USC football adds All-American kicker in transfer portal
Yesterday at 05:39 PM
One of the best kickers in the country will join the Big 10 in 2025. After one season at UNLV, kicker Caden Chittenden, who was recognized as a first-team All-Mountain West recipient, will commit to USC football from the transfer portal, per 247 Sports.
As a freshman, Chittenden made 26 of his 33 field goal attempts while going 55-for-56 on extra points. He led all kickers and finished seventh overall in the country with 133 total points. His 26 made field goals were second-most in Division I, behind only Louisiana’s Kenneth Almendares.
Chittenden’s stellar freshman season culminated with a Mountain West Freshman of the Year award, along with his first-team recognition. He was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week three times apiece.
His postseason accolades went beyond just the Mountain West, as Chittenden was also named to the Freshman All-American team by 247 Sports. He was one of three finalists for the 2024 Lou Groza Award, which eventually went to Almendares.
Chittenden is expected to be an immediate contributor to USC in 2025. His future teammate, quarterback Jayden Maiava, also won the Mountain West Freshman of the Year Award with UNLV before entering the transfer portal.
Chittenden will replace departing fifth-year senior Michael Lantz, who went 14-for-20 on field goals and 45-of-45 on extra points in 2024.
Caden Chittenden joins growing 2025 USC football roster
Chittenden’s addition to USC is merely a byproduct of Lincoln Riley’s attempt to rebound from a disastrous 2024 campaign. The Trojans began the season ranked No. 23 and got off to a strong start with a Week 1 win over LSU but quickly spun out of control.
A Week 4 loss to Michigan would spark the beginning of the end for USC, who ended the season at just 6-6. The Trojans have a date with Texas A&M in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27 before they can officially move on to 2025.
In lieu of former Heisman Trophy recipient Caleb Williams, 2024 was supposed to be the year of Miller Moss. The season started off as such but quickly derailed, leading to Riley benching Moss for Maiava, who led the Trojans to a 2-1 record in his three games down the stretch. Maiava is set to start the bowl game and lead USC’s offense moving forward.
Riley has also aggressively hit the transfer portal since the conclusion of the regular season. Chittenden joins a growing incoming class that already includes Jamaal Jarrett, Keeshawn Silver, DJ Harvey and Eli Sanders. USC also has the eighth-best incoming freshman class, led by five-star quarterback Husan Longstreet.
However, despite the optimism, USC will also struggle with the loss of a significant portion of its 2024 team. Moss was among the first of its players to enter the transfer portal and has been joined by a handful of notable names. Zachariah Branch, Kyron Hudson, Bear Alexander, Quinten Joyner, and Zion Branch headline the list of names not returning to Los Angeles in 2025.
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