A collapse that will be immortalized. Disappointment that will linger for ages. Complete and utter disarray on the gridiron.
USC’s performance in the last four minutes of the Cotton Bowl fit the bill as one of the worst losses in the school’s storied history — a seemingly impossible series of unfortunate events which, by some calamity, took place.
In Arlington, Texas, the Trojans were crushed and drowned by the Green Wave, losing in unfathomable fashion 46-45 to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
It was the 1,694th time an FBS team led by 15 points or more in the final five minutes over the last five seasons — Tulane became just the second team to overcome that deficit. The defeat leaves an aura of disappointment surrounding the season as a whole.
“It’s as tough of a loss as I can remember in my career,” head coach Lincoln Riley said.
Everything unraveled.
The Trojans held a 15-point lead with 4:30 to play. They had just burned some clock, two Tulane timeouts and kicked a field goal. It looked to be a signed and sealed victory.
Then, Tulane scored quickly. Then, sophomore receiver Mario Williams scuffed the kickoff return, leaving USC at its own 1-yard line. Then, Tulane stuffed a run for a safety.
“[The safety] is sitting heavy in my gut right now,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Justin Dedich said. “Our unit didn’t get it done when we needed it most.”
But USC still led 45-39, and with just one timeout remaining, a Tulane touchdown drive was a pipe dream. And yet, it happened.
The touchdown came on a 6-yard pass that was initially ruled incomplete. As fans looked to the video boards, you could see the collective statement on their lips: “He caught it.”
“The line to finish and win these big games like we had at the end is so thin, it’s a fine line,” Riley said.
It was the culmination of a year’s worth of underwhelming defense and special teams play from the Trojans.
“In year one, obviously you wanna accomplish everything, but you only have so much time,” senior linebacker Shane Lee said. “It’s hard to get everything done at first.”
This season’s broken record storyline once again came to fruition: could the USC defense get enough stops to help out the offense?
No. Unequivocally no.
The offense did about as much as it could: 45 points, 594 total yards, 11-of-15 on third downs. Sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams had 472 all-purpose yards with 5 touchdowns, a new Cotton Bowl record.
Williams connected with nine different receivers over the course of the game, all of which had at least two receptions. But it was junior receiver Brenden Rice who stepped up in the absence of junior receiver Jordan Addison. The Colorado transfer had 174 receiving yards on six receptions with two touchdowns. Rice made the sideline his best friend, pulling in multiple miraculous grabs in traffic to set up scores or score himself.
“Our job on offense is to score, that’s all we can control,” Williams said.
But the defense, worn down and defunct in tackling, couldn’t hold up its end of the deal. USC conceded 10.4 yards per play, an absurd number that might even be outdone by the fact that Tulane scored 46 points with just 52 offensive plays.
Tulane’s notorious spread triple-option offense saw it running the ball on nearly every play. And it worked. Junior running back Tyjae Spears commanded his will, rushing for 205 yards with four touchdowns on the day.
“Their ability to run the football … 300-plus yards rushing, that’s the entire game right there,” Riley said. “If you don’t tackle good players and a good running back, that’s what happens.”
The game’s scoring eventually went warp-speed, but USC’s offensive intentions were clear from the start — slow and steady wins the race. It was a jarringly new approach for a team that had won so many of its games via shootout.
The first possession of the game was a long haul that took 9:02 off the clock before Tulane even touched the ball.
After a relatively tame first quarter, USC’s efforts to slow play down were thwarted in a second quarter that saw 35 combined points scored. It was a game of streaks in the first half, with three 14-0 unanswered runs between the two teams.
The missed-tackle mess which doomed the USC defense against Utah did just the same against Tulane. A whiff in the open field allowed the Green Wave to reach the goal line and subsequently score in the second quarter.
On Tulane’s next drive, junior receiver Jha’Quan Jackson took a middle-of-the-field catch to the outside, leaving at least three USC defenders in the dust for an 87-yard touchdown to tie it. It tied the longest touchdown pass in Cotton Bowl history.
It was a record breaking loss in many facets, a loss that brings the momentum of the USC program to a screeching halt, at least temporarily.
Heading into the month of December, that momentum was undeniable. Fresh off back-to-back ranked rivalry wins, the Trojans were a win away from the College Football Playoff and a chance to play for the national title. Much, if not all, of that energy is washed away.
“There’s still so much more to go to be in that position where you close out a conference championship game,” Riley said.
The blowout Pac-12 Championship loss to Utah proved only the beginning of USC’s slide. Now, the offseason provides a chance to revamp. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s job status will be a point of discussion in the offseason.
After a seven-win improvement from 2021 to 2022, USC’s is undeniably moving up in the power structure of college football.
“The reality is that we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere,” Riley said. “We know what we need to get better at as a program.”
Even still, the loss won’t be easy to shake off in any way.
“We’ll spend a lot of time on it, get some clarity, let this one soak in,” Riley said. “And then we’ll go back to work.”