Miller Moss made a fresh start this season, donning new colors for a change. But 5 weeks into the season, the QB isn’t quite making a mark at Louisville. Touted as Jeff Brohm’s next big weapon for the Cardinals, Miller Moss is not really near the expectations that were set for him. He seems to still be dealing with ghosts of the past, which might have followed him from USC.

Louisville has started the season 4-0. So, there’s little to complain about on that front. However, in their Week 5 against the Pitts, the Cardinals had to rely on a fourth-quarter comeback to save their undefeated record. The offense didn’t get going in the early stages, and the head coach took note of what his QB could have done better.

“He’s [Moss] gotta have a little more patience early on in the pocket,” Brohm told the press after the game. He noted the game-changing pick from the QB, which gave the Panthers a huge boost in the first half. He targeted a receiver despite having a way out. These bad judgments are something that had also plagued Miller Moss’s last run at USC, courtesy of a badly-performing O-line.

Lincoln Riley made some bad calls when it came to building the USC roster last year. That had a direct impact on the O-line that was supposed to protect Moss. Riley didn’t have any 5-star O-linemen in the room. Miller Moss relies on protection heavily, and he lacked that very thing at USC. Riley saw success with Caleb Williams because it didn’t matter whether it came to having good or bad protection. He was simply elite. But Moss was nowhere near his predecessor. The only OL who saw considerable growth was Elijah Paige. O-line coach Josh Henson struggled to create a competent O-lineman out of veteran Mason Murphy. That’s the state of protection Miller Moss was dealing with.

At Louisville, that seems to be manifesting once again. The O-line gave up 10 tackles for loss against Pitt. Before this game, the Cards’ O-line was entering with a mere 80.9 (B-) PFF grade. The O-line’s only star might be center Pete Nygra, who returns this year as a potential Rimington Award finalist.

Ever since the first game this year, Louisville’s O-line has failed to meet the mark. And, it has already given up 15 sacks, which was the number that Tyler Shough finished with last year. The O-line failing to create a healthy pocket for Moss seems to be pushing him into his impatient self from his USC days. Jeff Brohm had made it clear in the offseason that better pocket-pressure judgment was something Moss needed to focus on. In fact, it was the same advice to the QB ahead of the Pittsburgh clash.

And, it doesn’t help that Miller Moss is yet to pick up on accuracy. He’s actually taken a step back after the Pitt game, dropping to 64.7 from 71.9 against Bowling Green. There are already calls for Moss to be benched at Louisville. But he still has the fire because of which Jeff Brohm picked him from the portal. He needs to keep those stats up to get back into swing for the Cardinals.

Miller Moss on making a comeback in the second half against Pitt

Miller Moss proved to be a clutch for Louisville in the second half. A 17-point deficit was covered up by an offense that seemed to wake up in the second half. Moss, in particular, looked like a changed quarterback. Brohm made “adjustments” during the game, essentially lengthening plays. Moss found the time to find his accuracy. He even nailed 6 of his 7 passes in the 4 quarter.

“I think we were definitely more keyed into where to go when they were bringing six,” Moss said after the game. “[Getting] down to Jeff and Brian on where exactly we wanted to go. We hit a couple in the first half, but I think we were much more efficient in handling their pressures in the second half,” he added. The Pittsburgh defense is one of the best in the ACC at the moment. And it choked the Cardinals in the first half. But a turnaround from Brohm helped Moss and Co. to get back into rhythm and somehow save themselves from utter embarrassment.

The offensive line needs to be fixed pronto by Jeff Brohm. Or else, his track record with transfer portal QBs stands threatened. Miller Moss has been here before, and it ended his career at USC. He’s already struggling to deal with that at Louisville, which casts a serious doubt over the rest of the season for the team.