Riley will let Moss, Maiava battle for QB spot

When Jo’Quavious Marks committed to USC in late December, his mother Tameka said, there was still a healthy degree of skepticism.

Yes, they loved Lincoln Riley’s offense and Marks’ potential as a pass-catcher. Yes, he’d step into a situation where he’d immediately fill a veteran presence in the backfield with MarShawn Lloyd’s departure for the NFL. But USC had just gone 7-5, and the former Mississippi State back Marks only had one year of collegiate eligibility left, needing to make it count. So they were comfortable, Marks said, with transferring to USC. But skeptical.

And then they watched the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 26, and skepticism was erased.

“We love Miller Moss,” Tameka said in January, with a warm Southern drawl. “He showed confidence. He showed everything that a good quarterback — he had them qualities, and for him to be out there first time starting ... oh, it’ll be real nice.”

“That sealed the deal.” When Caleb Williams stepped away to prepare for the NFL draft, Moss seized the reins so thoroughly in the lead-up and progression through the Holiday Bowl that wide receiver Kyron Hudson openly advocated for him to be the starter in 2024 after the Holiday Bowl. It was easy to see why: redshirt sophomore Moss stunned in a sixtouchdown performance against a quality Louisville defense in his first college start, looking like he’d been there before despite never having been there before. In the offseason, according to safety Bryson Shaw’s father Bryn, Moss was named one of several captains for USC’s spring and summer football.

All signs point, clear as day, to Moss as USC’s starting quarterback entering the Big Ten. All signs except Lincoln Riley.

“I think there’s two starter-level players in that room,” Riley said Thursday.

The other: UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava, a talented but more raw quarterback coming off a solid freshman season with the Rebels. After originally announcing plans to seek as many as two quarterbacks in the portal, Riley settled on Maiava after Moss’ performance against Louisville.

“Not just the way he played that night but really handled those six weeks, felt extremely confident in that,” Riley said of Moss’ bowl game preparations, “and really felt like there was not much of a need to really pursue anybody that was older.”

That would seemingly position Maiava as a younger backup to Moss, nipping at his heels before now reclassified 2025 commit Julian Lewis enters the scene. But USC intentionally pursued a younger quarterback with experience in the portal, Riley said: Maiava fit that bill better than anyone else in the portal, after throwing for 3,085 yards in 2023 at UNLV.

“We’re gonna let those guys duke it out,” Riley said of Maiava and Moss. “That’s kind of what it’s all about.”