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The USC football team finds itself at a potential crossroads midway through the 2024 college football season. The Trojans are just 3-4 on the year, and losers of their last three contests.
It’s been a rocky introduction to the Big Ten, which has led Lincoln Riley and Co. to shake things up ahead of a matchup with Rutgers.
The school announced that there will be no media viewing at practice this week.
USC has moved its football practice schedule around this week and there will be no media viewing periods. There will still be post practice interviews.
— Connor Morrissette (@C_Morrissette) October 21, 2024
While coaches will still go through the typical interview process after practice, reporters won’t be able to take in the scenes as the Trojans prep for the Scarlet Knights.
Many around the program believe the decision to be a significant one.
Is the USC football team re-opening the QB competition?
Miller Moss has played well this season, throwing for 1,954 yards and 14 touchdowns. Still, he’s received criticism from the fanbase.
His inability to close out games has haunted the Trojans this year, who’ve led in the fourth quarter of each of their seven contests. Time and again, though, those late leads have slipped away.
That was again the case on Saturday with USC blowing a 14-point lead in the final 10 minutes against Maryland in a 29-28 loss. They’ve now fallen to 1-4 in one-score games.
While Moss isn’t entirely to blame for the late-game collapses, his being the leader of the offense has led to calls for his replacement.
Might be time for u to play lil bro https://t.co/lHeCCHxKow
— LenDale White (@thereal_lendale) October 20, 2024
The noise makes Lincoln Riley’s recent practice decision all the more intriguing!
Is he planning to make a change under center? QB2 at the moment would be Jayden Maiava, a transfer from UNLV.
Last year with the Runnin’ Rebels, he earned Freshman All-Conference honors while leading his team to the MWC Championship Game.
While he has played sparingly in the 2024 season, he remains largely unknown to the rest of the Big Ten. Will Riley unleash his secret weapon? Time will tell!
Either Lincoln Riley is circling the wagons or USC is cooking up a QB change and they don’t want anyone to know it (frankly if this is the case it will end up being a worse kept secret than the Steelers starting Russell Wilson) https://t.co/u1p35oO0Kr
— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) October 21, 2024
USC needs something to change as the football team looks to end this current three-game skid. Maybe Jayden Maiava is the answer. Maybe not.
Either way, Riley’s now put the possibility of a QB change into the head of his future opponent. We’ll see if the mind games pay off!