Lincoln Riley leaves door open on USC quarterback competition

Lincoln Riley didn’t jump the gun on naming a starting quarterback for USC ahead of the upcoming season.

Miller Moss is seemingly the leader in the clubhouse, particularly after the spring sessions. But Riley didn’t want to end the quarterback competition before even getting into fall camp.

So Moss has the QB1 spot, for now, but guys like Jayden Maiava and Jake Jensen will have their opportunities per Riley.

“Miller had the best spring like I told you guys at the end of the spring,” Riley said. “There’s no question if we were playing at that point that he would have been the starter. In my history man, a lot changes you know, I mean, you got some other guys in the room. You know, Jayden and Jake, they’ve got reps, they have gotten better fast. 

“We’re excited to see those guys, excited to see what Jayden can do after now having an offseason where he understands the offense and can grow. So my expectation is he’s going to be quite a bit better than what he was. And then certainly the expectation is that Miller and Jake and the guys that have been here are going to continue to grow too.”

Riley doubled down on not making a decision early. It’s not like he had a bonafide Heisman winner or candidate like Caleb Williams already in the room.

He wants to make sure he gets the choice right at USC.

“So yeah, I mean, it’s not a decision that we had to make in the spring,” Riley said. “So we didn’t. I think I gave you guys a fair and honest update as to where it was but then at the same time, you know, we’re going to rep these guys, they’re all going to rep. We’re gonna rep these guys here until we feel separation right now and not trying to factor in too much of what happened before.”

Moss spoke at Big Ten Media Days and explained why any quarterback would be lucky to play for Riley.

“I think when you look at obviously having the opportunity to play for Coach Riley as a quarterback is something that’s highly coveted,” Moss said on Sirius XM. “And being in the room with him, I completely understand why he’s the best, one of the best, if not the best, offensive mind and quarterback coach in college football.

“And so I think having the opportunity to play for him, I think when I committed to USC, I laid out certain goals that I really wanted to accomplish, not only for myself, but for the team, and I wanted to be able to see that through until I couldn’t anymore.”