July 16th was wild. At this point, everyone knows that Paul Finebaum has some weird takes. I still remember when he noted that Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC was the biggest moment ever in SEC history. While he did get a fair share of jabs thrown at him because of this opinion, another remark he made on July 16th is something even I find myself agreeing with from time to time. Caleb Williams was the GOAT for Lincoln Riley and the Trojans. That kid took the team to a solid run back in 2022 and 2023. He even holds a Heisman trophy because of his overall performance in college football. After he left for the NFL, things started to deteriorate for Riley and the boys.

Finebaum mentioned back in July that Riley had “one of the worst coaching jobs” last year. If he could, then he would have personally fired Riley from the team. While the initial remark is harsh, I still cannot deny the fact that Riley did back in 2023. The team went only 2 wins with 5 losses. This is wild when we compare it to the 2022 11-3 run, with Caleb Williams leading the team. However, maybe Riley has a plan to avenge his reputation cause he decided to pick Miller Moss as the starting QB for the 2024 season. Moss had closely followed Williams as the backup for the team. The kid already has wrapped up around 66 passes for 900+ yards. Not only that, he also managed to grab 9 TDs in around 12 games. In my opinion, while these stats are nearly not as good enough as Williams, the kid still has some potential.

From what I saw during Moss’s Holiday Bowl performance, the kid did great. Also during the match against Louisville, the kid managed to wrap up the game with 6 TDs. The race to grab the starting QB position was rough for the team, but Riley mentioned that Moss was the perfect candidate because of the leadership he had shown during 2023. I think that Moss has the quirks needed to rise as the new star boy for Riley however a lot is going to depend on how the HC manages to form the team around his starting QB. 2023 exposed the Trojans’ tragic defense which had secured around 30 points’ average per game. This year, they are going to go up against giants like Ohio State and Michigan, and honestly? Riley is going to have a tough time. However, coming to Moss, I still think there’s someone else on the team who could’ve done a better job.

UNLV QB

Got the news back in July that after deciding to stick with the Bulldogs, QB Jaden Maiava flipped to USC. I don’t know why someone would want to switch from the Bulldogs to the Trojans, however, personally, he could’ve been a great pick instead of Moss. He was marked as a 3-star player back when he joined the Rebels. The kid has already recorded around 17 TDs with 3000+ yards under his belt.

While both Moss and Maiava are true freshmen, from what I have seen, Maiava has shown a lot of promise. Even Riley had agreed during an interview that Maiava’s overall performance had increased drastically during the fall camp. Moss is going to have a lot on his shoulders and if he manages to come out on top while putting up a solid show then he could become the next big thing in college football.