2015 Holiday Bowl: Wisconsin holds on to beat USC

USC’s great gambit this offseason was doing the easiest possible thing and retaining interim head coach Clay Helton as a permanent head coach in the wake of Steve Sarkisian’s midseason firing. But a poor close to the season, including a 23-21 Holiday Bowl loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday night, suggests that gambit may be destined for failure.

Helton’s served admirably as an interim coach for USC twice, once after the firing of Lane Kiffin and departure of Ed Orgeron in 2013 and again after Sarkisian’s firing. He’s only been the Trojans’ permanent head man since November 30, when USC removed his interim tag two days after a lopsided win in its rivalry matchup with UCLA.

Attempting to take a lead down 21-20 in the Holiday Bowl, Wisconsin’s Tanner McEvoy looked like he clearly stayed in bounds on a potentially go-ahead touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Instead, the referee ruled him out of bounds, a non-reviewable play, turning the play into a 19-yard run that put Wisconsin at their own 46-yard line. McEvoy almost certainly would have scored without the errant whistle, on what was already a poor night for the officials.

On second down, after a false start, Cichy struck again, this time sacking Kessler for a 7-yard loss.

On third down, Cichy picked up his third straight sack, another 7-yard loss that killed the USC drive, giving the Trojans a whopping fourth-and-40. They punted.

The Holiday Bowl is great experience for fans of all ages. Just ask this pumped-up Wisconsin fan celebrating the Badgers touchdown.

It’s 55 degrees in San Diego but she must be freezing since she looks like she’s dancing to stay warm too, Maybe a sip of an adult beverage will her out. Party! Woo!

Wheelwright’s leaping one-hander only led to a Wisconsin field goal. But at least every Badgers fan mad about having to do remote gymnastics to find their team’s bowl game got to see an incredible play when it finally settled on ESPN.

New USC head coach Clay Helton and his team are basically Ben and Elaine at the end of The Graduate. “We got our way! We’re going to be together! ... Now what?”

After more than a month of coaching to keep his interim job, and before a month of recruiting to finish up his first signing class, Helton and his squad have to take on a Wisconsin team that had all sorts of offensive issues but has a defense that can compete against anyone.

The 2015 Holiday Bowl won’t be the first time the USC Trojans and Wisconsin Badgers have met in the postseason. One of the most storied bowl games in Wisconsin’s history was the 1963 Rose Bowl, when the Badgers nearly staged a 20-plus point comeback, but ultimately lost 42-37 to the Trojans.

This time around, Wisconsin is hoping to avoid a four-touchdown deficit in the first place. Despite having one of the best defenses in the country, it may have a tough time stopping USC wideout Juju Smith-Schuster. The Badgers will need to rely on their offense to get some points on the board to give the defense some wiggle room. They’ve had some success with running back Corey Clement, but his inconsistent playing time due to injury could stymie his game production.

The National University Holiday Bowl is staged for its 38th game and will pit the Big Ten against the Pac-12 for the second year.

Originally created to give the WAC an automatic bowl bid after the Fiesta Bowl ended its association with the conference, the game pitted a West Coast team against the Big 12. It remained that way even after the WAC’s affiliation with the Holiday Bowl ended after the 1997 game and was replaced with the Pac-12, but in 2014 the Big Ten took over for the Big 12 in the game.