Ever since his spectacular performance against Louisville in the Holiday Bowl, Miller Moss has been front and center for the USC faithful and now he has been named one of the most interesting quarterbacks for the 2024 season by ESPN’s Billy Connelly. Though his six-touchdown performance against the Cardinals was one for the record books and culminated with an embrace by outgoing star Caleb Williams, many have overlooked that it is Moss’s character and not just his throwing arm that has earned him his due attention. He has proven this through rare commodities in today’s college football world, loyalty and mental toughness.
Transfer Portal Leads To Revolving Door
The transfer portal has led to freedom for college football players that could have only been dreamt about just a few years ago. While for many, this ability to move from program to program was long overdue, it also had an unintended side-effect, an aversion to competition. This has been especially true for quarterbacks, as starting quarterbacks who felt their job may be threatened by another potential star, often opt to leave for a guaranteed starting position at another school, rather than staying and trying to compete for it.
Nowhere has this been more evident than the revolving door of quarterbacks that made their way through USC. Former Gatorade Player of the Year JT Daniels, who started at USC as a true freshman, had a season-ending knee injury in the first game of his sophomore year, leading to Kedon Slovis taking over the position and Daniels leaving for Georgia. Slovis had a solid campaign but left the Trojans for Pitt when freshman Jaxson Dart got noticed with his solid performances after Slovis had been injured. However, Dart did not last long either, leaving the following year for Ole Miss when Caleb Williams left Oklahoma to follow Coach Lincoln Riley to Los Angeles.
Miller Moss Waited His Turn
For all the talk about a player’s mental toughness during a game, few mention it when referring to areas outside of Saturday afternoons. It is much easier to stay focused when your starting position is secure, but the grit it requires to stay with it, even when you have been ruled out of that possibility, is much more difficult. This is why so many quarterbacks who went unchallenged during their high school careers now flee for other programs when they are presented with even the slightest threat to their starter status.
However, Miller Moss, who came to USC in 2021 and was always overshadowed by the latest shiny recruit to enter the USC fold, never stopped competing. And, while his predecessors and contemporaries left for promises that they would have favored status at their new school, Moss never complained nor relented in his efforts.
He Was No Slouch
With former Gatorade Players of the Year, five-star recruits, and even a Heisman winner that has lined up under center for the Trojans over the last six years, it is easy to forget that Moss was a highly-touted recruit as well. Moss entered USC as the number 15 ranked quarterback in the nation according to 247Sports, and chose the Trojans over Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn.
After being relegated to the bench behind Kedon Slovis and Jaxson Dart, he was one of the few quarterbacks who stayed after the firing of head coach Clay Helton. And though he knew that he would be back on the bench when Caleb Williams followed Lincoln Riley to USC, and that would likely be a two-year sentence, he waited patiently and learned the offense under his new coach; never once seriously considering leaving the program.
Patience Pays Off
Moss was named the starter for the Holiday Bowl when after a disappointing USC season, Williams decided not to risk injury and sit out. This gave Moss a chance to demonstrate his talents, and his performance did just that and had a large sector of Trojan fans questioning Riley’s quarterback decisions. Though many were surprised, those who have followed his career since joining the Trojans knew that Moss is part of a dying breed who are willing to stick it out and honor their commitment. It is that rare mental toughness that could be a game-changer for the Trojans in 2024.
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