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In sports, there are the glamor positions that everyone wants to be. Centerfielder for the New York Yankees? You bet. Point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers? Absolutely. In recent years, USC coach Lincoln Riley has created a lineage at the quarterback position that whatever he touches turns to gold.
Dating back to his time at Oklahoma, three of Riley quarterbacks have won the Heisman Trophy and each have gone on to be selected No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft. A fourth in transfer Jalen Hurts refined his skills under Riley’s tutelage where he even put in a Super Bowl MVP effort and was in the mix of the NFL MVP race.
Moss Takes the Stage
After Riley’s latest prodigy and future No. 1 pick Caleb Williams opted out of last season’s Holiday Bowl, it opened the door for the redshirt junior Miller Moss.
During the six weeks of bowl preparation, Moss said he noticed a difference in the team.
“One thing that was unique about that time was everyone that didn’t want to be there or was done with the program moved on," Moss said at Day 2 of the the Big Ten Conference Media Days in Indianapolis. "So, literally everyone that was there had every intention of being there, wanted to be there, was excited to be there. So I think when you get a group of people collectively excited to go win a football game, you usually get a pretty positive result.”
It couldn’t get any more positive in Moss’ first career start in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville. Moss guided the Trojans to a 42-28 win, behind an MVP effort with 6 touchdowns, setting a Holiday Bowl record.
A Springboard for 2024
For Moss, the Holiday Bowl is in the rearview mirror. Drafting mentally from that epic performance Moss is drafting “very little to none at all.”
“It was a positive moment for the team and myself. But it's not something that you sit there and say ‘Oh, I did this’ and this is what I am going to feed off this confidence," Moss said of the Holiday Bowl win. "I think you have to have a certain amount of confidence in yourself no matter what happens. Because like there’s inevitably going to be adversity and when that adversity comes you have to have something to fall back on. I don’t think that comes from any result. I think that comes from your process, and what you’ve put into your game, and what you have put into the work you have done. So, it was a great moment, I think it helped us springboard into the offseason but at the end of the day, that game is over.”
Gaining Riley's Trust
In a lot of ways, the mindset Moss displayed and how he has demonstrated leadership since taking the reins at USC was the reason Riley decided to not go into the Transfer Portal and get another quarterback. A trendy prediction during bowl season was Kansas State’s Will Howard would transfer to USC, but it seems Moss displayed the intangibles that earned Riley’s trust.
“I think it's hard to really gain coach Riley’s trust without being thrown into the fire, fully. Obviously like you can play lights out in practice,” Moss said. "To fully own coach Riley’s trust, I think you have to be thrown into the fire, have live bullets coming at you. Me and coach Riley have been through a lot together and I think that has only strengthened our relationship.”
The relationships forged over the years between Riley and his quarterbacks have been fruitful and Moss seems poised to be the next one in the great quarterbacking lineage at USC. The standard Moss’ predecessors have set has made it college football’s most glamorous position.
While Moss doesn't have the reps, game experience that would say for certain he will be in the same league as Baker Mayfield, Murray, Hurts and Williams, it’s hard to put Moss in that league now. But in the small sample size we have from Moss between the Holiday Bowl and media days he has answered the call each time his famed predecessors have.
Moss understands the challenge to be a Riley quarterback, and how Moss has carried himself it's easy to tell he wouldn’t want it any other way.
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