The USC Trojans and quarterback Miller Moss face the Louisville Cardinals in the 2023 Holiday Bowl on Wednesday. It’s a tough matchup for Moss, which could set him up for failure. Yet, that’s just the way it should be for Moss.
It wouldn’t really mean much for Moss if he went up against an opponent with a pillow-soft defense, such as Syracuse or Wake Forest. Lighting up a not-that-great defense would only carry so much value for other college programs, not to mention NFL scouts. If Moss is going to elevate his stock — either as USC’s quarterback heading into 2024, or as a potential transfer prospect at another school — he needs to show he can play well against a legitimately good, tough defense.
Louisville’s defense, under coordinator Ron English, is legitimately good.
As we noted a few weeks ago, “Imagine a world in which USC had Louisville’s defense, not Alex Grinch’s defense, in 2023. This 2023 Louisville defense shut out opponents in the first quarter in 11 of 13 games. If USC’s defense had shut out UCLA’s offense in the first quarter on November 18, the Trojans very likely would have won that game against the Bruins.
“Louisville’s defense was similarly strong in fourth quarters this year as well as first quarters. The Cardinals allowed more than seven fourth-quarter points in only one game this season, to Kentucky. If USC had that kind of a defense in 2023, the Trojans would have a 10-2 record, not a 7-5 record. They wouldn’t have beaten Notre Dame, given how bad the USC offense was. They probably wouldn’t have beaten Oregon, given that they trailed 29-7 before scoring a few cosmetic touchdowns.”
Moss has a tough assignment. He needs to pass a difficult test in order to prove he is ready to be a QB1 — for USC or anyone else. It’s good for Moss this challenge is substantial. If he aces this test, we can know with added certainty that Moss is ready to lead a college offense in 2024.
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