USC swallowed by the Green Wave in Cotton Bowl loss

In front of a Cotton Bowl crowd that seemed much more green than red, USC let what looked like a sure victory slip through its fingers, losing 46-45 to Tulane.

“It’s as tough a loss as I can remember in my entire career,” said Head Coach Lincoln Riley. “Losses like this are always just tough to digest.” 

The Trojan offense held its own, with sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams throwing for 462 yards, 5 touchdowns and an interception. Junior wide receiver Brendan Rice had a career-high 174 yards and 2 touchdowns off of just 6 receptions.

But it was the defense that, as it had done much of the season, was incapable of countering Tulane’s greatest strength: the run game.

Junior Tulane running back Tyjae Spears racked up 205 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground — and declared for the NFL draft immediately following his dominant performance.

“We missed tackles in the run game,” Riley said. “Our tackling hurt us and against a good back, because that was the story, their ability to run the football.” 

With under 5 minutes remaining, freshman kicker Denis Lynch made a 43-yard field goal to put the Trojans up 15 points. Tulane’s offense had been keeping up with the Trojans’, due much in part to Spears’ monster performance on the ground. But a 15 point lead with 4:30 left seemed to be the nail in the coffin for the Green Wave.

The ensuing drive put a bit more pressure on the Trojans, with junior quarterback Michael Pratt finding senior receiver Deuce Watts on a deep ball to set up Spears’ fourth rushing touchdown of the day.

“We gave up the big plays obviously and the lack of not tackling to the level we’d expect are very, very alarming and something that we have to do a much better job of,” Riley said.

Things fell apart on the following kickoff; sophomore receiver Mario Williams fumbled the return and the ball rolled out of bounds at the 1-yard line. For the third time of the day, USC started their drive from behind their own 5-yard line. The other two drives, Williams, the 2022 Heisman winner, led the Trojans down the field to score touchdowns. This time, it was Tulane that scored.

Back-to-back runs up the middle proved to be predictable play calls, as a wave of Tulane defenders swallowed up senior running back Austin Jones in the endzone on second down for a game-changing safety.

“It’s sitting heavy in my gut right now,” said senior offensive lineman Justin Dedich. “Our unit didn’t get it done when we needed it most and I take responsibility for that.”

The stadium erupted in cheers from a Tulane fanbase that had seen its team facing a seemingly insurmountable lead just moments before.

Pratt led the Green Wave down the field, converting on fourth down twice in the process, before tossing a 6-yard touchdown to freshman tight end Alex Bauman. Bauman’s touchdown was initially ruled incomplete, but a review confirmed the catch.

“With the dropped kickoff and safety and then obviously not getting the stops that we needed, defensively down the stretch, I mean all three sides, contributed to [the loss],” Riley said.

Williams and the Trojan offense attempted to pull off the impossible, but their efforts fell short and the Green Wave pulled off the upset.

The Cotton Bowl victory marked the first major bowl victory for Tulane since 1934 and solidified a program record with 12 wins on the season.

“Really well-coached football team. Obviously this is a huge win for them and their program and [I] just want to offer congratulations to them,” Riley said.

Moving forward, Riley was unclear what his plans were in regards to making any staff changes. When asked about the status of Defensive Coordinator Alex Grinch, Riley was noncommittal with his response.

“We just got done playing the game 15 minutes ago so I’m not going to give you any big picture assessments,” Riley said. “We didn’t play good enough today.”

Riley stressed the importance of all three sides of the ball playing as one unit.

“To play great on offense or defense or special teams, like to have any success, everything has got to be clicking. Every single part of your program,” Riley said. “We’ll lay out a plan just like we did when we landed in L.A. 13 months ago.”