It was not by a large margin, but last week Jayden Maiava was the better quarterback on the field compared to his opponent. He did enough to help USC escape a disastrous loss. Against the Washington Huskies
, Maiava threw for 245 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. There were a lot of plays Maiava would have wanted back, but going into this week's matchup, he should be the best quarterback on the field.To start the season, it was a close debate whether Jayden Maiava was the better quarterback relative to Penn State's Rocco Becht. Becht started the season hot and looked like an ascendant player. In the last two weeks, however, Becht has wilted against Big Ten opponents, and Penn State's offense has come up short as a result.
Becht's struggles
are due in part to him not playing well, but also to the supporting cast not meeting expectations, too. Losing receiver Koby Howard has caused the offense to plummet. Becht has thrown 3 interceptions and has been sacked 3 times in the last 2 games. Penn State can not win football games with that level of play from Becht. I do not think Becht will get his get-right game against USC's defense, which has a lot of momentum heading into this game.
Becht's interception woes will continue this week, and Penn State's offensive line will get dominated for another week. Jayden Maiava, who, according to reports, is fully healthy, will deliver another winning performance. Maiava will outproduce Rocco Becht, and he will show that he can get it done on the road in a hostile environment.
It is time for Maiava to get back to being the elite quarterback he is. If Maiava can get one of Mark Bowman or Trent Mosley back this week, that will definitely bode well for his chances at a big game. Nonetheless, the Trojans will win this game because Maiava plays well and Rocco Becht struggles another week.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Jayden Maiava will be better this week on the road against Penn State
