USC loses 23-13 to No. 23 Wisconsin in Holiday Bowl

Kessler would rebound however, leading USC down the field in the fourth quarter on a key drive that would give the Trojans their first lead of the game. Both of those numbers led the Big Ten, while Wisconsin allowed just six passing touchdowns all season and picked off quarterbacks 11 times.

One month after Clay Helton was hired as the permanent head coach at USC, he’ll experience his first bowl game when the Trojans meet Wisconsin in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium on December 30. All told, the Badgers outgained the Trojans, 394-286, and notched a 14-minute advantage in time of possession while amassing six more first downs. Rafael Gaglianone connected on his third field goal of the day to give the Badgers the 23-21 lead.

The USC Trojans (8-5) were one of the promising teams in the Pac-12 conference but short of their desired record. The USC Wisconsin TV details and how to watch the Holiday Bowl streaming live one is ahead.

But just like the rest of the season, the final two minutes of Wednesday night’s Holiday Bowl didn’t go as planned for old ‘SC.

One must be careful not to put too much stock in the first season of any college football coach. Cichy pressured USC quarterback Cody Kessler, and altered an errant pass into the hands of junior cornerback Sojourn Shelton. “We had enough mistakes in that game to get beat”.

“I probably should have just thrown the Hail Mary”, Kessler said.

It’s the last thing he should want to have to deal with, but it will show the kind of coach he is going to be down the road if USC believes in him as the long-term solution.

“They had a relentless effort to the ball”. The F+ Ratings have USC as a top-20 team while Wisconsin is ranked 33rd.

After sitting out the first half because of the targeting ejection in the regular-season finale, Cichy recorded a team-high nine tackles.

“It all started with the off season, I prepared myself well, and I couldn’t have done it without these guys. I think I’ve taken the opportunity, I’ve grown a lot, and I’ve got a long way to go, but, yeah, I guess it feels real”.

USC’s defense forced a punt with 45 seconds left, though a personal foul penalty meant the Trojans started their final drive at their own 10-yard line.

USC lost by a similarly-wide margin in the Pac-12 Championship Game, though, getting rocked by Christian McCaffrey and Stanford, and fell behind 10-0 and 20-7 before rallying to take a 21-20 lead in the fourth quarter. We were trying to get a quick 10 yards and get it out and make it an easier. Wisconsin has won six of its last seven games. Corey Clement scored on a 6-yard run midway through the second quarter for a 10-0 lead. Joel Stave was the offensive MVP, finishing with an 18-27 mark for 217 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers.

The Trojans gained some momentum with Justin Davis’ second TD run of the game, with 5:34 left in the third quarter. It did when Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy sacked Cody Kessler on three straight plays for a loss of 23 yards.

However, the Trojans chipped away little by little as the Badgers offense stalled in the second half and failed to replicate the success it found throughout the first two quarters.

Next year we’ll be talking about behemoth offensive tackle Zach Banner, Olympic-level speedster and lockdown corner Adoree’ Jackson and elite receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, but the Trojans will still have plenty of top prospects in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Jackson, a freshman, completed 12-of-26 passes for 222 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while rushing 22 times for 226 yards and two more scores, allowing the Boynton Beach, Fla., native to join Vince Young (2006 Rose Bowl) and Johnny Manziel (2013 Cotton Bowl) as the only players in FBS history to record a 200/200 bowl game.