Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Is he the guy? Or maybe we should ask this way: Is he the guy?
Jayden Maiava’s first start as USC quarterback on Saturday had a lot of moments of potential with some moments of tension mixed in, but mainly his and his team’s 28-20 victory over Nebraska provided moments of hope for the future.
The sophomore transfer from UNLV, promoted to QB1 largely to determine if he’s the answer for USC going forward, provided plenty of evidence to suggest so.
His mistakes – the most visible an interception that former Trojan-turned-Cornhusker cornerback Ceyair Wright returned 45 yards for a touchdown on the second offensive series, and a lost fumble on a rollout late in the third quarter that led to a Nebraska field goal – are correctable.
The positives included a 28-yard first quarter scoring strike to Duce Robinson that Maiava described as, “I kinda just tried to give him a ball that, it was either his ball or nobody’s ball.” That stuff stands out.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – he’s a playmaker, right?” said Robinson, also a sophomore. “So when you have an arm like that, of course you’re going to have confidence in it.”
This being college football, of course, it’s complicated.
The day after Maiava’s debut, the word got out. ESPN reported that Julian Lewis, a quarterback prodigy from Georgia who had been committed to USC for more than a year, had decommitted — and Husan Longstreet, the Corona Centennial High quarterback and five-star recruit who was on the Trojans’ sideline during Saturday’s game, flipped his commitment from Texas A&M to USC.
Riley has never started the season with a true freshman at quarterback, not here or at Oklahoma. Still, you can never have too many quarterbacks, right? (Although you might not want to ask Miller Moss that question these days.)
As previously discussed, while this might not have been the type of season USC fans wanted or were anticipating after the season-opening victory over LSU in Las Vegas, the Trojans still have tangible goals for this season. Now that they’ve squared their record at 5-5, a victory over either UCLA this week or Notre Dame next week makes them bowl-eligible. Conceivably – though a longshot – they could sweep both, win a bowl game and finish 8-5, just as they did a year ago.
(Pause for Trojan fans to exhale.)
UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava (1) throws down field against Kansas during the first half of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023, in Phoenix.
Is Maiava indeed the guy? He will have a chance to prove it over the next two weeks and maybe into December, and that process has already begun.
“I think Jayden’s always been a great leader. Obviously, he has had to step into that role a little bit more this week, being the guy,” Robinson said. (Note the terminology.)
And after that early pick-six, Robinson said, “He came over to the receivers, kinda tapped himself – tapped us all on the shoulder, and said, ‘That’s on me.’ And then he responded really well.”
Said Riley: “Sometimes deals like that, especially at home, can take the air out of your sails a little bit. And the team didn’t even flinch, and we responded well, and to come back and win it was awesome.”
Much of that response starts with the quarterback. If he’s timid or uncertain, your team will have problems. If he’s confident enough to shake it off and move forward and gets his teammates to do the same, well, you just might have a leader.
“I think just his trust, in giving guys opportunities to make plays” was one of the things that stood out, Riley said. “I mean, I think that was the thing that probably he did the best. He missed a few throws that he normally makes, but he was very trusting of our guys. And I thought, for the majority of the game, he played very decisive, which was key.”
Trust was a word used often during the Trojans’ post-game synopsis. From the sound of it, the trust between quarterback and coaches radiated to the rest of the offense, and the rest of the roster.
“He (Riley) just talked to me (after the interception) and said, just trust my eyes, trust it (the system), and to go through my reads and continue to execute. … I mean, I got a great team, I got a great coaching staff, and there’s nothing for me to worry about, but just go out there and play ball with them.”
Linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold, watching Maiava from the sidelines, got caught up in the excitement.
“He’s a playmaker,” he said. “(Makes) a lot of explosive plays, takes a lot of risks, which I think is really cool to see out of your quarterback. But he throws the ball in the air, you’re like, ‘Oh my God, where is it going?’ But I mean, shoot, most of the time it goes to the right guy.”
Maiava talked of how coming out of the Coliseum tunnel on Saturday “felt so surreal. Obviously, I ran out of the tunnel a couple times before, but it wasn’t me playing. So, I mean, obviously, knowing that I’m playing, I mean, it’s in the back of my head, like, ‘Okay, let’s just settle down and keep going.’”
His personal emotions might have been at a higher level because the responsibility was on his shoulders, but Riley’s view was that Maiava’s commitment to the team was no different as the starter than it was as Moss’ backup.
“I think he’s very much all in for this team, and his willingness to be all in for this team has not been predicated on him playing or not,” the coach said. “And that’s what I like the best. Like … your passion for what you do, it can’t be tied to just success or if it goes your way.
“The more guys (like that) you get in here,” he added, “the more games you’re gonna win.”
In some ways that comes back to the recruiting process. But in this era, the portal and NIL offers and the rest – starting with the transfer culture of high-profile high school football – can sometimes overwhelm the team-first concept. Identifying those who will truly be all-in is both more important than ever and probably more difficult to discern.
And the more internal competition to sort that out, maybe, the better.
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