2014 Holiday Bowl

August 2023 August 2025 Holiday Bowl 37th Holiday Bowl National University December 27 2014 2014 San Diego Stadium San Diego, California Nebraska Cornhuskers 9–3 Big Ten 25 22 Barney Cotton (interim) 17 0 17 8 USC Trojans 8–4 Pac-12 24 24 Steve Sarkisian 10 14 21 0 USC by 7http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/teams/team-page.cfm/team/southern-california Nebraska vs USC Odds Vegas Insider Offense: USC QB Cody Kessler Defense: USC DE Leonard Williamshttp://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/dec/27/holiday-bowl-nebraska-usc/ Nebraska shows heart in loss Ed Zieralski The San Diego Union-Tribune December 27, 2014 December 28, 2014 Randy Christal (Big 12) 55,789 2.075 million ESPN / ESPN Radio Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack, Samantha Ponder (ESPN) Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad (ESPN Radio) The 2014 Holiday Bowl, known as the National University Holiday Bowl for sponsorship purposes, was the thirty-seventh edition of the college football bowl game, played on December 27, 2014 at San Diego Stadium in San Diego, California. Part of the 2014–15 bowl season, it featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Ten and USC Trojans of the Pac-12. The game kicked off at 5:00 p.m. PST and was broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Radio. Teams The 2014 Holiday Bowl was the fifth all-time and first postseason meeting between Nebraska and USC, with the Trojans leading 3–0–1 prior to the game. Under first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, USC entered the Holiday Bowl as a seven-point favorite over Nebraska. The Cornhuskers, weeks removed from firing Bo Pelini, were led by interim head coach Barney Cotton.https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/2014/12/21/interim-college-football-coaches-seemingly-live-in-limbo/30697520007/ Interim college football coaches seemingly live in limbo Eric Olson The Daytona Beach News-Journal Associated Press December 21, 2014 August 24, 2025 Nebraska 2014 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team USC 2014 USC Trojans football team Game After a Nebraska field goal on the opening possession of the game, freshman All-American Adoree' Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, the longest return in Holiday Bowl history.https://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/12/27/usc-wins-holiday-bowl-45-42-over-nebraska USC Wins Holiday Bowl 45-42 Over Nebraska KPBS Associated Press December 27, 2014 August 24, 2025 Nebraska responded quickly, scoring twice more in the game's opening frame to take a seven-point lead. USC's offense controlled the second quarter, using drives of ten and twelve plays to take a 24–17 lead into halftime. USC opened the second half with a short pass to Jackson, who converted it into his second lengthy touchdown to give the Trojans a two-score lead.https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2014/12/28/dizzying-stats-in-holiday-bowl/ Dizzying stats in Holiday Bowl The San Diego Union-Tribune December 28, 2014 August 25, 2025 Long drives by each team kept the gap at fourteen points before a two-play Trojans touchdown drive made the score 45–27. As a chaotic third quarter came to a close, Tommy Armstrong hit Jordan Westerkamp for a winding 65-yard touchdown, the sixth score of the quarter. On fourth down in the Trojans red zone, Armstrong stumbled into the end zone to cut Nebraska's deficit to three after a conversion pass to Bell. The Cornhuskers drove into USC territory with minutes remaining, but the Trojans stopped De'Mornay Pierson-El on fourth down to seal a 45–42 victory.http://dataomaha.com/huskers/history/game/2014-12-27-usc Out of reach: Valiant effort without desired result mirrors NU in the Pelini era Sam Mckewon Omaha World-Herald December 27, 2014 August 24, 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20151017172915if_/http://dataomaha.com/huskers/history/game/2014-12-27-usc October 17, 2015 Scoring summary Qtr Time Drive Team Detail Score Plays Yards TOP NU USC 1 11:05 5 29 1:47 NU Drew Brown 34-yd field goal 3 0 10:54 – – 0:11 USC Adoree' Jackson 98-yd kickoff return (Andre Heidari kick) 3 7 8:23 6 53 2:31 NU Kenny Bell 18-yd pass from Tommy Armstrong (Brown kick) 10 7 6:05 8 42 2:18 USC Heidari 42-yd field goal 10 10 1:25 6 39 2:42 NU De'Mornay Pierson-El 9-yd pass from Armstrong (Brown kick) 17 10 2 13:11 10 75 3:14 USC Nelson Agholor 17-yd pass from Cody Kessler (Heidari kick) 17 17 6:39 12 80 3:32 USC Javorius Allen 2-yd run (Heidari kick) 17 24 3 12:01 1 71 0:12 USC Jackson 71-yd pass from Kessler (Heidari kick) 17 31 9:41 7 73 2:20 NU Ameer Abdullah 20-yd run (Brown kick) 24 31 8:06 5 68 1:35 USC Allen 44-yd run (Heidari kick) 24 38 2:28 6 9 3:25 NU Brown 25-yd field goal 27 38 2:03 2 65 0:25 USC Bryce Dixon 20-yd pass from Kessler (Heidari kick) 27 45 0:24 3 64 1:39 NU Jordan Westerkamp 65-yd pass from Armstrong (Brown kick) 34 45 4 6:52 9 77 2:51 NU Armstrong 15-yd run (Armstrong pass to Bell) 42 45 Team statistics Statistichttps://www.huskermax.com/game/2014-southern-california-football/ Huskers come up short in high-scoring Holiday Bowl HuskerMax August 21, 2025 Nebraska USC First downs 28 22 Rushes–yards 43–144 34–194 Comp.–att. Completions–pass attempts–yards 32–51–381 23–39–321 Total offense 525 515 Turnovers 1 1 Punts–average 7–44.7 9–34.8 Penalties–yards 7–45 12–97 Time of possession 34:26 25:34 Starting lineups Nebraska Position USC Offense 11 Cethan Carter TE 82 Randall Telfer 80 Kenny Bell WR 15 Nelson Agholor 15 De'Mornay Pierson-El 7 Steven Mitchell 1 Jordan Westerkamp 9 JuJu Smith 4 Tommy Armstrong QB 6 Cody Kessler 8 Ameer Abdullah RB 37 Javorius Allen 71 Alex Lewis LT 50 Toa Lobendahn 68 Jake Cotton LG 51 Damien Mama 66 Dylan Utter C 75 Max Tuerk 74 Mike Moudy RG 60 Viane Talamaivao 78 Givens Price RT 73 Zach Banner Defense 7 Maliek Collins DT 52 Delvon Simmons 98 Vincent Valentine 4 Randy Gregory DE 90 Claude Pelon 90 Greg McMullen 94 Leonard Williams 13 Zaire Anderson LB 10 Hayes Pullard 52 Josh Banderas 56 Anthony Sarao 58 J. R. Tavai 23 Daniel Davie CB 2 Adoree' Jackson 5 Josh Mitchell 6 Josh Shaw 28 Byerson Cockrell S 27 Gerald Bowman 6 Corey Cooper 21 Su'a Cravens 25 Nate Gerry 24 John Plattenburg References Holiday Bowl Category:Holiday Bowl Category:2010s in San Diego Category:Nebraska Cornhuskers football bowl games Category:USC Trojans football bowl games Holiday Bowl Holiday Bowl