After starting the season 3-1 and moving up to No. 11 in the AP Poll, the USC Trojans plummeted with losses to Minnesota, Penn State, and Maryland. The Trojans are just 1-3 in their last four games, but the weight of the struggle seems to have fallen on the wrong shoulders.
It was announced earlier this week that quarterback Miller Moss lost the starting job to transfer Jayden Maiava, but Moss and the offense are not entirely the problem. The Trojans have scored 21 or more points in eight of their nine games this season while scoring 28 or more in three of their last four.
This season, Moss has a 64.3% completion rate with 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. Four players — Woody Marks, Makai Lemon, Zachariah Branch, and Ja’Kobi Lane — all have 32 or more receptions, while Lane (5) and Lemon (3) are amongst the teams’ top TD targets.
The Trojans rank fifth in points scored this season in the Big Ten behind Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana.
While the offense surely has room to improve, it is clearly still performing at high levels, which begs the question: Is Lincoln Riley just using Miller Moss as a scapegoat to cover up his atrocity of a season?
College football columnist Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire makes a good point when he notes that the quarterback is far from the only reason USC has struggled in 2024. This is not a one-man problem:
Moss didn’t play particularly well in their last game against the Washington Huskies, turning the ball over with three interceptions. Moss doesn’t have terrible numbers by any stretch but this feels like someone having to take the fall. Maiava could provide a spark for this team but even when the quarterback play has been good, this team has found ways to lose.
USC has lost as a team this year, meaning that in the games USC lost, the blame generally couldn’t be placed on any one player or position group. Some position groups have been more disappointing than others, but a little bit of everything has gone wrong in these games. To an extent, the move to Jayden Maiava might be Lincoln Riley’s way of hoping that the other USC players will step up to help their quarterback.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, Ducks Wire, UW Huskies Wire and UCLA Wire.