Who is Miller Moss? Junior ready to follow Caleb Williams as USC starting quarterback

Life after Caleb Williams is beginning for USC football.

When the Trojans take the field for the first time during the 2024 college football season, the Lincoln Riley-coached team will be led onto the field by a familiar name for USC fans — one who waited his turn to become the next great USC QB in Miller Moss.

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Moss was part of the 2021 recruiting class and had only attempted 59 passes as he served as the backup to Williams, the future No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. However, Moss showed off his potential during the 2023 DIRECTV Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in San Diego on Dec. 27, 2023.

Making his first career collegiate start, Moss threw for 372 passing yards and set Holiday Bowl, USC Bowl and Pac-12 Bowl game record with six touchdown passes. The six TD passes were also the most thrown by a Trojan quarterback, who made his first career start.

Now Moss will get his chance to be the full-time starter and make his second career start in a Week 1 marquee game for the Trojans against No. 12 LSU at 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Here's everything you need to know about Moss, including his decision to stay with USC, his recruitment, stats and more:

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Why did Miller Moss stay at USC?

After enrolling early, Moss attempted just 13 passes as a true freshman in games against Washington State and California during the COVID-shortened 2021 season. Clay Helton, the coach who recruited Moss to USC, was fired on Sept. 13, just two games into the season. When starter Kedon Slovis was injured, another true freshman of the same recruiting class earned the snaps over Moss as the starter.

Riley was announced as the Trojans' coach on Nov. 28, 2001. Right away, Riley brought along freshman quarterback Caleb Williams, who was quickly named the starter.

As a sophomore, Moss attempted 14 passes during the 2022 season. Through his first two seasons, Moss appeared in just seven games and made 27 pass attempts, all of which came in garbage time. As a redshirt freshman, he appeared against Rice, Fresno State, Arizona State, Colorado, and in the Pac-12 Championship against Utah. Despite Williams returning for his junior season, Moss stuck it out with USC heading into his redshirt sophomore year.

“I truly have a ton of love for this university,” Moss said at Big Ten media day. “I have a ton of love for this staff, and obviously a ton of love for the players in the locker room, and I’m completely committed to them. I love this place, and I’m hopefully going to deliver a lot more wins this year.”

Moss appeared in four games during the regular season against San Jose State, Nevada, Stanford, and Notre Dame. His most extensive action came against the Cardinal, completing 11 of his 15 passes for 112 yards. He had 134 yards and a touchdown against Nevada.

After Williams declared for the 2024 NFL draft ― as the presumptive No. 1 overall pick ― on signing day, Riley told media present that the Trojans would look to sign two quarterbacks from the transfer portal.

Miller Moss breaks out in Holiday Bowl

Moss was named as the starter for the Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl against No. 15 Louisville for the Trojans. In his first career start, Moss made history with his performance, throwing for 372 yards and six touchdowns. The previous record had been four touchdown passes, which Mopassed on a 12-yard lob to Ja'Kobi Lane in the third quarter to put the Trojans ahead 35-21. Moss added his sixth touchdown with 10 minutes left on a perfectly thrown 44-yard strike to Duce Robinson.

The next day, on his drive home from San Diego to L.A., Moss received a phone call from Riley.

"He was like, 'Hey, great job. I just want to let you know we're not going to take an older transfer,'" Moss said to ESPN. "I think Lincoln really wanted to see me play and then was going to make a decision because I think he wanted to see if what happened in the game confirmed his practice evaluation."

After the USC spring game, Moss was named the frontrunner for the starting role over UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava. Finally, on Aug. 19 Moss was named as the starter for USC heading into the 2024 season, following three seasons as a backup.

Miller Moss high school

Moss attended Bishop Alemany High in Mission Hills, California. During his senior season, he was named to the 2020 PrepStar Dream Team and Southern California News Group Fab 15 first-team. As a junior, he completed 215-of-319 passes (67.4%) for 3,118 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 105 yards on 31 carries (8.8 average) and averaged 38.9 yards on 12 punts to earn the honors of Los Angeles Daily News Offensive Player of the Year.

Miller Moss recruiting

As a recruit, Moss was the 76th overall recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, per 247 Sports Composite rankings. He was the 12th rank QB in a class that featured Quinn Ewers, Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy, Jalen Milroe and Drake Maye, among others. Moss was the sixth-ranked player in California. LSU starter Garrett Nussmeier was the No. 14 QB in that class.

Moss committed to USC on June 1, 2020, over Alabama, LSU, and UCLA. According to his 247 Sports page, Moss held offers from 24 schools. Jaxson Dart was also part of the two-QB class for Helton in 2021.

Miller Moss stats

Here's a look at Moss' stats in his three seasons with USC:

• 2021: 8-for-13 passing, 74 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions; three rushes for -14 yards in two games

• 2022: 12-for-14 passing, 159 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions; three rushes for 9 yards in five games

• 2023: 46-for-65 passing, 681 yards, seven touchdowns, one interception; four rushes for 32 yards and two touchdowns in five games

• Career: 66-for-92 passing, 914 yards, nine touchdowns, one interception; 10 rushes for 27 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Miller Moss? What to know on USC football's new quarterback