Quarterback comparison: Michigan at USC

For Michigan, it will be Bryce Underwood making his 6th career college start. He’s shown flashes this year of why he was so highly ranked as a recruit coming out of high school and he played his best game in a Michigan uniform last week against Wisconsin throwing for 270 yards and 1 TD. He attacked the intermediate and deep areas of the field better in that game than he has all season to this point and it’s an exciting development for Michigan’s overall passing game.

It really seems like he’s beginning to hit his stride and you have to expect that he’ll continue to get better as he gains more experience. On the season thus far, he’s thrown for 1,003 yards with 3 TD’s and 1 INT while adding 181 yards and 3 TD’s on the ground. He’s certainly capable of taking advantage of USC’s secondary, in what’s been the weaker aspect of the USC defense so far this season. 

On the USC Trojan side, Jayden Maiava is the guy at quarterback. Last season he took over for Miller Moss partway through the season and in those few games he showed the talent that made Lincoln Riley switch over to him. Last year however; he wasn’t always making great decisions on where and when to throw the football. This season he looks like a completely different player, he knows when and where to go with the ball, and he still has all the physical traits he showcased last season.

Jayden Maiava is one of the best quarterbacks in the country thus far, throwing for 1,587 yards with 11 TD’s and 1 INT while adding 57 yards and 4 TD’s on the ground. He’s also completing 70.5% of his passes, ranking near the top in the country in that category. The USC offense in general is more balanced this year which has helped to take some of the pressure off of Maiava but make no mistake, this is an air raid type team that really excels at throwing the football.

They attack every level of the field with two stud wide receivers outside in Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. With the experience he gained last year and how he’s performing so far this year, some NFL mock drafts even have him going in the 1st round. He’s absolutely one of the best quarterbacks in the country and his experience gives USC the edge at the quarterback position in this game.