Highlights, Photos and Notes: USC 42, Louisville 28

SAN DIEGO - Taking on USC in the Holiday Bowl to wrap up their 2023 season, the Louisville football program struggled in all three phases of the game, suffering a 42-28 defeat from Petco Park in San Diego, Calif.

The Atlantic Coast Conference put together a highlight tape of the matchup, which you can see here:

Team Notes:

Louisville falls to 12-13-1 in bowl games.
Louisville completes is first 14-game season with a 10-4 record, logging its seventh 10-win season.
Louisville loses in its first appearance in the Holiday Bowl and in its first game vs. Southern California.
Louisville drops to 17-17-1 in neutral site games.
Louisville extends its streak of holding opponents scoreless on their first possession to 18 games.
Louisville scored on its first possession of the game for the 10th time in 14 games this season, including nine touchdowns.
Louisville sets new team bowl records with four rushing touchdowns and an 84% completion percentage.
Louisville holds its ninth opponent this season below 100 yards rushing, limiting Southern California to 71 yards on 19 carries.

Player Notes:

QB Jack Plummer was 21-of-25 passing for 134 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. He rushed seven times for six yards

Plummer's 84.0% completion percentage is the highest in Louisville bowl history.
Plummer finishes the season with 3,204 passing yards, ranking eighth on Louisville's single season list.
Plummer finishes seventh on Louisville's single season list with 256 pass completions.

RB Isaac Guerendo led Louisville's rushers with a career-high 161 yards on a career-high 23 carries, scoring three touchdowns on runs of two, one, and two yards, and was also the Cards' leading receiver with five receptions for 42 yards. He added 38 yards on two kickoff returns.

Guerendo set a Louisville bowl record with 241 all-purpose yards.
Guerendo's three rushing touchdowns tie the Louisville bowl record set by Leroy Collins in the 1998 Music City Bowl.
Guerendo's 161-yard rushing performance is the best by a Louisville running back in a bowl game, trailing only the 226 yards by quarterback Lamar Jackson in the 2015 Music City Bowl.
Guerendo's three rushing touchdowns matched his career high set in the Virginia Tech game on Nov. 4.
Guerendo had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season.

CB Quincy Riley set a Holiday Bowl record with a 61-yard interception return to go with four solo tackles, one tackle for loss, and three pass breakups.

Riley's 61-yard interception return is the second longest in Louisville bowl history, trailing Joe Welch's 65-yard pick six in the 1970 Pasadena Bowl vs. Long Beach State.

OL Lance Robinson played the first game of his Louisville career after transferring from Houston.
OL John Paul Flores made the first start of his Louisville career.
DB Devin Neal led the Louisville defense with seven tackles, including six solo tackles.

Gallery:

NOTE: Photos courtesy of USA TODAY's Kirby Lee and Orlando Ramirez.

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