a projected first round and possible number one overall pick when the NFL Draft commences on April 25-27,
It would be a bad idea to risk injury by playing in a bowl game and risking roughly fifty million dollars.
I’ll be interested in seeing what they do vs Louisville in San Diego;
Will they play half-hearted in a “Call it a day” fashion,
Or will they “Fight On”?
We’ll see when those Trojans take the field at Petco Park – by the way, why on earth is that Holiday Bowl being held at a baseball stadium when a perfectly good, and brand new, facility is right down the road…
Two days after Christmas.
Getting ready to battle UCLA in the Crosstown Rivalry Clash. Photo courtesy of twitter.com