Miller Moss Sets Holiday Bowl Record

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

It was Miller Time last Wednesday night, December 27, at Petco Park in San Diego, where redshirt sophomore quarterback Miller Moss threw for a Holiday Bowl-record six touchdown passes to lead USC to a 42-28 blowout of Louisville.

With last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams (expected to be one of the top picks in the 2024 NFL Draft) watching from the sideline, Moss made the most of his first collegiate start, completing 23 of 33 attempts for 372 yards with an interception. He tossed scoring passes of 17 and 29 yards to Taj Washington, 31 and 12 yards to Ja’Kobi Lane, nine yards to Kyron Hudson, and 44 yards to Duce Robinson.

Moss, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, was rewarded for his commitment to the program. He stayed with the team even after the Trojans signed Jaxon Dart—who beat him out of the starting job—and then when Williams transferred from Oklahoma to join head coach Lincoln Riley. Moss had not started a game since his junior year of high school in 2019.

Moss completed five of seven passes for 63 yards and scored the first touchdown of his USC career on a four-yard quarterback keeper in the fourth quarter of the Trojans’ victory over San Jose State in their season opener at the Coliseum in August.

Moss enrolled at USC in the spring of 2021 after graduating high school one semester early and saw action in two games as a freshman backup, throwing a 16-yard touchdown pass versus Cal. In 2022, he played in five games, completing 12 of 14 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown.

A redshirt sophomore who earned his bachelor’s degree in law, history and culture with a minor in business finance in the spring, Moss made the 2021 and 2022 Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and is the second-string quarterback behind Williams. He is now beginning his pursuit of a master’s degree in finance.

Moss made the 2020 PrepStar Dream Team and Southern California News Group Fab 15 first team as a senior quarterback at Alemany High in Mission Hills. As a junior he was selected LA Daily News Offensive Player of the Year, completing 215 of his 319 passes for 3,118 yards and 28 touchdowns.

As a sophomore he threw for 19 touchdowns. He spent his freshman season at Loyola, completing 33 of 55 passes for 350 yards and two touchdowns.

As a youngster living in the Via Bluffs, he honed his skills at Palisades Recreation Center. When he was in eighth-grade at St. Matthew’s, Moss led the Rancho Dominguez Lobos to the AAU California 14U Super Bowl.

In 2010, he won the 8-9 division of the NFL’s Punt, Pass & Kick qualifying at Palisades Charter High School and he was the Most Valuable Player in the 7-10 age group at Matt Leinart Football Camp.