USC's Holiday Bowl Selection Tough to Celebrate

USC is going back to the Holiday Bowl. Consider it another misplaced Christmas present for the Trojans.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

USC is going back to the Holiday Bowl. Consider it another misplaced Christmas present for the Trojans.

The team learned Sunday it will return to San Diego for the third time in six years to face off against Iowa. Only one bowl site is closer to the Coliseum, but this was hardly the destination USC was hoping for when the regular season concluded in late November.

All its fans wanted coming out of that win over UCLA was something different, but tis the season for more of the same with Troy.

In some ways, the Trojans’ two-week odyssey to a Holiday Bowl selection drew parallels to the past 12 months. It began with uncertainty surrounding head coach Clay Helton at the end of the regular season followed by the stunning decision to retain him.

The Trojans then just missed out on an invite to the Alamo Bowl, which opted to take Utah instead. The Utes’ 22-point loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 title game dropped them to No. 11 in the final CFP rankings, one spot below Penn State, which earned the last New Year’s Six at-large berth and is headed to the Cotton Bowl.

Had Utah been more competitive Friday against Oregon, or if USC managed to complete one of its comeback attempts between BYU, Washington or Notre Dame earlier in the season, the Trojans would probably be booking their tickets to San Antonio for their first Alamo Bowl. Once the Utes were chosen to play Texas, USC was automatically slotted to the Holiday Bowl given its three-game lead in the conference. 

It was the worst of three possible outcomes heading into this weekend, one of which included an outside shot at the Rose Bowl. 

What the Holiday Bowl matchup with Iowa does offer is a heavyweight challenge for USC’s budding offense. The Hawkeyes rank fifth nationally in scoring defense (13.2), 10th in pass defense (184.2), 12th in total defense (304.3) and 25th in rushing defense (120.1).

Conversely, USC is fifth nationally in passing offense and completion percentage, 12th in passing efficiency and 18th in total offense.

Iowa (9-3), which knocked off then-unbeaten Minnesota a few weeks ago, ranks No. 16 in the CFP. USC (8-4) is No. 22. Both teams closed out the regular season winning five of six. The Trojans went 1-2 against teams currently in the top 25. Iowa went 1-3.

“We are proud and honored to be part of the 2019 Holiday Bowl,” Helton said in a statement. “The game is a terrific matchup between teams that finished very strong down the stretch. To have the opportunity to compete against a team coached by Kirk Ferentz, who is so respected in our profession, is an honor. Our players are excited for this game, which is almost a home game for our fans. We look forward to heading to San Diego and experiencing the first-class hospitality that the Holiday Bowl has given us in the past.”

The last time USC took on Iowa was the 2003 Orange Bowl, a resounding Trojans’ victory that officially launched the Pete Carroll dynasty. USC’s last appearance in the Holiday Bowl, against Wisconsin in 2015, effectually launched the Helton era. It was his second as the permanent coach, and he made the controversial decision to not use several of his allotted bowl practices while relying heavily on a makeshift coaching staff after parting ways with several assistants prior to the game. 

The Badgers won, 23-21.

USC's next game was in Dallas to kick off the 2016 season versus Alabama. That will be the case about nine months from now as well.

Helton is 2-2 in bowl games, but this will be just his third in which he was the head coach for the entire season. He is 1-1 in those games. USC is 35-19 overall in bowl season. Its 2019 season finale will be played in SDCCU Stadium at 5 p.m. on Dec. 27 and broadcast on FS1. 

The 2020 season, however, seems like it already started.

-- Adam Maya is a USC graduate and has been covering the Trojans since 2003. Follow him on Twitter @AdamJMaya.