Jayden Maiava lists decision-making as important trait learned from Miller Moss

Jayden Maiava starred as a redshirt freshman for a nine-win UNLV team last year. He threw for more than 3,000 yards and totaled 20 touchdowns before transferring to USC this past offseason with hopes of carrying over his success from the Mountain West to the Big Ten. Except, he found himself backing up redshirt junior Miller Moss this fall.

But now the Trojans are 4-5. Expectations have changed, and a spark is needed. Head coach Lincoln Riley has turned to Maiava for that spark.

That said, Moss wasn’t the necessarily the problem this season for the Trojans — he did a bunch right, and there’s one thing in particular Maiava learned from him that he’s looking to implement when Maiava makes his first USC start on Nov. 16 against Nebraska.

“One thing I’ve learned from Miller is definitely the decision-making he’s made on the field,” Maiava said Wednesday. “He’s a very genius quarterback. He’s very intelligent.

“Obviously, we have Coach Riley, who’s a genius and intelligent with the whole football thing. I mean, [Miller’s] just done a great job making the right decisions situationally.”

Moss posted an 18:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his nine starts this season. He completed 64.4% of his passes, throwing for 2,555 yards and eclipsing the 300-yard mark through the air on four separate occasions.

While Maiava highlighted Moss’s decision-making, a handful of decisions Moss has made this year have cost the Trojans.

USC has blown five fourth quarter leads this season, and Moss has thrown nine interceptions in the last seven games, including three last week in another fourth quarter letdown, which culminated in a 26-21 defeat at Washington. Nevertheless, Moss proved to be an effective downfield passer, completing 17-of-39 attempts of 20-plus air yards with nine “big time throws” and only two turnover-worthy plays in that depth, according to Pro Football Focus.

Following the departure of 2022 Heisman Trophy winner and 2024 No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, Moss got a head start on the quarterback competition with a six-touchdown performance in the Holiday Bowl at the end of last year. Flash forward to August, and Riley named the more-experienced Moss the team’s 2024, a decision that provided instant payoff — namely a 27-20 win over LSU in the opener — but ultimately cooled off.

At times, Moss hasn’t gotten much help from a run game that’s failed to hit the century mark in three games this season, or a defense that, while improved under coordinator D’Anton Lynn, still has had its lapses in critical moments.

But in a 2024 campaign as disappointing as USC’s, midseason changes were inevitable. Moss’ clock ran out, and now it’s Maiava’s turn.

“Over the nine, 10 weeks that we’ve had during the season, it’s been phenomenal for me, just learning a lot from the game,” Maiava said. “Just being able to go out there and kind of observe and watch everything from a perspective on the sideline and just trying to bring that energy for my teammates and be a team player.”

Maiava will try to take the good parts of Moss’ game, including the positive decisions Moss made in-game, and build on his own dual-threat skill set.