Everything Lincoln Riley said about USC's Holiday Bowl win, QB Miller Moss

USC coach Lincoln Riley said the mantra for his team the last six weeks was "new team and one game," and after watching his Trojans close out a 42-28 win over No. 15-ranked Louisville, he emphasized the commitment he saw from his staff and players in making this last one mean something at the end of a tough season.

"Honestly, all the years, wins and all that stuff, this was as fun a win as I can remember as a head coach," Riley said. "With all the changes, all the back and forth, six weeks, 20-plus guys that didn't play in this game for different reasons, we could have come into this game not caring about it. This team could have easily -- this team could have gone a lot of different ways with it. And to see us come play as well as we did on all three sides, big plays on all three sides, that's a good football team we just beat up on. ...

"I thought team leadership in this game was as strong as it was the entire year, and I thought that was a big reason why guys played the way we did."

Of course, a lot of the talk after the win focused on redshirt sophomore quarterback Miller Moss, who completed 23 of 33 passes for 372 yards, 6 touchdowns and 1 interception in his first career start.

"He was awesome, he was awesome. I'm not a bit surprised with how he played. He just did what he's been doing in practice really for a while, but especially kind of the second half of this year in every practice the guy was just getting better and better. So I knew he'd be very confident coming in and it was great to see him respond," Riley said. "... It was a tremendous quarterbacking performance, and obviously a lot of guys around him played very well and made plays. But he certainly led the charge."

Watch Riley's full postgame press conference here and scroll down for a complete transcript of his comments.

Opening comments ...

"Incredibly proud of his football team. Honestly, all the years, wins and all that stuff, this was as fun a win as I can remember as a head coach. With all the changes, all the back and forth, six weeks, 20-plus guys that didn't play in this game for different reasons. We could have come into this game not caring about it, this team could have easily -- this team could have gone a lot of different ways with it. And to see us come play as well as we did on all three sides, big plays on all three sides, that's a good football team we just beat up on. It's a really good football team and a team that had a lot more of their guys throughout the season than we certainly did. So for us to not use that as an excuse and to use it as something that really motivated us, motivated our team, motivated our coaches was really, really special. And to see, I thought team leadership in this game was as strong as it was the entire year, and I thought that was a big reason why guys played the way we did.

"One thing I told the coaches, today I thought it would be really important for us to get off to a good start, and we did completely the opposite. We went three-and-out, they go down and score. It's like, where you at now? And we went on a great run and guys made big plays and it was just a lot of fun, honestly. I kind of didn't want the game to be over in a lot of ways. So, really proud of this group, proud of the leadership. This was significant for the guys that have been here at the beginning of this journey. There's been a lot of great moments in the first two years. Now, they're going to get a lot better and it's going to get a lot more fun as we go, but it had to start somewhere, and a lot of the guys in the locker room were part of that. And a special thanks to the guys that stayed around because it was important to them, because the team was important to them, because USC was important to them. A special thanks to the coaches that did that -- it was not an easy situation, especially for some of the coaches on our staff. Especially our defensive guys did a hell of a job tonight -- they got our guys ready to play. A lot of really good coaches, a lot of really good people on the staff where they could have turned and tried to go on to the next thing and they stayed because it was important. Honestly, a bunch of guys in the locker room and the coaching staff that felt that way and that's the reason why we won the game. If we wouldn't have had that, we would already be on the bus ride home and it would be another coach sitting up here at this podium right now. So, very appreciative to all those guys -- great, great win, great way to end the season."

How impressed were you with Miller Moss' performance tonight and do you feel he staked his claim to the starting job in 2024?

"He was awesome, he was awesome. I'm not a bit surprised with how he played. He just did what he's been doing in practice really for a while, but especially kind of the second half of this year in every practice the guy was just getting better and better. So I knew he'd be very confident coming in and it was great to see him respond. Kind of the same thing, we go three-and-out there on the first drive and to see him respond and make some of the throws that he made, he was really dialed into the game plan and trusted his guys and got the ball out on time. It was a tremendous quarterbacking performance, and obviously a lot of guys around him played very well and made plays. But he certainly led the charge."

​What are your thoughts on the way the receivers made plays for Moss?

"They were great. They were great. Guys made a lot of competitive plays. It was fun to see a combination of young guys step up and make some big-time plays -- obviously, there were several of those -- and to see some of our older veteran guys, Tahj, Kyron, so many of those guys step up, it was huge. To see Tabbo step in for Lake after Lake got injured was awesome. There was just a lot of playmakers on both sides. Guys had chances to make plays on both sides and really stepped up."

