Crystal ball offers bold USC predictions

Here are six bold predic- tions for the USC football team during the upcoming season:

- RYAN KARTJE

QUARTERBACK Jayden Maiava's gunslinger approach could result in big offensive plays, but also turnovers.

Jayden Maiava will throw for 30 touchdowns this season. But he’ll also throw 15 interceptions.

Maiava made a concerted effort over the summer to eliminate the backbreaking mistakes he struggled with last season. He dug deeper into Lincon Riley's offense, and he worked on his mechanics with the experts at the 3DQB training academy.

But Maiava’s style is always going to lend itself to high variance. He loves to chuck it deep and still seems to throw it too often into coverage. That’s going to yield some thrilling results at times on an offense that should be more conducive to big plays. But 4.3% of his passes last season were deemed turnover-worthy by Pro Football Focus.

That was third-highest in the Big Ten and too high for USC's offense to reach its potential. His big-time throw rate was also thirdhighest in the Big Ten at 5.1%, though, and that was before he fully grasped the ‘Trojans’ offense. There’s room to grow here. But I'd caution that his proclivity for throwing caution to the wind might just be apart of the deal with Maiava.

USC will be shuffling its offensive line all season.

USC hasn't really had a reliable front since Riley’s first season, and this is by far his most unproven unit yet. The interior is a legitimate concern if DJ Wingfield isn’t deemed eligible.