Jayden Maiava shows improvement as he fights to retain USC starting quarterback job

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava warms up during a game against Nebraska at the Coliseum. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

When he was first announced as USC’s starting quarterback last November, Jayden Maiava stepped into a pretty thorny situation. The team already had rallied behind Miller Moss, who spent the previous three seasons earning teammates’ trust. Plus, he’d have only a few games to prove himself, and USC desperately needed immediate results.

“That’s a hard thing for anyone to do,” said wideout Ja’Kobi Lane, a close friend of Moss.

Those four starts, as uneven as they sometimes were, proved enough for Maiava to retain the title as the Trojans’ presumptive quarterback this spring, even as USC added five-star freshman Husan Longstreet and experienced transfer Sam Huard to the fold. But what’s happened in the three months since ultimately may say more about where Maiava is headed as a quarterback — and whether he’ll keep the job for good this season.

Maiava’s second act started in January with speculation that he was entertaining the idea of entering the transfer portal. But he brushed off that notion Tuesday.

Read more: USC makes season-ending statement in thrilling Las Vegas Bowl comeback over Texas A&M

“Shoot, the transfer portal is crazy nowadays,” Maiava said. “I usually just don’t pay any mind or attention to it. I just kind of go about my business and stay out the way.”

For Maiava, that meant spending as much time in the film room as possible. “Countless hours,” the quarterback said.

It was on film that he could see how often he got “happy feet” in the pocket during his first season at USC. He worked to pinpoint the reasons for head-scratching mistakes that seemed to follow him every week. Namely the back-breaking interceptions, three of which he threw in the bowl game. He…

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Publish date : 2025-03-26 12:00:00

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