Lincoln Riley opens up on where USC's quarterback battle stands

USC is officially in the post-Caleb Williams era, with the quarterback likely playing for the Chicago Bears next season. Head coach Lincoln Riley is tasked with finding the next man up for the Trojans. According to him, three guys will be competing for the job — Jake Jensen, Jayden Maiava, and Miller Moss.

The last name of the trio is the most familiar of the bunch, playing in the bowl game last season after Williams opted out. Moss performed at an incredibly high level, throwing for 373 yards and six touchdowns in a win against Louisville. Now, it’s all about building off the performance and making it translate long-term.

“Miller was fantastic not just in the game but really the entire six-week lead-up to that bowl game,” Riley said. “Not just quarterback play but from a leadership perspective, I thought he did an outstanding job. So, excited about his momentum and progress coming off of that.”

Moss was not the only one to receive praise from his head coach regarding the bowl game. Jensen made a huge play for USC on a fourth down, picking up a first down on the ground.

“Jake Jensen did great in the bowl game and came in on that fourth down play,” Riley said. “That was a monster play in that game.”

Jensen is a redshirt junior and is entering his third season at USC. He will have an opportunity to win the job coming out of spring practice.

Jayden Maiva brings youthful experience to USC

When Malachi Nelson transferred out, USC needed to add a young quarterback to the room. Riley did not want just anyone, though. Finding somebody out of the NCAA transfer portal was critical for him, eventually landing on Maiava via UNLV.

“We were really excited to add Jayden,” Riley said. “We thought he was a really talented young quarterback. After the bowl game, we backed off an older transfer target and we set our sights a little more on — got to be young but we wanted for them to have played. Those were our two deals.

“We knew we wanted some more competition in the room, we needed another body in the room. But we wanted somebody that had been on that field before. So, he fit it perfectly and we were thrilled with that addition.”

Maiava played in 14 games last season at UNLV as a second-year player. He threw for 3,085 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. While not the most consistent, the playing time Riley was looking for is there with him.

Riley will now watch them compete throughout spring, hoping to have his guy soon. USC will kick things off against LSU on Aug. 31 before getting into Big Ten play. A big task ahead of whoever winds up being the starting quarterback.