It is easy for all college football fans to root for Miller Moss as USC's QB

There was once a time when it was not unusual for a redshirt junior quarterback to bide his time and wait for his opportunity to be a starter in college football. However, in the age of N.I.L. deals and the transfer portal, it might have seemed as if those days were gone.

Then Miller Moss emerged at USC and reminded all college football fans of how it used to be. That's why the newly minted Trojan starting quarterback should be easy for people across the nation, not just USC loyalists, to root for.

To be fair, this isn't some rags-to-riches story. Moss wasn't a no-name unranked recruit coming out of high school.

In fact, when he signed with the Trojans at the end of the Clay Helton era, he was a 4-star signee and the No. 15 overall quarterback in the class of 2021. Including USC, he held offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, and a host of others.

Thus, Moss was supposed to one day become the leader of the USC offense. It just wasn't supposed to take this long. And that's why Moss has become a college football rarity...perseverence.

To begin with, Moss wasn't the only QB in USC's 2021 class. That year, the Trojans also inked Jaxson Dart, the No. 13 QB in America. Thus, the fact that he agreed to honor his commitment to his hometown school is commendable in and of itself.

Dart would transfer to Ole Miss in January of 2022 but Moss would stay in L.A. despite massive changes and the arrival of a new star to play ahead of him.

In February of 2022, former Oklahoma standout QB Caleb Williams transferred to USC following his head coach Lincoln Riley from Norman to Southern California. At the time, Williams was just a sophomore meaning Moss would have to wait at least two seasons just to get his shot at even competing for the starting job with the Trojans.

Moss stuck it out though. In an era when virtually any other QB would have jumped ship and looked for immediate playing time and an N.I.L. payday, Moss stayed the course at the school he loved.

Even when Williams left for the NFL after last season, nothing was guaranteed to Moss, though. In the offseason, Riley brought in stiff competition for the starting QB job in the form of UNLV starting QB Jayden Maiava who passed for 3,085 yards and 17 TDs while leading the Rebels to a 9-5 record in 2023.

Considering that Maiava's arrival came on the heels of Moss throwing for 372 yards and six touchdowns in a 42-28 Holiday Bowl win over Louisville, in his first career start at the college level, the addition of another starting caliber quarterback to the roster could have been enough of a slap in the face to cause Moss to look at other options.

However, that doesn't appear to be how Moss operates. Instead, once again Moss stayed loyal to USC and underwent a legitimate quarterback battle over the past nine months.

Now, after four years on campus and plenty of time in the background, Moss is getting his opportunity to shine for the Trojans. It's the script of a story that many had thought was no longer believable in the modern era of college football. A quarterback who is willing to wait for his opportunity by persevering and earning everything good that comes his way is a rarity in today's game, almost as antiquated as the wishbone offense or games that end in ties.

Rather, the expectation is that most college QBs will take the path of a former Trojan, Malachi Nelson. Signed as the No. 5 overall recruit in the class of 2023, he spent only one season at USC before transferring to Boise State when it became apparent that he wasn't the immediate heir to the throne.

This week, Nelson was again passed over as Boise State named sophomore Maddux Madsen its starter for 2024 relegating the former 5-star recruit to backup duty once again. Ironically, in the same week, Riley gave the keys of the USC offense to Moss.

It's a reminder that even in today's play-now world of college football, good things sometimes come to those who stick it out. In that sense, Moss is a throwback to an era when opportunities at stardom were earned rather than negotiated.

Yes, the landscape of college football has changed and it isn't likely to return to what it was decades ago. But sometimes, players like Miller Moss come along and remind us that the sole of college football still resides in hard work, perseverance, and patience and that's why every fan should want to see Moss succeed this year.