Maybe, just maybe, the fact that USC was playing Tulane — a Group of Five team which lost to Southern Mississippi earlier this season — would enable USC to play better in the 2023 Cotton Bowl. Maybe, just maybe, four weeks off with a chance to get healthy and practice would sharpen USC’s instincts and get players to refocus on fundamentals and tackle better.
Maybe.
It didn’t happen.
Even with USC’s offense holding the ball for nearly 22 minutes in the first half, and holding the ball for 14 of the game’s first 17 minutes on two very long touchdown drives, the USC defense — despite being fresh and rested — couldn’t make tackles. It couldn’t show more physicality than the Green Wave offense. It couldn’t reduce explosive plays.
We were left with the simple, undeniable reality that the USC team we saw through 13 regular-season games was the team we saw in Game 14, the Cotton Bowl on the first Monday of 2023.
And that was just the first half.
Then came the endgame sequence, with Tulane — having only one timeout, trailing by 15 points with 4:30 left — scoring two touchdowns to win the game, crucially aided by a safety.
It’s a complete disaster for Alex Grinch and a USC defense which badly needs transfer portal reinforcements in the offseason.
Here’s how the game played out: