# 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic (January)

The 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2023, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 87th annual Cotton Bowl Classic, the game featured two teams selected at-large by the College Football Playoff selection committee — Tulane from the American Athletic Conference and USC from the Pac-12 Conference. The game began at 12:00 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the game was officially known as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

## Teams

The game featured at-large teams selected by the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee. Tulane qualified as the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five conferences.
This was the fourth meeting between the two teams and their first since 1946; USC led the all-time series, 2–1. One of their meetings came in the 1932 Rose Bowl, where USC defeated Tulane to win the national championship. This was USC's third Cotton Bowl, they were 1–1 in previous appearances. This was Tulane's first Cotton Bowl.

### Tulane Green Wave

Tulane played to a 10–2 regular-season record (7–1 in conference). They faced two ranked teams, defeating Cincinnati and losing to UCF. Their only other loss was to Southern Miss. The Green Wave qualified for the AAC Championship Game, where they defeated a ranked UCF in a rematch. Tulane entered the Cotton Bowl with an 11–2 overall record.

### USC Trojans

USC compiled an 11–1 record during the regular season (8–1 in conference). Their only loss was to Utah in mid-October. In addition to Utah, USC faced ranked teams UCLA and Notre Dame, defeating the latter two. The Trojans qualified for the Pac-12 Championship Game, where they lost to Utah in a rematch. USC entered the Cotton Bowl with an overall 11–2 record.

## Game summary

USC had a lead of 14–0 that quickly evaporated, but led 28–14 at halftime. The game tightened again in the second half but USC kicked a field goal with just 4:30 left in the game to extend their lead to 45–30. Tulane responded by taking just 23 seconds to cut the lead to 45–37, and then registered a safety with 3:20 left to cut the lead to 45–39. Tulane then converted a pair of fourth downs on a 12-play, 66-yard drive, scoring the winning touchdown with just 9 seconds left in the game. With 4:30 remaining in the game and a 15-point lead, USC's win probability stood at 99.8%.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 16 Tulane | 0 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 46 |
| No. 10 USC | 7 | 21 | 7 | 10 | 45 |
at AT&T Stadium • Arlington, Texas
* Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
* Game time: 12:00 p.m. CST
* Game weather: Indoor
* Game attendance: 55,329
* Referee: Steve Marlowe
* TV announcers (ESPN): Mark Jones (play-by-play), Robert Griffin III (analyst), and Quint Kessenich (sideline)
* Box score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | Tulane | USC |
| 1 | 5:58 | 17 | 75 | 9:02 | USC | Michael Jackson III 9-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | 12:33 | 12 | 95 | 5:13 | USC | Terrell Bynum 3-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick good | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | 9:30 | 8 | 75 | 3:03 | Tulane | Tyjae Spears 3-yard touchdown run, Valentino Ambrosio kick good | 7 | 14 |
| 2 | 5:42 | 2 | 92 | 0:50 | Tulane | Jha'Quan Jackson 87-yard touchdown reception from Michael Pratt, Valentino Ambrosio kick good | 14 | 14 |
| 2 | 2:21 | 6 | 75 | 3:21 | USC | Raleek Brown 39-yard touchdown run, Denis Lynch kick good | 14 | 21 |
| 2 | 0:12 | 6 | 68 | 1:07 | USC | Brenden Rice 4-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick good | 14 | 28 |
| 3 | 11:55 | 7 | 76 | 3:05 | Tulane | Tyjae Spears 7-yard touchdown run, Valentino Ambrosio kick good | 21 | 28 |
| 3 | 4:02 | 7 | 40 | 3:06 | Tulane | 42-yard field goal by Valentino Ambrosio | 24 | 28 |
| 3 | 1:24 | 5 | 97 | 2:38 | USC | Brenden Rice 19-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick good | 24 | 35 |
| 3 | 0:40 | 3 | 65 | 0:44 | Tulane | Tyjae Spears 3-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed | 30 | 35 |
| 4 | 12:09 | 7 | 47 | 3:31 | USC | Kyron Hudson 4-yard touchdown reception from Caleb Williams, Denis Lynch kick good | 30 | 42 |
| 4 | 4:30 | 11 | 46 | 6:16 | USC | 43-yard field goal by Denis Lynch | 30 | 45 |
| 4 | 4:07 | 2 | 63 | 0:23 | Tulane | Tyjae Spears 4-yard touchdown run, Valentino Ambrosio kick good | 37 | 45 |
| 4 | 3:20 | | | | Tulane | Austin Jones tackled in end zone for a safety by Patrick Jenkins | 39 | 45 |
| 4 | 0:09 | 12 | 66 | 3:11 | Tulane | Alex Bauman 6-yard touchdown reception from Michael Pratt, Valentino Ambrosio kick good | 46 | 45 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 46 | 45 |
With the win, Tulane finished their season with an overall 12–2 record, a 10-win improvement over their prior season—the biggest single-season improvement in NCAA football history.

## Statistics

Team statistical comparison :
| Statistic | Tulane | USC |
| First downs | 16 | 29 |
| First downs rushing | 9 | 6 |
| First downs passing | 6 | 22 |
| First downs penalty | 1 | 1 |
| Third down efficiency | 3–8 | 11–15 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 2–2 | 2–2 |
| Total plays–net yards | 52–539 | 84–594 |
| Rushing attempts–net yards | 34–305 | 32–132 |
| Yards per rush | 9.0 | 4.1 |
| Yards passing | 234 | 462 |
| Pass completions–attempts | 8–18 | 37–52 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 1 |
| Punt returns–total yards | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Kickoff returns–total yards | 6–146 | 5–67 |
| Punts–average yardage | 2–43.0 | 0–0 |
| Fumbles–lost | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 4–30 | 5–37 |
| Time of possession | 20:11 | 39:49 |
Tulane statistics :
| Green Wave passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Michael Pratt | 8–17 | 234 | 2–0 |
| Team | 0–1 | 0 | 0–0 |
| Green Wave rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Tyjae Spears | 17 | 205 | 4 |
| Michael Pratt | 15 | 83 | 0 |
| Shaadie Clayton-Johnson | 1 | 19 | 0 |
| Team | 1 | -2 | 0 |
| Green Wave receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Jha'Quan Jackson | 1 | 87 | 1 |
| Duece Watts | 2 | 83 | 0 |
| Alex Bauman | 3 | 46 | 1 |
| Tyjae Spears | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Reggie Brown | 1 | 4 | 0 |
USC statistics :
| Trojans passing ||||||
| | C–A | Yds | TD–INT |
| Caleb Williams | 37–52 | 462 | 5–1 |
| Trojans rushing ||||||
| | Car | Yds | TD |
| Raleek Brown | 6 | 61 | 1 |
| Austin Jones | 22 | 61 | 0 |
| Caleb Williams | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Trojans receiving ||||||
| | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Brenden Rice | 6 | 174 | 2 |
| Tahj Washington | 5 | 109 | 0 |
| Mario Williams | 6 | 35 | 0 |
| Michael Jackson III | 4 | 31 | 1 |
| Terrell Bynum | 3 | 26 | 1 |
| Raleek Brown | 2 | 24 | 0 |
| Kyron Hudson | 4 | 23 | 1 |
| Austin Jones | 4 | 20 | 0 |
| Kyle Ford | 2 | 19 | 0 |
| John Jackson III | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Caleb Williams | 0 | -2 | 0 |