Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans are recognized for having one of the most explosive and consistent offenses in college football. Under his guidance, the team has achieved remarkable success. But after they lost to Michigan in the third week, the big question was, will Riley’s squad be able to keep Miller Moss safe from opposing defense? And we got the answer as USC faced a tough challenge in their second game of the season, losing to Minnesota 24-17. The Trojans, ranked No. 11, struggled to find their rhythm throughout the match. Ryan Abraham, a USC Football insider and Connor Morrissette (aka “Triple Double”), a senior staff writer of USC Football, have come to the defense of quarterback Miller Moss, highlighting deeper issues within Lincoln Riley’s program.

The fans were urging the duo to discuss whether Miller Moss should be replaced with Jayden Maiava. Abraham didn’t concur with this suggestion, saying, “To me, this is just, I mean, you’re just looking for, like, low-hanging fruit, just, it’s the most simplistic and, you know, incorrect, conclusion you could make just because you’re like, Oh, he can’t win. You need somebody else.” After all, Moss is Lincoln Riley’s choice, and if anything, the Trojans’ HC is famous for knowing QBs. “He’s had a lot of successful quarterbacks. If he thought Jayden Maiava would be a better fit for this offense or would give you a better chance of winning, he would be playing Jayden Maiava. Miller Moss is the leader of this team,” Abraham further said.

Abraham further expressed his frustration with Riley for replacing Moss, and he also criticized USC’s offense: “There’s a lot of people who don’t like Lincoln Riley. There’s a lot of people who don’t like Miller moss. You’re not; that’s not going to fix what the problems were. It’s more about the offensive line. He’s been under pressure, I think.”

Moss is under pressure this season. He has been sacked or hit 22 times so far. His struggles highlight the need for improvement along the offensive line, which has been inconsistent and inexperienced. It all comes down to protecting the QB. As far as Moss is concerned, Abraham said, “He’s had a good season, and I think you watch some of the throws and what he’s able to do under a tremendous amount of pressure. I mean, a three-man rush, you have five blockers, and they shouldn’t be getting to him without even a delay. And that’s what happened on the interception.”

Having said that, after a good start, the Trojans have faced some challenges in the past few weeks. Let’s look at some of those performances.

USC Trojans’s up-and-down season: navigating challenges and regaining strength

After a narrow defeat against Michigan, Lincoln Riley and his USC Trojans faced mounting pressure as the season intensified. However, they managed to bounce back impressively in Week 4, defeating Wisconsin 38-21.

But they could not celebrate their win for a long time. And it is all because of their poor offensive performance. So far, the Trojans have played five games this season and lost two of them. One of those losses was against a Big Ten opponent. Quarterback Moss tried his best throughout the game, but it wasn’t his day. He threw a long pass to wide receiver Duce Robinson. Which was from the 28-yard line, but it was intercepted by Minnesota’s Koi Perich in the end zone.

While USC was struggling to score, Darius Taylor displayed some impressive performance for Minnesota. He ran 200 yards from the scrimmage line and also completed 144 yards. His contribution really helped the Gophers make a comeback victory against a Big Ten team.

Riley’s quarterback Moss was pressurized by Jah Joyner. He tried throwing the ball, but Devin Williams intercepted it. Miller has completed 300 yards in two of his first four games. And last Saturday, he completed 23 out of 38 passes from 200 yards and scored one touchdown against Minnesota’s defense. That is not a good showing for a quarterback in Riley’s offense. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the head coach. He is hailed as the offensive genius. It’s on him to put his QB in better situations. Let’s see how they fare in their next game.