The USCTrojans, after seven games, remain in the thick of the hunt for a potential College Football Playoff berth. That is due partly to how well Jayden Maiava has played this season. Just as he decided how this season would start for USC, the same will go for how the season ends. If Maiava can be just as good in the second half, USC has a shot at reaching its goals.
Here is my midseason report card grade for Jayden Maiava after the first seven weeks of college football:
For seven games of action, Jayden Maiava deserves an A grade. Jayden Maiava started the season on a great run. He looked like a quarterback who made the necessary improvements in the offseason. He had 10 touchdowns in the first three games and more touchdowns than incompletions. Maiava was not slowed down by an inexperienced group of pass catchers; instead, he helped elevate each of the freshmen. Those young weapons for USC are the best on the team, instead of holding back the offense.
Jayden Maiava's leadership has been on full display, especially early in the season. It does not look like he just lost two of his best weapons to the NFL. The Trojans offense has not skipped a beat this season. There was a stretch of games where Jayden Maiava was struggling, and that was in part due to his shoulder injury. Still, there has maybe been 1 game out of the 7 games where he was not the undoubtedly best quarterback on the field. That is what Maiava will need to continue to do moving forward for USC to have success.
He saved his best performance for against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Maiava, on the road in a hostile environment, threw for 301 yards and 3 touchdowns. That same player who dominated early in the season showed up in a must-win game.
There were a lot of high expectations surrounding Jayden Maiava heading into this season. Lincoln Riley made some bold claims about his starting quarterback. Jayden Maiava has backed it all up by being 2nd in the country in passing yards with 2045 yards. Maiava has an 18-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In 7 games, Jayden Maiava has shown he is an elite quarterback who has the ability to take USC where it wants to go. It will be exciting to see what Maiava can accomplish the rest of the way.
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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Midseason report card for USC starting quarterback Jayden Maiava