From Pālolo to the Coliseum: Jayden Maiava Throws Five TDs as USC Stays Perfect

Five Touchdowns Under the Coliseum Lights

Jayden Maiava entered the weekend as one of the most prominent Polynesian quarterbacks in college football.

He left it with another statement performance.

The USC quarterback threw five touchdown passes Saturday night, completing 19 of 29 attempts for 261 yards as the No. 14 Trojans defeated Louisiana 49–30 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The win pushed USC to 3-0 heading into Big Ten play.

For Maiava, the performance was another step in a journey that began thousands of miles from Los Angeles.

From Pālolo to USC

Maiava is from Pālolo, Hawaiʻi, and is of Samoan ancestry. He has already made history at USC as the first Polynesian quarterback to start for the Trojans, one of the most recognizable programs in college football.

After beginning his college career at UNLV, Maiava transferred to USC and eventually took over the starting job. His breakout continued throughout the 2025 season, when he threw for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns, earned third-team All-Big Ten honors and finished as a finalist for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award.

He is back on the award’s watch list in 2026.

But Maiava’s connection to home has remained an important part of his story.

Bringing It Back Home

This summer, Maiava returned to Pālolo Valley and hosted a free football clinic for more than 350 children ages 6 to 14.

The event went beyond football. Maiava spoke to the young athletes about teamwork, perseverance, academics and believing in themselves, while proceeds from event T-shirt sales benefited Aloha 1st Athletics, a Hawaiʻi nonprofit focused on leadership, character development and mental health support through sports.

That makes his rise especially meaningful for the next generation watching from Hawaiʻi and across the Pacific.

Maiava isn’t simply playing quarterback at USC. He’s succeeding at one of the sport’s highest-profile programs while showing young Polynesian athletes that someone from a neighborhood like Pālolo can command the Coliseum stage.

On Saturday night, that meant five touchdown passes and another USC victory.

For the kids who attended his clinic back home this summer, it also provided one more example of just how far the path can go.