Miller Moss had delivered on more difficult throws than this one. Through six weeks, he’d made his share of poised plays in collapsing pockets and fired plenty of passes into seemingly impossible windows. But last Saturday, with USC just one completion away from completing a final, fourth-quarter drive, the Trojans quarterback dropped back into a clean pocket, spotted 6-foot-6 wideout Duce Robinson breaking inward … and sent the pass soaring over his head.
It was picked off, marking the second time in as many weeks Moss ended USC’s final, fourth-quarter drive with an interception. Penn State won in overtime, leaving the Trojans to ruminate on a third loss in four weeks.
“This one was especially excruciating,” Moss said, shell-shocked, from the postgame podium.
The sting of that final throw still lingered days later with a frustrated faction of the fan base who already were calling to replace Moss after consecutive losses. But as USC prepares to take on Maryland, one of the Big Ten’s worst pass defenses, the chanceof Lincoln Riley replacing his quarterback apparently is nil. The coach said as much Tuesday, when asked about his confidence in his Moss.
“Miller is our starter,” Riley said. “Miller has played a lot of really good ball. He’s put our team in position to win a lot of games. Some of the things he needs to do better, he owns it. I promise you, he wants it more than anybody with what he puts into it. He’s our leader. He’s our starter. There’s zero question about that.”
There’s also no arguing that Moss is coming off two especially inconsistent outings in which he’s completed fewer than 60% of his passes. Both Minnesota and Penn State boast strong pass defenses, ranking in the top 15 nationally in yards given up, but in both losses, Moss missed an uncharacteristic number of open receivers down the field.
The biggest of those misses came on that third-down interception. Asked what happened on the throw, Moss just said, “Six inches high.”
“He missed a few throws that he rarely, rarely, rarely misses,” Riley said. “He’s made some great ones. And honestly, some of the ones the other day, he made some really, really difficult throws. I mean, really difficult throws. I think settling in and really seeing his accuracy climb in the back half will be very important.”
Moss had no problem throwing it all over the field during the first two weeks as he piled up 607 yards and averaged nearly nine yards per attempt across wins against Louisiana State and Utah State. But in the four games since, USC is averaging fewer than six yards per attempt, which would rank in the bottom 10 nationally.
That’s unheard of for a team coached by Riley, who never has had an offense that averaged fewer than 8.5 yards per attempt. Then again, the same could be said for most of the metrics describing this offense at the midway point.
Riley, over seven previous seasons as a coach, never had an offense that finished outside of the top 10 in scoring. But through six games, the Trojans rank 52nd at 30.7 points per game.
Explosive plays, a hallmark of Riley’s offense, are down considerably too. USC ranks just 57th in plays of 20-plus yards, after finishing second and fourth the last two seasons.
Moss is just one piece of that puzzle, albeit a critical one. USC’s offensive line has gone through its share of growing pains, while its quartet of sophomore receivers, all of whom were expected to step up, have been inconsistent.
Zachariah Branch, one of the Trojans’ most dynamic weapons a year ago, has just nine catches for 60 yards over his last three games, while Ja’Kobi Lane has struggled to build on his breakout game against Wisconsin, tallying just four catches for 31 yards in the two weeks since.
“We still want to continue to get those guys opportunities because we’ve got some really good weapons out there,” Riley said. “They’ve all had some really bright moments. They’ve missed a couple that we wish we could have, whether we didn’t make the play on the ball or we missed the throw or we didn’t have the protection, we’ve left a couple out there that we need to go get here in the back half of the year.”
Capitalizing on those opportunities, like the one Moss missed in the fourth quarter Saturday, will be essential in the second half. Washington, the best pass defense in the nation by yards given up, awaits in two weeks, while Notre Dame, at the end of the year, ranks sixth. Nebraska and Rutgers are no slouches either, each giving up fewer than 190 passing yards per game.
That’s no easy task for a passing attack that’s struggled to keep pace with Riley’s past offenses. But Robinson has seen enough from Moss to know he’s the right quarterback to right the ship.
“I have complete trust in Miller,” Robinson said. “He’s been great, man. He’s going to continue to be the leader that he is.”