Can Caleb Williams and USC Finish the Job?

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 2022 college football season was almost a dream for USC. Led by a flashy new coach in Lincoln Riley – who brought his star quarterback Caleb Williams with him – the Trojans finished with an 8-1 record in the Pac-12. Williams cemented himself as the best player in the nation throughout his Heisman-winning campaign, and there was an electricity surrounding the Coliseum that hadn’t been felt in a generation. But the dream came to a sudden halt in the Pac-12 Championship Game, as the Trojans lost to Utah for the second time in 2022. Giving away a 15-point fourth quarter lead to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl only rubbed salt in the wounds, and the Achilles heel of this team became evident, as their defense ended the year one of the worst in the nation. So today, ahead of their season opener this weekend, ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti tells us how Williams has been prepping for the new season, what USC has done to address their glaring holes on the opposite side of the ball…and if it’s enough to get them to the College Football Playoff for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Paul Yugetti, last year was almost a dream season for USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
0:06.6	He led the Trojans to an eight and one conference record, established himself as the most electric
0:12.0	quarterback in the nation, and he won the Heisman trophy.
0:16.0	But I say almost a dream season because of the way it ended.
0:19.7	So can you pinpoint a moment for me when it all turned?
0:23.0	I think you'd have to look back at the Pacto Championship game where USC looked to be
0:27.9	in control in the first half of that game.
0:30.6	I'm fourth down, Caleb Williams.
0:37.8	He's really forced it from a touchdown, Relief Brown, and USC has been nails on fourth down
0:45.8	already tonight.
0:48.6	They looked to be on their way to a conference title on their way to possibly play out for
0:52.9	the first time in school history, and Caleb gets injured.
0:58.3	Alison Williams, how is Caleb Williams?
1:00.8	Well, one other thing to keep an eye on with him, he seems to be limping a little bit as
1:04.9	you watch him walking on the sidelines.
1:06.6	It looks like something with his left leg.
1:08.4	He's just, his walk is a little off.
1:10.4	We know how effective he is scrambling and that mobility is such a big part of his game.
1:14.0	See if it impacts that at all from your best.
1:15.9	Yeah, you can see it now.
1:16.9	Alison is he's walking on the field.
1:18.4	I saw it on that last scene.
	...

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