Jayden Maiava Leaves Dante Moore in Dust After Big Update on Oregon-USC Rivalry

The Week 1 ride of the 2025 season places the arch rivals- Lincoln Riley’s USC Trojans and Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks at the same level. The Trojans opened the 2025 season with a blowout 73-13 win against the Missouri State Bears. On the other hand, the Ducks crushed the Montana State Bobcats in a thrilling 59-13 feat. But right now, among the arch rivals, one of them has fastened its pace. Thanks to their quarterback. Lucky Trojans! Riley’s quarterback, Jayden Maiava, leaves Oregon’s Dante Moore behind in this prestigious race, the PFF Ratings.

Looks like this is nothing new for Riley’s squad. USC players have been a staple of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But when it comes to Riley’s quarterback, Maiava, he is carrying the burden of a dark past. He walked into the 2025 season with a clear ultimatum. While he proved himself, Maiava did not forget to credit his team behind their big season-opening victory. But what about him hitting a new milestone? 

On September 3, West Coast CFB tweeted, “PFF Ratings for the P4 QB’s in the West.” They placed Maiava at No.1 with a 90.8 rating, followed by Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele at No.2, Utah quarterback Devon Dampier at No.3. And what about their biggest rival quarterback, Moore? He stands at No.8 with a 68.8 rating. So, just like their rivalry, where the Trojans lead by a 38-23 record over Oregon, Maiava carried on with the tradition in the quarterback room as well.

This was a big celebration indeed. More so, after college football analyst Josh Pate of CBS Sports shared his Big Ten quarterback rankings. In that list, Maiava came in at No. 7. And the analyst had put quarterbacks like Moore, along with Drew Allar and Julian Sayin, ahead of the Trojans quarterback. But not to forget, Riley’s squad is the frontrunner when it comes to receiving Pro Football Hall of Fame nominations. USC currently has 14 total Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions, marking the most from one college program. Now that the PFF rankings are out, where do the two quarterbacks stand?

At USC last year, Maiava completed 101 of 169 passes in 7 games and came up with 1201 yards and 11 touchdowns. During the 2025 season opener, he gifted fans 15 of 18 passes, 295 yards, and topped it up with the cherry on the cake – two touchdowns. Cut to Moore, he came up with just 49 yards last season, cooking up the perfect 2025 season start with 213 yards, 18 of 23 passes, and three touchdowns. Even though Maiava is moving on full throttle, some tried to slow down his pace by making him reflect on his decision. But looks like the quarterback has crushed all regrets.

Jayden Maiava turns an ultimatum into power 

Barstool Sports analyst Liam Blutman, during the spring, wanted to make Maiava feel guilty about the choice he made. “Wish he stuck at UNLV. Instead, he went to the school of Caleb Williams, cosplaying, and it completely neutered his development,” said the analyst. Back then, Riley had trusted him. During the spring game practice, press conference, the head coach came up with motivational juice for Maiava to sip on. 

“You come in towards the end of the year, and you become the starter, and that’s a tricky position,” said Riley. “He certainly seems just more confident, more assertive as a leader, as a player right now. And that’s what we’re going to need him to be.” But then, doubts started piling up, as his ghosts of the past came back, toning down his hype and enthusiasm. 

That’s when USCJ Lost in the Sauce Podcast came with an ultimatum, “But I think Jayden Maiava, I think he’s going to still be that guy, provided I’ve been saying for a long time. We got to get the Jayden Maiava we seen in the second half of Texas A&M. Don’t forget I said that. And we got to get the same Jayden Maiava that we seen for most of the Notre Dame game, minus the last three minutes of that game.” Against Texas A&M, Maiava threw for 295 yards and came up with 4 touchdowns. While against Notre Dame, he flourished, but there have been some dud moments too.

During the feat against Notre Dame, Jayden Maiava came up with 360 yards and 3 touchdowns. It was far more than Caleb Williams had in his first meeting with the Irish. But the luck soon flipped against Maiava, who threw six interceptions, out of which two got returned for touchdowns. So, for the 2025 season, the quarterback has his book of ‘Do’s and Dont’s’ handy. After this season, will the Trojans fans put Maiava and Williams on the same pedestal?