Former 5-Star USC Football QB Loses Starting Job At Mountain West School

Malachi Nelson once called USC Football his dream program and Lincoln Riley the coach he wanted to play for, but when it appeared that Riley may go into the transfer portal to find an experienced quarterback for 2024, he entered the transfer portal to find, what Nelson called, ‘a new start.’

That new start was Boise State. But if it was playing time he was interested in, he won’t be getting that with the Broncos. It was announced Sunday evening that the school planned to start redshirt sophomore quarterback Maddux Madsen for the opener at Georgia Southern.

USC Football’s Former Future QB Loses Starting Role At Boise State

Nelson sat behind Caleb Williams for his Heisman follow-up last year for his true freshman season. He recognized that there was little chance of playing given Williams’ obvious NFL fate, but soon became disgruntled having to sit out.

“I was sitting there thinking after the Nevada game [Week 2], it was the first game in my entire life I had suited up and not played at least one snap,” Malachi said. “So it was going through that whole season, not playing football. It was really, really, really difficult for me to not have that.”

Nelson entered the transfer portal on December 17th of that year, just 10 days before USC football took on 15th-rank Louisville in the Holiday Bowl.

After committing to Boise State Nelson felt good about his decision up to about a week ago, telling ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti;

“I’m a very competitive person. I don’t like to lose in anything,” Malachi said. “I knew it was going to be like all this talk about how he was scared of this guy or that guy and he didn’t want to compete and all these things. So that was really what was holding me back, but I knew it was the right decision to leave.”

Nelson had originally committed to play for Lincoln Riley with the Oklahoma Sooners, before the coach’s departure to Southern California. He de-committed from OU the day Riley was hired and Nelson promptly committed to the Trojans two days later.

Riley did not end up landing a top transfer quarterback in the ensuing portal windows. USC Football will likely start Miller Moss against LSU on September 1st.

More must-reads:

• BREAKING: Lincoln Riley Names His Starting Quarterback
• USC Trojans Toughness and Grit Questioned By College Football Analyst