LOS ANGELES — Lincoln Riley made the difficult decision this week to bench Miller Moss and turn to UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava as USC’s starting quarterback.
Based strictly on Moss’ play, this wasn’t a tough call. He has regressed over the past month and hasn’t made sound decisions with the football. It all came to a head when he committed three turnovers and was erratic in the Trojans’ loss at Washington on Saturday.
Emotionally, though, it had to be difficult for Riley because Moss is the poster boy for what USC tries to brand itself as a program. Riley has often said he wants players who are dying to be Trojans. Nobody epitomizes that better than Moss, who waited three years for his opportunity to start. He stayed committed to USC when fellow quarterback Jaxson Dart signed in the same recruiting class. He remained with the program after Riley was hired and brought Caleb Williams with him from Oklahoma. He didn’t shy away from competition when five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson signed in 2023.
Moss waited patiently and finally got his opportunity to start at the school he had always loved. It was a tale straight out of a storybook. Until it wasn’t.
“I’ve been a part of a few of these. It’s never easy,” Riley said after Tuesday’s practice. “There’s nothing easy about it, especially when you’ve got a guy that’s worked hard and has done a lot of really good things. Honestly, I’ve been in times where it’s easier where the guy is just not playing very good at all. … It’s like painfully obvious, right, like anybody can do it. Ones like where it’s a tough call, it’s tough.
“It’s my job to take the emotion out of it because you have a loyalty to all these guys individually, but you’ve got a bigger loyalty to the team and program and it’s always got to stay that way.”
But here’s the thing: If Riley and USC are going to win together at the level they aspire to, he’s going to have to take a long, hard look at a lot more than just the quarterback position.
Moss’ play became a problem, but he’s far from USC’s only issue. The Trojans aren’t 4-5 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten solely because of the quarterback. This has to be reiterated: USC had a quarterback who went on to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft and still lost five games last season. The Trojans’ issues this season run deeper than quarterback. Just like last season when they ran deeper than the defensive coordinator.
It’s simple to explain things away by pinpointing one issue, but Riley has to evaluate everything about his program — from the people in it to the way it’s structured and the way he runs it. The scoreboard speaks for itself. And the scoreboard suggests USC has been a mediocre football program for the past two seasons. The Trojans are 12-12 since starting 11-1 in 2022.
The 11-1 seems like the outlier because the 12-12 is a sample size that’s too big to dismiss. Riley and the program haven’t been good enough.
Riley might need to evaluate whether he should still call plays, which might seem preposterous considering his background. This isn’t to say he’s not a bright offensive mind, but USC’s offense has regressed after a great debut 2022 season.
USC ranks 48th nationally in scoring at 30.6 points per game. It’s 36th in yards per play (6.34). This is the first time in Riley’s career he hasn’t had a top-10 offense.
Some of the game plans have raised plenty of questions. The Trojans spent the first half of the Michigan game running right at the interior of the Wolverines defensive line, the strength of their team. The run/pass splits leaned way too heavily to the pass (eight rushes/29 passes) in the first half against Washington even though USC is clearly a better rushing team — 18th in yards per carry (5.36) and 89th nationally in yards per pass attempt (7.0). It changed in the second half, but the Trojans had to dig themselves out of a 13-point halftime deficit as a result.
USC has also struggled mightily with situational football. It has held a fourth-quarter lead in all five of its losses but simply has not found a way to finish those games.
Maybe if Riley steps away from calling plays — while still being involved with the offense — it would give him a more holistic view of the team and allow him to evaluate whether he has the right pieces in place.
He upgraded his defensive staff in the offseason and the numbers across the board have improved significantly.
The issues, as the numbers noted above indicate, are on offense. This is the second consecutive season in which USC’s wide receivers — considered to be among the most talented units in the country — have underachieved. The offensive line, in Year 3 under Riley, still lacks the talent necessary to be elite and has underperformed in crucial situations.
The special teams are still way too hit or miss. Kickoff returns and punting are improved. Field goal kicking and punt returns are still a problem.
Is USC getting the most out of what it has in these areas?
Recruiting on the line of scrimmage still leaves a lot to be desired. It’s so clearly a critical need in the 2025 class, yet the Trojans have only two blue-chip offensive line commits — and one of them (Carde Smith) recently visited Colorado — and one blue-chipper on the D-line.
The Trojans’ 2025 class is ranked ninth nationally, built around a good group of receivers and linebackers and a five-star quarterback, Julian “JuJu” Lewis, who is still giving Indiana and Colorado plenty of attention.
It’s not elite where USC needs it to be. Until that is fixed, the Trojans and Riley are going to have an extremely difficult time winning at a high level.
So we’ll see what Maiava can do. He may provide the spark USC’s been missing and take the offense to another level. It’s also possible that the offense still struggles.
“This is not a reflection of anything more than we have another really good player in the room and we feel like it gives us a good opportunity,” Riley said. “And we felt like this was — when we went back and evaluated — the best thing for the team. It’s really that simple.”
Maiava’s audition will start Nov. 16 against Nebraska in the Coliseum. It’ll give Riley three games to evaluate the future of the position.
He’ll need time to take a look at everything else around his quarterback as well.
(Photo: Jordon Kelly / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
