The competitors was shut. Nearer than anybody anticipated it to be in late August, not less than. Shut sufficient that Jayden Maiava, the rebel switch from Nevada Las Vegas, believed on the time that he’d finished sufficient to be named USC’s beginning quarterback.
The job finally went to Miller Moss, the redshirt junior whose six-score coronation had come months earlier on the Vacation Bowl. Maiava had understood in that case the uphill battle he confronted in coming to L.A. However the determination, whereas no shock to the general public, was no much less disappointing to Maiava.
He was aggressive. He thought he’d made the perfect of his reps. Now there was no approach of understanding after they’d come once more.
“Most backups at that moment would get frustrated with the process,” mentioned Ryan Porter, Maiava’s quarterbacks coach. “They wouldn’t be as dedicated or proactive. They lose focus.”
However almost three months later, Porter seems to be again on that misplaced quarterback competitors as if it’s the perfect factor that would have occurred to Maiava, who this week was named the Trojans’ new starter.
“This kid got to go in, do spring football, do the first nine games and learn,” Porter mentioned. “Learn from all the mistakes that were made, learn from all the success that was had, learn the good and the bad. He got to sit back and learn a system from a great coaching staff and a great quarterback room, and you can’t ask for a better situation, in my opinion.”
Maiava agrees: “It’s been phenomenal for me,” he mentioned Wednesday, “just learning a lot from the game.”
That’s to not say sitting for many of the season, whereas USC misplaced 4 of its final 5, was straightforward.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava (14) has seen restricted taking part in time this season, however he’ll take over because the Trojans’ starter towards Nebraska.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Instances)
He hit the bottom operating a yr in the past at UNLV, passing for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns and dashing for 277 yards and three extra touchdowns. Earlier than that, he’d began all 4 years at three completely different excessive colleges in Hawaii and Las Vegas.
One yr at UNLV had, greater than something, taught him there was solely a lot he may management, and that lesson would show particularly priceless as he waited his flip at USC.
Because the newly appointed No. 2 quarterback, Maiava tried to let go of what he couldn’t management and “fall in love with the process,” he mentioned. He stayed away from social media. He by no means introduced up Lincoln Riley’s plans or complained about his place as backup, at the same time as Moss struggled to search out his stride through the previous month. Nor did Maiava ever point out transferring some other place with a smoother path to taking part in time.
“You’re either the cure or you’re the cancer, you know?” Maiava mentioned. “All I try and do is be the cure for the team.”
That was a telling strategy to Porter, who for a few years coached Heisman winner and present Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels. He’d seen too many quarterbacks involved with rushing the method alongside.
“That’s how I knew Jayden [Maiava] had a chance to be very, very special,” he mentioned. “What I’ve found in my experience is that the good ones don’t get caught up in whether they agree with a coach’s decision or play calling or personnel.”
When he and Porter would speak, whether or not on FaceTime or Zoom or over textual content, Porter would all the time attempt to lead with reassurance, holding his confidence up. “Your time is coming,” he’d inform him.
However Porter by no means heard greater than a fleeting second of frustration from his pupil. It simply wasn’t in his nature to dwell on something. Quiet and humble, Maiava didn’t even like discussing what number of reps he bought in observe versus Moss.
“Never once did I hear any negativity in his voice,” Porter mentioned. “Like, never, ever.”
“Most young kids come in like, ‘I should be the guy! Man, this is the polar opposite of that kid. Coming in, and you’re basically watching someone kiss your girlfriend right now. But I told him, ‘Bud, you’re going to be able to lean on this experience. You’re going to be able to embrace this adversity, and this is going to make you the quarterback you’re supposed to be, when you play on Sundays.”
The expertise paid dividends in different methods, too. Maiava was “super raw,” Porter admits, when he arrived at USC. To that time, in his soccer profession, he’d relied virtually totally on his instincts and improvisational skill. There was one other layer of the place he nonetheless needed to be taught. Plus, he wanted time to soak up Riley’s offense.
However the time gave him an opportunity to dive deeper into studying protections and different finer factors of the place. He tried to glean as a lot as he may from statement, taking particular cues from Moss — “a very genius quarterback” — and his “decision-making on the field.”
That progress wasn’t misplaced on Riley, who mentioned he’s seen a gentle climb from Maiava ever since.
“It’s not easy being the backup,” Riley mentioned, “and I felt like he’s handled that well. He’s improved every single week.”
Then this week, after Monday’s movie assessment, Riley pulled Maiava into his workplace to inform him he was making a change at quarterback. The coach later defined, merely, that he felt it was “in the best interest of the team to give Jayden a chance here.”
Transferring away from Moss did imply altering the delicate emotional steadiness of the locker room. He was a vocal chief on the staff, one thing that didn’t essentially come as naturally to the extra reserved Maiava.
However gamers assured on Wednesday that little had modified. Within the two days since his promotion, although, Maiava has tried to talk up extra typically, doing what he can to rise to the event.
“I think everybody has got their own way of leading,” Maiava mentioned. “Everybody has got their own way of carrying themselves.”
Few, although, have the bodily abilities that Maiava will deliver to the place, when he takes the sector towards Nebraska on Nov. 16.
Woody Marks, USC’s lead operating again, raved about Maiava’s “cannon arm,” whereas tight finish Lake McRee famous that Maiava can “throw the ball all over.” And whereas Riley insisted this week that USC’s offense gained’t change a lot with him on the helm, it’s troublesome to think about these bodily abilities not being a featured a part of the Trojans sport plan subsequent weekend.
“How do you argue with 6-5, 230?” Porter requested. “That’s a problem, man.”
And now, with its season rapidly slipping away, USC is hoping Maiava may be the answer it so desperately wants. Although, he is aware of now there’s solely a lot of that he can management.
“I’m here just for one thing, and that’s just to win games,” Maiava mentioned. “The best thing I could do for this team is just to put them in the best situation to go win games. I’ma lay my life on the line for them.
“So hopefully they do the same.”
