USC QB JAYDEN MAIAVA FEATURED ON WEEK 7 OF THE HEISMAN PODCAST
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava is the featured guest on this week’s Official Heisman Trophy Podcast. Listen to the full conversation here. Episodes and clips of The Official Heisman Trophy Podcast are available on all major podcast networks, including Spotify and Apple, as well on YouTube and TikTok.
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava did not duck the microphone after a bruising loss to Illinois. He came on the Official Heisman Trophy Podcast, and talked through what went wrong and what comes next.
“It’s the practice and the reps,” he said. “I try to steal a rep whenever I can, mentally or physically. I did throw a pick that I want back, but the team rallied around me and told me to keep firing. They trusted me, I trusted them.”
Through five games, Maiava has thrown for 1,587 yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception while completing 71 percent of his passes. He has cut down turnovers and tightened his decision-making, progress he traces to a blunt offseason focus.
“Late last season was a learning experience,” he said. “The offseason was about taking care of the ball and not giving a defense even a slight chance to make a play on it.”
The Illinois game still offered a window into why USC believes it has a closer. In the fourth quarter, Maiava drove the Trojans and hit receiver Makai Lemon for a go-ahead score on an inside fade, a throw that required timing and trust.
“We were in play action,” Maiava said. “The look made me want to get our single receiver, Tanook Hines, the ball, but the safety was floating over there. We were on the right hash and Lem was on the left with a lot of room. Inside fade. Routes on air. With someone like him, he is always going to come down with the ball.”
That moment, he added, grows out of repetition and chemistry. “It would be tough without it,” he said. “The chemistry with Lem, with all the receivers, with the whole team, takes us a long way. It brings out the resilience and the trust in one another.”
The numbers say he has been one of college football’s most efficient passers. Maiava says the standard is higher. He graded his season “C+,” then explained why.
“There are throws I want back and decisions I want back,” he said. “Leadership too. I can be better vocally. I want my teammates to hear my voice and feel my presence with the energy I bring, then stay consistent with it.”
By nature, he is an introvert who prefers to lead by example.
“I’m getting better at being vocal, and I will get better,” he said. “I will never ask a teammate to do something I am not doing myself.”
The setting for his leap is USC head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense, a system that has produced three Heisman winners and another runner-up. Maiava says the structure simplifies a complex job.
“It is awesome,” he said. “The versatility, the creativity, the plays he brings in each week. Playing under Coach Riley makes playing quarterback a lot easier because he is such a great coach. The emphasis is to be decisive, do my job the best I can, and stack winning plays.”
The game still throws curveballs inside the whistle.
“During the play a lot can happen,” Maiava said. “I go in expecting nothing, prepared for anything. Coach Riley and the staff do a great job preparing us. They put us in different situations in practice. When the time comes, we sink to the level of our training.”
USC, whose eight Heisman winners are the most of any school, has a high-profile home date with Michigan coming up. The Illinois defeat stung, but the message inside the building is to compress the horizon and keep moving.
“Before the season we talked about how close this team is,” Maiava said. “This was our first loss together. Being close shows up now. We come together more and build the camaraderie even stronger. What stands out is that even the guys who have not played feel the loss. No one wants to see a teammate down.”
The Trojans are not framing the year around the 12-team College Football Playoff, even if the expanded format gives contenders more margin. “We do not really talk about that,” he said. “We attack each day one day at a time. One-week season. Focus on what we can control.”
Maiava is the first Polynesian to start at quarterback for USC, a milestone he calls both humbling and motivating.
“It means a lot,” he said. “A lot to learn from and a lot to build on. I wake up grateful to be coached by Coach Riley and Coach (Luke) Huard and to be with my teammates. I am blessed to be in this position.”
He says mainland fans sometimes miss the fire that animates athletes from Hawaii.
“Our competitiveness and our resiliency,” Maiava said. “We never give up. We keep going.”
Ask him to picture home and the scene snaps into focus.
“Polo Valley,” he said. “In the mountains behind Waikiki. That’s where I grew up. True scenery.”
His island sports heroes include Tua Tagovailoa, Marcus Mariota, Colt Brennan and Manti Te’o. As a freshman in high school, Maiava once found himself lifting next to Mariota, then in his prime.
“We were like six inches apart and not talking,” he said, laughing. “I was just observing how he carries himself. I was a little star-struck. Palms sweaty.”
Away from football, Maiava keeps it light. He taught himself to juggle and can handle four balls when pressed. If he were not playing, he said he would be “putting smiles on people’s faces.”
In the meantime, the task is straightforward. Regroup, lean on chemistry, and make the routine plays routine. The rest tends to follow.
“Be decisive,” Maiava said. “Do your job and stack winning plays.”
