Cardinals Fall to USC in Holiday Bowl

Wednesday, December 27

San Diego, Calif.

8:00 p.m.

University of Louisville

10-4 , 7-2

USC

8-5 , 5-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Louisville

Southern California

December 27, 2023 | Football

Box Score PDF Box Score Postgame Notes Postgame Quotes

By: Kennedy Knisley

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of Louisville football team could not slow down Southern California's offense this evening as they fell 28-42 in the DIRECTV Holiday Bowl, closing out their 2023 season with a 10-4 record.

The Cards started off the game with a two-yard rushing touchdown by Isaac Guerendo, scoring on their first possession for the 10^th time in 14 games this season. However, the Trojans responded with three consecutive touchdown drives and Louisville went into the locker room down 14-28 at the half.

To start the third frame, the Trojans forced a Louisville punt and put together what seemed to be a promising offensive series. However, Quincy Riley flipped the field with an interception return of 61 yards, the longest in Holiday Bowl history. Guerendo cashed in on his second touchdown of the game with a one-yard run to put the Cards within seven.

USC's Miller Moss responded with his fifth touchdown pass of the evening, putting the Trojans up 35-21 going into the final 15 minutes.

Guerendo found the end-zone one more time with a two-yard run, in hopes of giving Louisville a spark as they were down by a touchdown in the middle of the fourth quarter. The Trojans responded with another Moss passing touchdown, putting the game out of reach for good for the Cards.

Guerendo tallied a career-high 161 rushing yards on 23 attempts, marking the second 100-yard rushing game of his Louisville career. His three rushing touchdowns tied for the most in Louisville bowl history and tied for the most in a single game in his career.

In his final game as a Cardinal, Jack Plummer connected on 21 of 25 passes for 141 yards and zero interceptions.

On the defensive end, Devin Neal led with seven tackles, TJ Quinn recorded five tackles, and Riley led with three pass break-ups while adding four tackles.

As a team, Louisville ran for 220 yards and held USC to just 71 rushing yards.

Head Coach Jeff Brohm Said:

"Well, anytime you lose, you've got to look at things, and you don't want to overreact. These four guys sitting up here with me right now all played great for us all year long. Was everything perfect all the time? No, but they gave great effort. They helped us win a lot of football games. They worked really hard. They were good leaders. So we appreciate all the work they put in. Then really it's about the guys that are coming back, how bad do you really want to win and do you really understand what it takes to win at a high level against elite football teams, powerhouse football teams, brand football teams, and do it consistently. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of work from me, from our coaches, from all of our players. It has to be every player's goal individually to be the very best player at their position in the country, and that has to be their goal and their mindset, and they got to be willing to put the work in to get it done. So whether they got bigger in the weight room, stronger, faster, studied more, catch more balls, work on your get-off, defend more balls, you've got to do it. I just think sometimes when you lose, you can either use it to kick start you, to say I've got to get committed to this, or you don't. But I do think we have enough young players on the team that want to win and want to do well, and our coaches need to be committed to being there year-round, early, late, whatever it takes to help. And we've got to put the best plan together, as well, and realize things that didn't work aren't always the players' faults, it's our fault. It just takes a lot of work. We're sitting at 10-1, feeling pretty good about ourselves, and then we just let things slip at the end, and that's disappointing. But all three segments needed to play better for us to win, and we didn't get that done."

How It Happened:

First Quarter
08:37 – UL | Isaac Guerendo punched it in from one-yard out to open the scoring. 10 plays, 71 yards, 5:10. Louisville 7, USC 0
04:25 – USC | Miller Moss connected with Tahj Washington for a 17-yard touchdown. 3 plays, 19 yards, 1:33. Louisville 7, USC 7

Second Quarter
08:07 – USC | Miller Moss and Tahj Washington hooked up for a second time, this time for a 29-yard score. 5 plays, 80 yards, 2:13. USC 14, Louisville 7
06:30 – USC | Kyron Hudson caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Miller Moss. 2 plays, 18 yards, 0:39. USC 21, Louisville 7
01:56 – UL | Evan Conley went around the left side untouched for a nine-yard touchdown. 9 plays, 73 yards, 4:25. USC 21, Louisville 14
00:19 – USC | Miller Moss found Ja'Kobi Lane in the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown. 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:37. USC 28, Louisville 14

Third Quarter
09:43 – UL | Isaac Guerendo notched his second one-yard score of the night. 6 plays, 39 yards, 2:41. USC 28, Louisville 21
04:51 – USC | Miller Moss hit Ja'Kobi Lane in the back corner of the end zone for a 12-yard score. 11 plays, 53 yards, 4:47. USC 35, Louisville 21

Fourth Quarter
12:51 – UL | Isaac Guerendo made it three touchdowns on the night with a two-yard run. 12 plays, 72 yards, 6:54. USC 35, Louisville 28
10:00 – USC | Duce Robinson hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Miller Moss. 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:51. USC 42, Louisville 28