Lincoln Riley has a lot of flaws as a coach, but the one thing he has done consistently well is coach quarterbacks. He has coached three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and has coached a Heisman runner-up as well. Jayden Maiava of USC was supposed to benefit from Riley's guidance, and to be honest, it seemed in September that Maiava was in the process of becoming a better quarterback. Maiava played well versus Oregon, and with the talented young receivers on the 2026 USC roster, it seemed this offense was ready to take the next step in its evolution. Instead, USC has regressed in the most important games of the year. It's why the 2026 season has become a failure.
Same problems as 2025
Jayden Maiava, in 2025, played well but would make one or two crippling mistakes
in important games. The goal in 2026 was to eliminate those fatal errors, but clearly, Maiava has not done that. Maiava has not fundamentally improved, which makes this 2026 season a disaster. Maiava was supposed to get better. That was always the cornerstone of a successful USC campaign. Lincoln Riley couldn't bring about that evolution, and it's why USC's season lies in ruins.
Regression since September
In the first month of the season, Jayden Maiava looked the part. He looked like he was ready to take the next step. That's what makes this season and Saturday's Indiana loss so discouraging. What happened here? Why did Maiava, a confident and comfortable quarterback at the start of the season, regress as the year went along?
Throwing passes in traffic
Jayden Maiava could never shake the hero-ball tendency to throw balls into a crowd. Why Lincoln Riley hasn't been able to get through to him on this point is a puzzler.
Throwing off his back foot
Jayden Maiava continued to throw passes when backpedaling instead of stepping up into the pocket. Technique, football IQ, and basic fundamentals were not airtight for Maiava under Lincoln Riley this year.
Big plays not matching the mistakes
When he was younger, Jayden Maiava might make multiple mistakes in a game, but he would also throw long touchdown passes. Three interceptions are bad, but if they were offset by three touchdowns, USC would have had enough points to beat Indiana. Mistakes can be tolerated if huge splash plays coexist with them, but it hasn't been the case for USC this year - not enough, at any rate.
Trent Mosley wasted
Trent Mosley is a dude, an elite receiver, and yet USC is scoring fewer than 14 points in multiple games this season - 13 versus Indiana and seven versus Wisconsin. Not getting more potency out of the passing game is a huge disappointment for Jayden Maiava and Lincoln Riley.
Outplayed by mediocre quarterbacks
The sad reality for Jayden Maiava at USC is that he has been getting outplayed by mediocre quarterbacks such as Colton Joseph of Wisconsin and Grant Wilson of Indiana. Wilson wasn't great against USC, but he wasn't terrible. Maiava was. Wilson genuinely outplayed him. It's a sad commentary on how far Jayden Maiava has fallen that in a year when Big Ten quarterbacks have either been injured or have underperformed, Jayden Maiava - healthy - has not been able to rise above the pack in the conference.
Play Jonas Williams versus Maryland
Maryland is one of the worst teams in the Big Ten. The Trojans host the Terrapins next. Jayden Maiava should of course start against UCLA in two weeks, but this Maryland game is a time for Jonas Williams to get some meaningful snaps so that Riley and staff can evaluate him. If Riley gets fired (which is unlikely), the incoming coach would have some game film on Williams to look at. USC needs to play Williams more than just a few snaps against Maryland.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: QB guru Lincoln Riley fails to bring out the best in Jayden Maiava
