Since the calendar turned at USC, the signal of a post-Caleb Williams era with no obvious Heisman Trophy-caliber heir on Lincoln Riley’s roster, Miller Moss had the reins as QB1 – all except in title.
He authored a star turn in the Holiday Bowl, a six-touchdown, 372-yard detonation in a victory over Louisville that gave way to a tearful embrace with Williams amid the postgame madness. He’s tugged together his receiver room, organizing throwing trips down to Orange County and preaching selflessness. And yet, aside from an affirmation from head coach Lincoln Riley after USC’s spring game that Moss was the furthest along in the room, he’s lingered through fall camp without the official designation as QB1.
Until now.
On Monday afternoon, Riley and USC finally broke the seal with a simple announcement and photo on USC’s Twitter account: “Lincoln Riley has named Miller Moss our starting quarterback.” It was as casual as Moss has operated for months – years, even, in Williams’ shadow – and yet cemented the redshirt junior as USC’s leader as the program enters the Big Ten Conference.
For Moss, it’s the culmination of a four-year journey that has seen him hell-bent on earning USC’s starting job, no mind to the other arms in the room.
“He’s just turned himself into one of the most respected people in our program,” Riley said, during the Big Ten media days last month in Indianapolis.
The delay in naming Moss, though, revealed USC’s confidence in now-backup Jayden Maiava, who transferred from UNLV in the spring and stood out during USC’s spring game. Coaches and players alike have praised Maiava’s quick grasp of USC’s playbook and standout arm talent, and Riley mentioned at the start of spring the expectation was Maiava would be “quite a bit better than what he was.”
Ultimately, though, Riley said at the start of August USC would rep all of its quarterbacks – Moss, Maiava, Jake Jensen – until they felt separation. And Moss, once and for all, has separated.
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