Brown: Holiday Bowl to offer early look at what's to come for Louisville football and USC
SAN DIEGO — Louisville and USC reached the Holiday Bowl as a reward for their play this season. But Wednesday’s game at Petco Park is less about who these teams were and more about who they’re going to be.
Between players opting out of the game, entering the transfer portal and those who are injured, the Trojans will only slightly resemble the team that was at one point in the season ranked among the top five. Quarterback Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, will not be among the participants as he tries to lock up his standing as the potential No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in the spring.
The Cardinals had 10 players transfer and two of their top playmakers — leading rusher Jawhar Jordan and leading receiver Jamari Thrash — opted out to begin preparing for the NFL draft.
Instead of thinking of the game as a battle in 2023, think of it more as the first game of the 2024 season.
Louisville lost fewer players than most to the transfer portal — certainly way fewer rotation players than USC, which had 17 players transfer. (Fortunately for U of L coach Jeff Brohm, so far, his staff will also maintain its continuity heading into the offseason.)
The NCAA allows transfers to participate in bowl practice with their new teams, although they cannot suit up in the game. But Brohm said none of the 16 incoming transfers were able to join U of L fast enough to participate.
“You want to try to finish the season strong but also build on your roster into your team next year and give those guys an opportunity to measure themselves against a great opponent,” Brohm said.
Running backs Isaac Guerendo and Maurice Turner will be two at the forefront of claiming an opportunity with Jordan gone.
USC’s run defense ranked 113th nationally in allowing 183 rushing yards per game. But that was primarily under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. The defense performed poorly enough to cost him his job in early November.
So USC didn’t just have to replace players — and it lost plenty of those with running back MarShawn Lloyd and receiver Brenden Rice joining Williams in the opt-out club — it had to replace Grinch.
New Trojans defensive coordinator, D’Anton Lynn, came over from UCLA and will make his debut against the Cards. Under Lynn, the Bruins were the nation’s No. 2 run defense. With three weeks to prepare for U of L, there’s really no telling what new wrinkles the Trojans’ defense will throw at the Cards' offense.
Brohm said he doesn’t dwell on all of the differences between his team or USC from the end of the regular season until now.
“Rosters are going to change,” Brohm said. “You have to adapt to it and adjust and not lose too much time thinking about it but just preparing for the future.”
Adapt and change should be the only focus, and that goes for bowl games too.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams next season, which could further complicate bowl participation problems in the future. There’s little incentive to play in a game with little stakes no matter how many participation trophies get handed out from bowl games not affiliated with the CFP.
USC coach Lincoln Riley isn’t ready to scrap the games just yet, he said they should be integrated into the playoff and college football moving forward.
“There's many of the bowl games, this one included, that are a big part of college football history,” Riley said.
History has opted out of the bowl. Tradition entered the portal. And fans better get used to cheering for the future instead of what was.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville vs. USC to offer early look at 2024 college football season
