Head coach Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans have struggled with consistency in recent years. This past season, following the team’s move to the Big Ten from the Pac-12, the Trojans struggled to stay competitive in one of the most competitive conferences in college football. The team finished with a 7-6 record, only narrowly qualifying for a bowl game.
Part of the issue is that the team has not found a starting quarterback who can help elevate the team to the next level following the departure of Caleb Williams to the NFL. Heading into next season, Jayden Maiava is expected to take over the starting role. On Thursday, at the Big Ten media days, Lincoln Riley spoke about Maiava and his expectations for him next season.
“Like a lot of young quarterbacks that we’ve had that ended up being pretty solid players, is making sure your mistakes don’t kill us,” Riley said (Timestamp 9:05). “Sometimes as a QB a lot of times it’s, yeah you want to have the great plays, but how bad are your bad plays? If your bad plays are incompletions, or throwaways, or occasionally taking a sack, you can still win with that.
“So, I think his maturity as a player and understanding will all grow. Because once he harnesses that, I mean, you saw what this kid did against some pretty good groups. He has a chance to be a really really special player. So, it’s been fun to work with him. He’s humble, really hard worker, and has the respect of everyone in our building.”
Jayden Maiava played major minutes in four games last season, completing 101 of 169 passing attempts for 1201 yards and 11 TDs. He transferred to USC from UNLV last season.
Lincoln Riley Shows Support for the USC vs. Notre Dame Rivalry
The topic of rivalries in college football has been brought up a lot this offseason. There have been several rumors about the future of some of these rivalries, including USC vs. Notre Dame. The teams only have a contract that runs through 2026. As a result, there are questions about whether the rivalry will continue in the coming years.
At the Big Ten media days on Thursday, Riley showed his support for the continuation of the rivalry.
“Do I wanna play the game? Hell yeah, I want to play the game,” Riley said. “That’s one of the reasons I came. But also, my allegiance is to USC, and I’m going to do everything in my power to help USC.”
The teams are scheduled to play on Saturday, October 18, this season.
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