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USC defense collapses in Cotton Bowl, creating long offseason and withering heat on Alex Grinch

Matt Zemek
·5 min read
69

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:

LIGHT FIRST QUARTER

COSTLY MISSED TACKLE

TRYING TO FIND SOLUTIONS

REALISM

TALENT

SO SAY WE ALL

BOTTOM LINE

GULP

AS WE EXPECTED

DEFENSE GAVE UP 14 POINTS ON 18 FIRST-HALF PLAYS

BAD START TO THE SECOND HALF

NOT FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

IMPOSSIBLE TO DENY

NOTABLE

CONSPICUOUS

WILD (USC 35, TULANE 30, END OF 3 QUARTERS)

BASIC MATH

INCONVENIENT TRUTH

FACEPALM

FORCED TURNOVER! HALLELUJAH!

HIGHLIGHT

OFFSEASON TOPIC

MATH

MORE MATH

NOW THIS

DISASTER

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire