USC Football‘s head coach Lincoln Riley was asked by J.D. PicKell of The Hard Count podcast what the state of the Trojans quarterback room was with both Miller Moss and Jayden Maiava. Here’s Riley’s response,
“We’re gonna let the guys in the room compete. That’s a hallmark of all the great quarterbacks that we’ve had. I think it’s been a hallmark of this program forever and ever. I think to to be a starter for USC football, you’ve gotta go compete. You’ve got to go earn it. We want that to be part of every single position room so why not do it at the [position] at the center of all of this.”
USC Football Has a QB Competition on its Hands
Maiava transferred to USC early in January after playing one season for UNLV. He threw for 3085 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games as a starter. He also added 277 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. UNLV operates a run-heavy offense, but Maiava was able to stand out in several games, including the Running Rebels bowl game against Kansas when he threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Maiava’s 2023 is the third-highest yards thrown by any UNLV QB in a single season
Moss by contrast has been on the USC Football roster for three seasons and has only thrown a handful of passes backing up Caleb Williams. When given the chance to start in the Holiday Bowl in 2023, Moss balled out. He threw for 372 yards and six touchdowns.
Riley on the QBs
“We wanted to add a young guy that had some experience, that was able to become in and be a factor in the job right now and Jayden certainly fit the bill there. We couldn’t have been more proud of the way that Miller really led the team, the program in a lot of ways into that bowl game and the way he played. I’m really excited about the room.”
