Jayden Maiava’s first start as USC’s signal caller may have begun with a rookie mistake, but it ended in triumph.
A first-quarter pick-six put the Trojans in a 7-0 hole and threatened to derail the redshirt sophomore’s full debut. But the Hawaii native recovered in short order. On the next drive, Maiava connected with sophomore receiver Zachariah Branch on a red-zone bubble screen to even the score and eventually boosted the Trojans to a confidence-building victory.
Maiava finished the game with 259 air yards, three passing touchdowns and a critical final score on the ground to put the game out of Nebraska’s reach for a 28-20 victory. He also made history as the first quarterback of Polynesian descent to start for USC, a program that’s won 11 national championships while producing Polynesian legends like Troy Polamalu and Junior Seau—as well as Maiava’s uncle, Kaluka, who was the defensive MVP of the Trojans’ 2009 Rose Bowl win.
Following Saturday’s game, Maiava was named to the Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List.
“It’s definitely a blessing, for sure,” Maiava said after the team’s practice on Wednesday. He hosted around 40 relatives and friends for a cookout at his apartment afterwards to celebrate Saturday’s victory and had family travel in from Hawaii and Las Vegas to witness his breakthrough moment.
Despite beginning the season as the backup, Maiava had experience as a starter last season for UNLV, where he earned Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors and passed for 17 touchdowns and more than 3,000 yards. After biding his time in practice and learning head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense, Maiava was ready for his promotion.
“He was really pumped throughout the week,” said redshirt senior running back Woody Marks, discussing Maiava’s preparation for the Nebraska game. “When he came out, we talked to each other. We were like, ‘Let’s get it.’ And then we came out, we did our thing. So, hats off to him for having a great game, and [I] hope we keep it going.”
Maiava’s ascent to the starting role this month has come at a critical junction in Riley’s tenure. The season began with College Football Playoff aspirations after a rapturous win over LSU in Las Vegas but fell apart as USC struggled to close out games. The Trojans have had a lead in every fourth quarter they’ve played in 2024 but find themselves 5-5 and battling for bowl eligibility.
Can Maiava be the quarterback that restores USC to conference-contender status? That’s the question fans will hope he can answer at the end of an otherwise moribund campaign.
And with two games left on the regular season schedule, Maiava couldn’t have asked for two more iconic contests to keep writing his USC story. The Trojans will cross town to face rivals UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, with another grudge match against Notre Dame set for the following weekend.
Despite the added pressure that one would expect comes with rivalry games, Maiava has an even-keeled attitude, the kind that helped him just move on to the next play after his interception last weekend.
“The mentality and the mindset stay the same,” Maiava said when asked about playing to earn a bowl berth. “[I’m] just trying to help my team go 1-0.”
Marks acknowledged the sense of occasion but echoed his quarterback’s sentiment about staying focused.
“It’s another game, but I know it’s not another game,” Marks said. “You got to keep your composure … the last two games mean the most to L.A. and this school, so we’ve got to go out there and play our best that we’ve played throughout the whole year.”
Finishing the season with a win at the Rose Bowl or against Notre Dame, and potentially a bowl game beyond that, would go a long way in boosting Maiava’s status as the probable starter for the 2025 season.
He has the hallmarks of a more typical Riley quarterback, with size (measuring 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds) and the ability to both make plays on the ground and downfield with his arm strength, reminiscent of now-Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ performances under Riley at Oklahoma. Against Nebraska, Maiava wasn’t afraid to trust his receivers with the occasional risky ball. Sophomore Duce Robinson and redshirt junior Kyron Hudson both turned possible interceptions into critical receptions in Saturday’s first half.
When asked about Maiava’s risk-reward balance, Riley had no qualms.
“I would rather them be aggressive by nature,” Riley said. “I liked that in his first start here, he went out and he was decisive … Having a little bit of a fearless nature to you is important, and I would rather start there and curve it the other way than try to push him to be more aggressive.
“We’re going to coach him hard and push him to continue to improve, and he’s given me every reason to believe that he will.”
With the team’s CFP hopes long squandered, USC’s goal now is to avoid 2024 becoming a lost season. Were Maiava to help the Trojans end the year with a rivalry win or two and show progress towards becoming USC’s next star quarterback, then fans might look back on this season not as forgotten, but the start of an exciting new era.
How to watch USC vs. UCLA:
- When: Saturday, November 23
- Where: Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California
- Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
- Watch: NBC, Peacock
About the Author
Jack Hallinan is a senior journalism major at the University of Southern California, hailing from suburban Chicago. At USC, he serves as the digital managing for Talk of Troy covering the L.A. pro sports scene and is also a USC sports editor for Annenberg Media. You can also find him as on-air analyst for The Watercooler, a student-run sports talk show.
