LAS VEGAS (AP) — USC quarterback Caleb Williams stood behind the lectern at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December and delivered a speech, reminding his co-finalists that he might have won the hardware, but they were the ones playing in the College Football Playoffs.
“Guess you can’t win ’em all,” he said.
When Williams spoke Friday at the Pac-12 Conference media day, it became clear the same thought has reverberated through him for the past seven months.
“It resonates a lot,” Williams told The Associated Press. “It burns inside that I had said that up there. I didn’t want to say it, but it was the truth and it also got a little laughter ... So it eased up the crowd a little bit.”
What hasn’t eased up is his hunger for a national championship.
Williams, listed on FanDuel Sportsbook as the current favorite to with the Heisman Trophy again at 5-1 odds, said he’s heading into the 2023 season extra motivated after a hamstring injury marred his sophomore campaign. A victory over Utah in the Pac-12 title game might have catapulted USC into a playoff spot, but Williams was dealing with the nagging injury and the Utes beat the Trojans 47-24.
Had he been healthy for the championship in USC’s remarkable turnaround season — from 4-8 in 2021 to 11-2 and a Cotton Bowl bid in 2022 — Williams said he believes the Trojans would have enjoyed a different ending.
This year, he realizes what it’ll take to execute coach Lincoln Riley’s gameplan, as the two continue to resurrect the program to national prominence.
“I think when I’m on the field we got the best shot to win,” Williams said. “When I’m healthy, we got even a better shot to win. ... Having a routine that I stick to throughout the season, whether it’s food, lifts, running, whatever the case may be, that’ll help me stay healthy for 15 games.”
In just one season with the Trojans, after following Riley from Oklahoma, Williams ranks 10th all time in the program with 42 touchdown passes. His 333 completions are 13th at the school.
Now, Riley and the rest of the Trojans are hoping the catalyst who helped thrust USC’s football program back into the national spotlight is ready for an encore performance.
“I think the situation last year, he obviously did a great job, was important for our program, but also I think for his learning and his growth, it was a great situation for him to be in as well,” Riley said. “Great quarterbacks at the end of the day get defined by their teams’ success, their championships. I know he’s very hungry to go close out this year with both.
“There is no one that I would rather go to war with than that guy.”
Williams has already drawn comparisons to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes for his ability to improvise in a split second and still deliver precision passes from an array of arm angles. And considering the former five-star high school recruit out of Washington, D.C., has been in the national spotlight since high school, Williams said he'll subconsciously be ready for every big moment that'll confront him.
Whether or not he’s back at the lectern at the Heisman Trophy ceremony again, Williams has his eyes set on a bigger goal.
“I play for championships,” he said. “I’d much rather hoist the golden trophy at the end, it means a lot more to me than the bronze trophy. And it doesn’t mean to disrespect the Heisman ... but it’s more or less that’s why you go out there and play football.”
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