Lincoln Riley decides USC QB competition early: Why Miller Moss is a Heisman dark horse

Miller Moss wasn't supposed to be the USC Trojans' starting quarterback in 2024.

A five-star stud was supposed to take the reins from Caleb Williams. If not, Lincoln Riley was supposed to dip into the transfer portal to find his next star passer.

Miller Moss was supposed to transfer away. A second-thought behind Jaxson Dart and Malachi Nelson, he didn't have a clear path to playing time in cardinal and gold, even though he'd been draped in it since childhood.

Miller Moss wasn't supposed to be USC's starting quarterback. But he is. Officially.

USC announced Moss as the starter on Monday, ending a quarterback battle with UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava. With two weeks to go until the season-opener against LSU, the Trojans know who will be leading them into battle.

Miller Moss went from sure cast-off to dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate

Moss stuck it out at USC with rarely-seen loyalty in this era of college football. Dart and Nelson each transferred looking for opportunities to start elsewhere. But Moss saw the opportunity to learn from the sports' top quarterback guru and ran with it. And when he got his opportunity to show the head coach, the Trojan Family and the college football world what he had, he aced it.

In the Holiday Bowl, Moss completed 69.7 percent of his passes for 372 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 11.3 yards per attempt.

Why should anyone pay attention to a meaningless bowl performance? Because Moss has Riley's endorsement, and if Riley knows anything it's quarterbacks.

"He's got a lot of Alpha in him," Riley said of Moss at Big Ten Media Days, via Ryan Young of TrojansSports.com.

Moss's skillset didn't generate the kind of excitement of other quarterbacks who have been in the program since he arrived. But let's not act like he was a scrub recruit coming out of high school. The 247Sports composite had him ranked No. 76 nationally. Greg Biggins compared him to Drew Brees.

"A pure pocket passer with one of the quickest releases in the country. A very cerebral quarterback with a great feel for the position. Extremely poised and never looks nervous or hurried. Has an advanced feel for throwing with timing and anticipation. Shows good arm strength and can rip throws through tight windows. Can continue to improve athletically but has good pocket mobility, can move around, buy time and keeps his eyes down the field. Changes speed and throws with touch and is very accurate down the field. Plays with toughness and will stand in the pocket and take a shot to get the ball out. Projects as an impact upper tier Power 5 starter and future mid-round NFL draft pick."

Riley obviously thinks he can work with that.

Miller Moss is a Lincoln Riley QB and Lincoln Riley QBs compete for Heismans

Now that he has officially won the starting job, Moss is undoubtedly a dark horse Heisman candidate. Why? Because Riley quarterbacks are always Heisman candidates at worst.

Baker Mayfield? Heisman winner. Kyler Murray? Heisman winner. Jalen Hurts? Heisman runner-up. Spencer Rattler? Preseason Heisman favorite. Caleb Williams? Heisman winner.

History tells us if Moss can run Riley's system, Moss can put up the kind of numbers that will at least put him in the conversation.

I don't want to get ahead of myself here. Moss still has to prove he can answer the call against one of the most challenging schedules in college football this season. The level of difficulty relative to Louisville in the Holiday Bowl is about to ramp up considerably. Still, he's shown what Riley needed to see. That's all I really need to know.

At Big Ten Media Days, Riley talked about hearing from people who doubted Moss when he took over the program. I was one of those doubters. I didn't expect him to climb the ladder. I expected Nelson to succeed Williams (before Nelson transferred to Boise State and couldn't win that starting job either...). Or I expected a transfer like Will Howard to come in and take the job.

As it turns out, Moss won me over. His Trojan spirit is infectious. He stuck around when others took an easier path. He's let Riley mold him into a viable starter. He's rallied a team at the end of a disappointing campaign, re-energizing them into bowl winners.

Now we get to see what else he's got.