Will Miller Moss Follow The Fate Of These USC Trojans’ Quarterbacks?

NCAA Football: Penn State at Southern California | USC Trojans QB Miller Moss
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On Monday, USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley announced that the press would not have their usual access to the team this week with all practices closed from the public. That, combined with the USC Trojans‘ largely mediocre and statistically imbalanced offense this year – 42.4 pass attempts per game (good for 7th most in the nation) versus only 27.3 rush attempts per contest (only 129th in the nation), led to a lot of speculation around the quarterback position and whether or not Jayden Maiava would get his first start in the Cardinal and Gold.

However, after practice, Coach Riley was steadfast in his belief in Miller Moss stating that he is “100% still the starter.”

Regardless, this led us to reminisce on former Trojan QBs who had lightning starts but then fell from grace as the season progressed. Moss certainly has a chance to flip this narrative back on Friday night against Rutgers, but for now, let’s take a walk down memory lane.

Will Miller Moss Follow The Fate Of These USC Trojans’ Quarterbacks?

JT Daniels

NCAA Football: Fresno State at USC Trojans
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The widely heralded quarterback out of Mater Dei was seemingly the heir apparent to Darnold. After all, Daniels had the pedigree of fellow Monarchs Matt Leinart and Matt Barkley, while also being recruited as a package deal with teammate and future Detroit Lions wide receiving superstar, Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Daniels became the first true freshman to start for the Trojans since Matt Barkley in 2009 when he took the field in the 2018 season opener versus UNLV. A glitzy debut that included going 21/35 for 282 yards along with a 43-yard touchdown dime to St. Brown had Trojan fans dreaming of the next iconic QB-WR combination in USC history. 

Also Read: Should The USC Trojans Make A QB Change

Unfortunately, Daniels’ raw talent and gun-slinging mentality never fully polished as evidenced by being the primary signal caller on the Trojans’ disastrous 5-7 team in 2018. Daniels went only 6-6 as a starter, where he eventually and ironically got hurt during the following season’s opener against Fresno State – he never played another snap for the Trojans and has since transferred to Georgia, West Virginia, and Rice without major success before retiring from football in 2023.

Kedon Slovis

NCAA Football: Arizona at Southern California
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The player who came in for Daniels on mop-up duty during that Fresno State game was Kedon Slovis. While his line that day was a pedestrian 6/8 for 57 yards and one interception to close out the game on sudden notice, Slovis set the Trojan Family on fire the following week against Stanford in the Coliseum.

He went a staggering 28/33 for 377 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions as USC dismantled the Cardinal 45-20.

Once again expectations were sky-high, and although the Trojans came back to Earth during an 8-5 season in 2019, everything seemed to change for Slovis when he took a brutal sack in that year’s Holiday Bowl against Iowa. 

USC lost that game and Slovis never seemed to be as fluid or confident a thrower since.

Related: What We Learned About USC Football After Inexcusable Loss To Maryland

USC found fortunate ways to win in the COVID-shortened 2020 season before finally being exposed by Oregon in a PAC-12 title game that the Ducks weren’t even supposed to play in.

The 2021 season saw the USC Trojans go a lifeless 4-5 before then interim coach Donte Williams pulled Slovis for good.

The three-star recruit coached by Rams great Kurt Warner in high school finished a forgettable 16-10 as the Trojans starter and has since transferred twice more to Pitt and BYU with modest results.

Jaxson Dart

NCAA Football: Brigham Young at Southern California
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The player who replaced Slovis off the bench against Washington State in 2021 was Dart, who exploded for 391 yards and four touchdowns as the Trojans dominated the Cougars 45-14.

Yet again the USC fan base started fantasizing about their long-term answer at quarterback. Yet, Dart couldn’t overcome the dysfunction of that season going 0-3 in his three subsequent starts including a 62-33 demolition at the hands of crosstown rival UCLA in the Coliseum.

That December, it was announced Riley was arriving in Los Angeles to make USC the “Mecca of college football,” and by January, convinced his prized Sooner freshman, Caleb Williams, to join him.

Dart saw the writing on the wall and transferred to Ole Miss, captained by another Trojan coach, Lane Kiffin.

Dart has been a three-year starter for the Rebels, including the 11-2 team last year that won the Peach Bowl against Penn State and finished #9 in the country.

Moss will always be considered a lifelong Trojan and nobody can ever take away his 2023 electric Holiday Bowl MVP performance along with his poised victory against LSU in Vegas this year. But as recent Trojan history shows, even the most fairy tale starts don’t always have happy endings. 

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