Iowa dominates USC in Holiday Bowl, QB Kedon Slovis injured
SAN DIEGO -- The field goal at the end of the first half, the 55-yard bomb down the seam to Amon-Ra St. Brown, the short Stephen Carr touchdown, the ensuing recovered Michael Brown onside kick ...
USC had a moment to reclaim control of its Holiday Bowl showdown with Iowa early in the third quarter Friday night, and then a bad night got worse -- much worse.
Star freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis' arm was extended behind him and starting to move forward for a pass when it was hit and restricted by Iowa defensive end A.J. Epenesa. Just like that Slovis was out of the game (later announced as an elbow injury -- possibly a sprain pending MRI) -- and effectively so too were the Trojans.
The USC defense had been bad all night, along with the special teams before that onside kick. Slovis and the Trojans' offense were the best hope -- the only hope -- to salvage this bowl finale, and not only did USC fans watch those hopes vanish in an instant but they now wait pensively to learn the status of the program's golden arm heading into the offseason.
Outside of that flurry coming out of halftime, Iowa controlled this game the whole way and eventually finished off a commanding 49-24 win inside SDCCU Stadium -- the most lopsided bowl loss for USC since the end of the 1947 season.
And as the dust settles, USC fans won't remember that flurry or what could have been.
Mostly they'll remember this final deflating defensive performance and a beleaguered special teams unit delivering one last gut punch on a 98-yard Iowa kickoff return for touchdown as Iowa built its first-half lead.
And they'll only amplify their animus that the USC administration retained head coach Clay Helton, whose loyalty to both defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast and special teams coordinator John Baxter has been high on the list of fan frustrations for some time.
The Trojans' loudest critics will only feel more emboldened after this one.
RELATED: Column: Clay Helton, USC only embolden critics further with bowl letdown | WATCH: Postgame video interviews with USC coaches and players
"We believe in championships here. The expectations are high and I love them. Our players love it. That's why we all came to USC. We're challenged by them. We will always be continued to be challenged by them," Helton said afterward. "Just as a fan base might be frustrated, a coaching staff and players are frustrated because we know what we're about."
The defensive-minded Hawkeyes (10-3), who were ranked No. 16 in the final College Football Playoff rankings, hadn't scored more than 27 points in a game since September. They easily piled up 28 in the first half alone against the Trojans.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz and his staff clearly read the scouting report -- attack the edges. The Trojans never cleaned up a glaring issue that was exploited all season, and the Hawkeyes scored their first two touchdowns on a 23-yard Tyrone Tracy reverse and a 6-yard dash around the edge by wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The tone was set.
"We just tried to focus on getting off the field, which we pretty much didn't do all game," linebacker John Houston said. "Bad on getting off on third down. They kept drives going, kept the ball going. We just had a bad game pretty much."
Slovis and the Trojans matched them point for point through the first couple possessions, as the young QB connected with Drake London for a 4-yard touchdown and then a perfectly-executed 16-yard wheel route TD to running back Vavae Malepeai.
But then Smith-Marsette returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, making freshman Jayden Williams miss on an early tackle before racing unchallenged the rest of the way. Iowa QB Nate Stanley later hit Smith-Marsette for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:18 left in the half to go up 28-14.
Slovis was able to move the Trojans down the field in the 2-minute drill, completing a pair of third-down conversions to Tyler Vaughns and Michael Pittman before Chase McGrath made a 32-yard field goal entering the half.
Three plays into the third quarter, Slovis dropped that absolute dime down the middle to St. Brown for a 55-yard gain, setting up Carr's 2-yard touchdown. And that beleaguered special teams unit rallied for a nice moment as Brown recovered his own onside kick.
"I'll be honest with you, I thought we put ourselves right in that position after the on-side kick," Helton said.
But, again, hope was fleeting. Epenesa, a projected first-round NFL draft pick whom USC struggled to contain all game, literally added injury to insult with the hit from behind on Slovis' throwing arm.
"He suffered an elbow injury. We'll see a little bit more. We'll get an MRI," Helton said. "It is an elbow injury right now, possible sprain hopefully. That's what we're hoping."
It only got worse from there -- including a high snap from Brett Neilon off backup QB Matt Fink's hands that set up Iowa at the Trojans' 6 and led to a quick touchdown from Stanley to Brandon Smith for a 42-24 lead early in the fourth quarter. A Nick Niemann 25-yard pick-6 on Fink in the final minutes accounted for the last score.
Slovis' injury aside, the USC defense never showed any sign that it could contribute to sustained momentum, allowing Iowa to convert on 7 of its first 8 third-down and fourth-down situations -- another all-too-familiar Achilles heel of this defense -- and not forcing the first Iowa punt until the Hawkeyes led 35-24 late in the third quarter.
"We did the best we could -- it just wasn't enough," safety Isaiah Pola-Mao said. "... They just hit us on a couple trick plays and other than that they just was running the ball. We knew what they were going to do and we were in some calls, we've just got to make the plays at the end of the day. … At the end of the day, they were just out-executing us."
Said defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu: "I don't know, I guess we just weren't getting the job thing. They did their thing, we just tried to go out there and compete and it is what it is. We've just got to focus on next year."
What has been a long month for USC since the announcement Helton would return will now become a long offseason and continued questions as to whether the head coach can win the big games or fix the issues within his program.
Helton talked all week about how this was a great opportunity for his team against a top-20 opponent as he expected the Trojans would face six ranked teams next year. USC fans have to hope this wasn't indeed a harbinger of things to come.
Those fans will now wait to see if Helton makes staff changes and addresses the shortcomings within his program.
"Like I said before, the other day, our total focus has been on this game, this game only. I've been tasked with looking at the program as a whole, making any changes if necessary that I feel. Right now I'm going to go back and evaluate," Helton said. "Our players come back on January 13th, and I'm going to evaluate everything, not only personnel, staffing."
Either way, the acrimony that has set in with this fan base -- directed at the USC administration, Helton, etc. -- isn't quieting anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the hope will be that Slovis' injury is not serious. He was excellent again Friday, completing 22 of 30 passes for 260 yards and 2 touchdowns in a little more than two quarters. St. Brown was the other offensive star for USC with 9 catches for 163 yards.
The offense simply didn't have any help, and then eventually it didn't have Slovis either.
"It's definitely difficult as a team, but we've got a lot of young guys coming back, a lot of guys coming back so we're just looking forward to the next season," Pola-Mao said.
Said offensive lineman Jalen McKenzie: "It's a tough pill to swallow, but it really don't mean nothing going into the offseason, because our offseason, it can't have anything to do with what just happened in the 2019 bowl game. We've still got to come back, win the Pac-12 South, beat Bama the first game, win all of our games, all that is still ahead of us. We can't personally let this affect our offseason, however it's a terrible pill to swallow."
**Join the postgame discussion on Trojan Talk and share your reactions**