Musings from Arledge: Miller Moss, the USC O-Line and 40 years with the Trojans

So I guess Miller Moss really does plan to be USC’s starting quarterback. 

Let’s start with the necessary caveat: it’s just one game. Matt Flynn turned one good game into a large free-agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Scott Mitchell turned a few good games into a big deal with the Detroit Lions. Kedon Slovis threw for 515 yards one night. John Barnes turned into Johnny Unitas for one night. One night isn’t everything.

But it’s not nothing, either. Miller Moss played like a guy who is ready to take over one of the premier jobs in college football. He played with poise. He stayed in the pocket and got rid of the ball on time. He moved around when he had to. Yes, he missed some throws (a couple deep balls to Branch, especially), and he made one enormous mistake. But that mistake actually gives me some comfort. Many new quarterbacks might have folded after throwing a terrible interception that results in a 14-point swing and turns what would have been a blowout into a close game. Moss didn’t fold. He came right back and immediately threw another touchdown pass.

USC still needs to add a transfer quarterback. They can’t go into next season with only Miller Moss and Jake Jensen. But Riley will now have to give Moss an honest chance to win the job. If he doesn’t, he may have a mutiny on his hands. Moss seems to have the support of his teammates, and he definitely has the support of the fan base after last night. That means any transfer quarterback who comes in must know that he will have to beat out Miller Moss to win the job. 

And that’s no joke. Competing with Miller Moss means competing with a guy who threw for six touchdowns against a good defense in his first start, and it means competing with a guy who already has two years in the program and the support of the players and fans. That’s a tough matchup for just about anybody. A guy with Caleb Williams’ talent might waltz into that situation without a worry. But USC isn’t recruiting any transfer-portal quarterbacks with Caleb’s talent. Those guys don’t exist in college football now that Caleb is leaving for the NFL.

I think Miller Moss just took over the USC starting quarterback position after last night. Whether that’s a good thing for the program depends entirely on whether Miller Moss is a one-game wonder like Matt Flynn or a very good quarterback who can consistently lead USC on a weekly basis against one of the toughest schedules I’ve ever seen. We don’t know that yet, but the kid played with guts last night, so I’m not going to bet against him.

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We know that whoever has that starting quarterback job will have some help. Last year, when USC landed Zachariah Branch, Duce Robinson, Makai Lemon, and Ja’Kobi Lane, it looked like the Trojans had a wide receiver class for the ages. It’s looking even more like that now. Branch is already a first-team All American as a returner, he almost broke a spectacular TD return last night, and if Moss hadn’t missed a couple of open deep balls, Branch would have had a big night on offense. We saw flashes from Lemon. Robinson again got behind the defense. And Ja’Kobi Lane looked phenomenal, the best of the bunch, at least last night. 

These are four magnificent talents, and they give you everything you could want from a receiving corps: length, speed, quickness. I’m assuming Luke Huard and Dennis Simmons will return this season. Those guys have their work cut out for them. There are no excuses with a group this talented. If these guys aren’t getting separation and making plays, you can’t very well say that you need to recruit more talented guys. Those four guys are legit. And good coaches—which I’m assuming Huard and Simmons are—should relish that opportunity. 

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USC’s offensive line didn’t run block particularly well last night, and that’s obviously a major concern going into next season. Lincoln Riley’s offense needs a solid running game to be truly deadly. USC has a passing game opponents will have to respect. USC has quality backs. The offensive line must be able to move people consistently. 

I’ve said a few times that I’m excited about USC’s long-term future on the O line. I like this recruiting class and the last one. But I’m not sure how ready those guys will be to dominate opponents physically in 2024. USC is going to need to find a road grader or two in the portal, or it will need guys like Mason Murphy, Emmanuel Pregnon and Elijah Paige to take massive steps this offseason.

That being said, I didn’t expect USC to pass protect as well as they did against Louisville. Louisville is a pretty good pass-rushing team, and USC struggled to protect Caleb against teams with mediocre pass rushes all year. It helps that Moss got the ball out on time. It helps that he stayed in the pocket when there was a pocket. But the offensive line also deserves credit for effectively handling a pretty good pass rush.

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USC has an entirely new defensive coaching staff that is a massive upgrade over last year’s. So until those guys take over, there isn’t a lot we can say about the defense. But we can say the defense played hard last night and tackled better than we’ve seen in all but a few games over the last three years. The secondary kept guys in front and brought them down. Guys were hitting.

USC has to get bigger and more physical up front. They have to get a whole lot better at setting the edge. Contain is not something that good defenses occasionally do; it’s something they focus on consistently. USC hasn’t done that in years, and they didn’t do it last night. I expect the new staff will change that. They better.

But overall it’s hard not to feel good about the defensive effort. It was a short-handed group that played their guts out all night. That group last night wasn’t the most talented defense I’ve seen at USC, but they played hard. They played like Trojans. I’m proud of them.

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Some Oklahoma fans took issue with my comments on the Sooners fanbase in our last episode of Inside the Trojans Huddle. So allow me to double down. 

Oklahoma fans are the worst. I called them out after Oklahoma fans tried to sabotage the business of a father whose son decided to transfer form OU to Mizzou. No, not all OU fans are obsessive lunatics. But enough are, and this isn’t the first time that fan base has embarrassed itself. This the same fan base that decided to break into Lincoln Riley’s home when he took the USC job. I’ve spent time in Oklahoma. I know OU fans. They are as obnoxious as they are ignorant. This is why any OU loss is a good loss. The Oklahoma fan base is the Oregon fan base only larger and with a lower IQ. I agree with these guys.

As just think, USC starts next season having to deal with LSU fans…. 

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I just finished my 40^th season as a die-hard USC fan. (I watched games before that, but the 1984 season is the one in which I started to live and die with every USC loss.) So here are a handful of my favorite memories from the last 40 years:

Affholter’s juggling catch in the end zone

Mike Williams’ pass to Matt Leinart in the Rose Bowl against Michigan

27-0

The Bush Push

USC over #1 Washington at the Coliseum in 1984

Rodney versus Troy in the measles game

Darnold to Burnett late against Penn State

Junior

Thrashing OU at the Coliseum in 1988

Thrashing OU at the Orange Bowl in 2005

The streak-breaker in 1996

The Pizza Game against the Bruins in 2002

Tusk

Three straight by 31 against the Irish

Reggie’s punt return against Oregon State in the fog

Gary Wellman for two against Wazzu

Coach O taking down Stanford

Reggie and LenDale crushing ASU in the second half in 2005

Troy

Bickett and Del Rio

The 1985 Rose Bowl against Ohio State

The drive against Ohio State at the Horseshoe in 2009

Caleb’s traveling circus of dazzling highlights

Pete

Ricky Ervins against Michigan in the 1990 Rose Bowl

Getting to share my thoughts on USC football on WeAreSC

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As always, thank for reading. Happy New Year.