What excites you about the effort the defense played with?

"Yeah, I give our guys a lot of credit. Like I said, give our coaches here a lot of credit over the last six weeks, our defensive players -- guys stepped up. We had guys at different positions. Jaylin Smith played a position tonight he's never played before. Max has always played a million different positions so that wasn't much new to him. To see Prophet step up, to see some of our young defensive players step up, some guys who haven't played very many snaps for us all year. I mean, basically a week ago we had to basically completely change the defensive game plan because of the players that were available and a few guys that decided not to be here. And our guys didn't flinch. Our coaches didn't flinch, these guys didn't flinch, the leaders didn't flinch. It wasn't ideal. We changed it, and the guys flew around and played hard and played very physical. Yeah, super, super proud. Especially the turnovers. The first turnover is what got us going, and defensively we got us going with the first one and we shut the door at the end with the last one."

Has Miller Moss solidified his status as the starter next season and will you still pursue a high-profile transfer QB?

"I can't believe we got to the fourth question. He did a great job. I mean, shoot, he may have scared off anybody that would want to come here anyway. He was awesome. It's a performance game. And I've said previously and our local guys know this, it's really, really important to me the longer I coach and going through this, I don't know it all, but having people that this program is incredibly important to them, that's the key. I think in this day and age with all the movement, when you have guys like that it's even more of an advantage than maybe it was 5 or 10 years ago because it's becoming a little bit harder to find. Miller's had a passion for this university and program for a long time. You've seen that in his ability to hang in there, to continue to get getter. Part of I think the reason he played well tonight is the consistency he's brought. He could have bolted off at different times -- he stayed here, he's gotten better and that's why a night like tonight happened. He's obviously a tremendous leader for our program, was a great leader for us tonight. I'm really excited to see what the future holds for him because he's going to get better and better."

​Louisville had given up 16 passing touchdowns all season and then 6 tonight -- what was your offense able to exploit?

"We played well. That's a good defense. They weren't like a few of the other sides of the ball -- they weren't affected by a lot of guys holding out. That was pretty much the same unit that we saw all year. For our guys to make some of those plays, it was great, some of the competitive plays. Again, the entire vibe of the sideline felt different. You could tell guys were just playing for one another, just across the board you just felt it. You felt the defense wanted to make plays for the offense, the offense wanted to make plays for the defense. If one of us didn't make a play or we didn't score or we didn't stop them, it was just, the other side's got to go hold up their end of the bargain. We just did that all night. Just a lot of credit to these guys."

Did you sense it was different tonight in that way?

"At times, yes. Yes. I think these guys would probably agree with that. Like I said, I think the player leadership in this game was, and in the last six weeks, was really, really strong. And the team reflected that in their performance tonight."

​Can you speak to why you chose the four captains you did and how important they were in this?

"I just kind of felt like we've kind had this mantra that it's new team and one game, and I felt like if we're going to have a new team we probably need some new captains. I just felt like it was, not anything against the guys who were because a lot of those guys that played with us tonight were certainly still big factors in terms of leadership, as Miller attested to. But there was a lot of reasons. I mean, Tahj, I kind of told the team when we announced it, Tahj is going to be an NFL draft pick here in a couple months. He could have had a great case for not playing this game, but anybody who knows Tahj knew there was a zero percent chance that he was going to sit out of this game. And that's why he's going to be a great pro, so I thought a great example there. You know, Chris Thompson is getting ready to make another move in terms of a better opportunity on the field. He's been upfront with us about it the whole time. He was a great team-first guy this whole year. Once again, he could have left and said 'No way am I leaving my guys.' Another great example.

"Bryson Shaw has been one of just our toughest, most consistent competitors. Like, one of those guys that you just know he's going to be there, and every day he's going to fight and give you everything he has. And then obviously Miller represented the younger group, some of the guys who are getting some of those first big-time opportunities that have fought their tail off behind the scenes, that have a lot of respect within our locker room. And our team was really energized to see not just Miller but a lot of these other guys get this opportunity tonight. I just thought they all kind of represented something different, and again, those four guys deserve a lot of credit, but there's a ton of other guys -- Max, Dedich, all these different guys that were a part of leading this group and they really came together."