2023 DirecTV Holiday Bowl
44th Holiday Bowl
Louisville Cardinals USC Trojans
(10–3) (7–5)
ACC Pac-12
28 42
Head coach: 
Jeff Brohm		 Head coach: 
Lincoln Riley
APCoachesCFP
161515
1234 Total
Louisville 7777 28
USC 72177 42
DateDecember 27, 2023
Season2023
StadiumPetco Park
LocationSan Diego, California
MVP
FavoriteLouisville by 7.5[3]
RefereeLee Hedrick (SEC)[4]
Attendance35,317
United States TV coverage
NetworkFox
AnnouncersGus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and Jenny Taft

The 2023 Holiday Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2023, at Petco Park in San Diego, California. The 44th annual Holiday Bowl featured the Louisville Cardinals from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the USC Trojans from the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at approximately 5:00 p.m. PST and was aired on Fox.[5][6][7] It was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. Sponsored by multichannel video programming distributor DirecTV, the game was officially known as the DirecTV Holiday Bowl.

Teams

Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game featured teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Pac-12 Conference. This was the first-ever game between Louisville and USC.[8]

Louisville Cardinals

The Cardinals entered the game with a 10–3 record (7–1 in ACC play) and No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Louisville finished second in the ACC but lost to Florida State in the ACC Championship Game, 16–6.

This was the Cardinals' first appearance in the Holiday Bowl.

USC Trojans

The Trojans entered the game with a 7–5 record (5–4 in Pac-12 play). USC finished tied for fourth place in their conference.

This was USC's final game as a member of the Pac-12, as the Trojans committed to move to the Big Ten Conference for the 2024 season.

USC made its fourth appearance in the Holiday Bowl, having previously won the 2014 edition and lost the 2015 edition and 2019 edition.

Game summary

2023 DirecTV Holiday Bowl
Period 1 2 34Total
No. 15 Louisville 7 7 7728
USC 7 21 7742

at Petco Park • San Diego

  • Date: Wednesday, December 27, 2023
  • Game time: 5:00 p.m. PST
  • Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 61 °F (16 °C) • Wind: 5 mph (8.0 km/h) NW
  • Game attendance: 35,317
  • Referee: Lee Hedrick
  • TV announcers (FOX): Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst), and Jenny Taft (sideline)
  • Box score
Game information
First quarter
  • (8:37) LOU – Isaac Guerendo 2-yard run, Nick Lopez kick (Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards, 5:10; Louisville 7–0)
  • (4:25) USC – Tahj Washington 17-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 3 plays, 19 yards, 1:33; Tied 7–7)
Second quarter
  • (8:07) USC – Tahj Washington 29-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 2:13; USC 14–7)
  • (6:30) USC – Kyron Hudson 9-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 2 plays, 18 yards, 0:39; USC 21–7)
  • (1:56) LOU – Evan Conley 9-yard run, Nick Lopez kick (Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 4:34; USC 21–14)
  • (0:19) USC – Ja'Kobi Lane 31-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 3 plays, 34 yards, 1:15; USC 28–14)
Third quarter
  • (9:43) LOU – Isaac Guerendo 1-yard run, Nick Lopez kick (Drive: 6 plays, 39 yards, 2:41; USC 28–21)
  • (4:51) USC – Ja'Kobi Lane 12-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 11 plays, 53 yards, 4:52; USC 35–21)
Fourth quarter
  • (12:51) LOU – Isaac Guerendo 2-yard run, Nick Lopez kick (Drive: 12 plays, 72 yards, 7:00; USC 35–28)
  • (10:00) USC – Duce Robinson 44-yard pass from Miller Moss, Denis Lynch kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:51; USC 42–28)

Statistics

Statistics LOU USC
First downs2219
Plays–yards–361–443
Rushes–yards45–22019–71
Passing yards141372
Passing: comp–att–int21–25–023–33–1
Time of possession36:3423:26
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Louisville PassingJack Plummer21–25, 141 yds
RushingIsaac Guerendo23 cars, 161 yds, 3 TDs
ReceivingIsaac Guerendo5 rec, 42 yds
USC PassingMiller Moss23–33, 372 yds, 6 TDs, 1 Int
RushingAustin Jones11 cars, 60 yds
ReceivingTahj Washington7 rec, 99 yds, 2 TDs

References

  1. ↑ @CFBONFOX (December 28, 2023). "The offensive Holiday Bowl MVP is @uscfb 's Miller Moss" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via Twitter.
  2. ↑ @Ryan_Kartje (December 28, 2023). "Jaylin Smith was named defensive MVP of the Holiday Bowl" (Tweet). Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Parks, James (December 11, 2023). "College football bowl schedule, game odds, point spreads for 2023-24". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  4. ↑ Austro, Ben (December 3, 2023). "2023-24 bowl officiating assignments". footballzebras.com. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  5. ↑ Straka, Dean. "2023-24 college football bowl schedule, games, dates, locations, kickoff times, TV channels". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ "San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl". Holiday Bowl at Petco Park. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Kenney, Kirk (July 19, 2023). "Holiday Bowl gets date, time for 2023 game at Petco Park". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Winsipedia – Louisville Cardinals vs. USC Trojans". Winsipedia.com. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
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