Lincoln Riley doubles down on praise for QB Miller Moss

Transfer newcomer Caleb Williams presently has the third-best Heisman Trophy odds, per multiple sites that track such things. He's the former five-star prospect and No. 1-ranked dual-threat QB in the country, whom coach Lincoln Riley recruited first to Oklahoma and then again here to USC. He's the one who has played in this offense and put up big numbers as a true freshman with the Sooners last year, the guy going on Good Morning America and the one with the lucrative NIL deals.

But with only two healthy scholarship quarterbacks on the roster at present -- with hopes that Mo Hasan can return from an Achilles injury in time for the season to provide further depth -- it's been just as important for redshirt freshman backup Miller Moss to develop and build confidence in this offense.

And twice now over the last few days, Riley has doled out strong praise for Moss in those regards.

On his Saturday Zoom call with reporters, Riley said, "Miller maybe has improved the most of any player on the team from [practice] 1-12."

"I really enjoy coaching Miller. I really do. ... He's had 50 percent of the reps and he is one of the guys that has taken full advantage. He has strung together several nice days in a row right now, he's throwing the ball extremely well mentally, he's getting more comfortable every day. He's played very efficient, he's made a lot of explosive plays. I've been extremely impressed with the way he prepares, and you can just tell his confidence is really growing," Riley said.

"And quarterback probably as much any, maybe quarterback and corner, they are confidence positions, man. All of them are, but those two especially. And he is playing with a lot of confidence right now, and it's been fun to watch, fun to see the guy progress."

Riley was then asked about Moss again during his appearance on the Trojans Live show Monday night, in regard to what specific areas he's seen improvement from the second-year QB, and he reiterated many of the same points.

"He's prepared to get the most out of the reps, so I've been impressed with just the time he's put in on the side. I just think as he's gotten more comfortable, as he's been more prepared, as he's gotten more reps, you can just see the guy's confidence growing. And it's such a confidence-heavy position. If you're not playing with confidence back there you've got no shot at this level," Riley said.

"And because of the work he's putting in, and I do think it's a system he's taken to really quickly, he's playing with more and more confidence, he's making more plays each and every day. Yeah, I've been proud of his progress. He's done a tremendous job."

Moss, of course, was a highly-touted recruit in his own right, ranked the No. 8 pro-style QB and No. 109 overall prospect in that same 2021 recruiting class.