Bowl season is an exciting and consequential period of the season for a number of teams across the country, but it's also a time which several opt-outs, transfer portal declarations and NFL Draft announcements take place.
It has become commonplace for players to not play in bowl game if it is not on a big enough stage to avoid injury or any potential decrease in draft stock.
With this, a lot of teams go into the postseason contests without some of their most highly regarded players. USC is one of those as Lincoln Riley's team that finished a once-promising season with a 7-5 record will face No. 16-ranked Louisville without star quarterback Caleb Williams.
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Here's a look into what to know as the Trojans enter the Holiday Bowl without Williams at the helm:
Why Caleb Williams isn't playing for USC in the Holiday Bowl
Williams made the decision to opt out of the Holiday Bowl. While it has not been formally announced, it is highly anticipated that Williams will enter the 2024 NFL Draft as one of the top college prospects in the country.
To see him as anything but one of the top quarterbacks and players off the board in the first round would be shocking.
Williams opened up the season as the projected best player in college football, expected to transition easily to the NFL with a rare level of talent. He ended the season with 3,633 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, accomplishing a lot in spite of a sometimes dull supporting cast and a defense that could not play complementary football.
He played a huge role in the team's one-loss 2022 season as he threw for 4,537 passing yards and 42 touchdowns, later taking him the Heisman Trophy.
Williams has been considered a "game-time decision" on whether or not her will declare for the draft.
Who are Miller Moss and Malachi Nelson?
Backup quarterback Miller Moss is the next man up for the Trojans with Williams set to sit out of the Holiday Bowl.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley has spoken highly of what Moss brings to the table.
“I think he’s really improved as a player,” Riley said of Moss. “I would have liked to have been able to play him a little bit more here in the last couple of years, but the opportunities that he has had, he’s played well and he’s moved us well.”
He's been in front of fellow quarterback Malachi Nelson on the quarterback depth chart and has made the most of the opportunities he has been granted. He appeared in games against San Jose State, Stanford and Nevada -- all USC blowout wins -- going 23-of-32 passing for 309 yards, one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.
Nelson is expected to enter the transfer portal next after he played in one game in 2023, completing one of his three passing attempts.
As a recruit, Nelson was a five-star prospect, the No. 5 quarterback and No. 2 overall prospect from California in 2023.
