The Holiday Bowl is not that far away. Christmas Day has come and gone. USC still hasn’t signed Will Howard or any other transfer portal quarterback for 2024. We’re all wondering the same thing: Is Lincoln Riley waiting to see what he sees from Miller Moss in the Holiday Bowl before making a decision? Is he going to let this game unfold before making a signing? Has he told Will Howard that he will decide between Moss and him after the Holiday Bowl ends, or has Riley told Howard he wants him to come to USC and battle Moss in spring ball for the QB1 role with the Trojans next season?
We also have to ask if Riley is treating this Holiday Bowl as a chance to give Moss the QB1 job for USC in 2024, or if Riley has already privately told Moss this is an audition not for any USC role, but to bolster Moss’s place in the transfer portal marketplace, and that a departure from USC has already been agreed to behind the scenes.
So many scenarios are in play. We don’t know what the actual truth is. This adds to the intrigue surrounding Moss, who is by far the biggest USC storyline of the Holiday Bowl. Nothing else comes close. USC and Moss both face important choices. Have they already been made, or will this game influence an unmade set of choices? Regardless, Moss knows that a great performance hugely increases the odds he will be a starting quarterback in 2024 at some program.
We’re all pulling for Moss, not just USC, in this game. A young man’s career has arrived at a very significant moment.
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