Matt Leinart reacts to Miller Moss' Holiday Bowl performance

USC legend Matt Leinart was quite impressed with Miller Moss’ Holiday Bowl performance against Louisville.

Following the opt out of Caleb Williams and the transfer of Malachi Nelson, USC was left with Moss as the option under center. Turns out, it worked rather well.

Moss had an epic performance and Leinart summed it up in just one half of football.

“Miller Moss out here. 4 Tds 1st half (flex emoji),” Leinart wrote on Twitter.

In the 42-28 win, Moss finished the game 23-of-33 passing for 372 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

The explosive second quarter led to a 28-14 lead over the Cardinals in the first half, as Leinart alluded to.

“I can’t really describe it, I’m trying to pinch myself right now,” Moss said postgame. “But I’m just really, really happy for this team. The work we put in, in the last six weeks, the way we came together; I’m really, really happy with how we finished. We finished on a good note after all the adversity this year. I’m really proud of these guys.

“I don’t think it’s as much about me as it is about the team. The emphasis was really coming together as a team: no ego, no individual. It’s all about us as a team, bonding together, and that’s what we’re gonna focus on going forward.”

USC’s been in the mix for transfer quarterbacks, such as former Kansas State signal caller Will Howard. Lincoln Riley might have to pivot to his in-house candidate.

With it taking several questions before someone inquired about Moss’ shot as next season’s starter, Riley couldn’t help but crack a joke.

“I can’t believe we got to the fourth question,” Riley laughed with the media.

However, as Riley began, he thinks that Moss may have actually frightened any competition away from Los Angeles after he exploded against the Cardinals.

“He did a great job,” Riley said. “Shoot, he may have scared off anybody that wanted to come here anyway.”

To Riley, Moss is the kind of player that programs need in college football. He is a quarterback that’s committed to his team, regardless of other opportunities elsewhere, and that dedication is what led to his night in the spotlight inside Petco Park.

“He was awesome,” Riley said of Moss. “It’s a performance game. 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 in this program is incredibly important. 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 five or ten years ago because it has become a little bit harder to find.”