7:00 AM ET
Paolo UggettiESPN
For a fistful of individuals, Caleb Williams' Heisman-level play was appreciated connected portion delay. When Williams was tearing disconnected agelong runs, escaping unit successful the pouch and delivering Patrick Mahomes-like lasers to receivers, his violative linemen weren't ever capable to watch. They were blocking.
So each Monday, erstwhile USC came successful for movie study, the linemen who played successful the crippled would beryllium and instrumentality successful the afloat Williams amusement for fundamentally the archetypal time. The delayed gratification gave players similar halfway Brett Neilon a greater appreciation for what Williams has done.
"Blocking for him during the game, I don't ever get to spot what's doing down me," Neilon said. "But erstwhile I spell backmost and ticker the film, I'm like, 'Wow, helium truly made a immense play here,' erstwhile I thought it was conscionable similar a regular throw. Playing with him connected the tract is special, but past you rewatch that tape, you truly get to see, he's a playmaker. He's conscionable a gamer."
"He's conscionable been incredible," said violative lineman Andrew Vorhees. "I deliberation that's wherefore you perceive that 'H' connection thrown out. He's been Superman retired there."
The operation "Heisman moment" is often overused. Usually, the subordinate who finds himself being paired alongside those 2 words is successful request of a Heisman infinitesimal to solidify their lawsuit arsenic the year's champion subordinate successful assemblage football.
In the lawsuit of Williams and his 2022 season, it is hard to overuse the phrase, successful part, due to the fact that determination are a fistful of moments that qualify. Williams did not triumph the Pac-12 title and helium volition not person a accidental to triumph the nationalist title. But implicit the people of 13 games, the sophomore who transferred from Oklahoma to USC wowed with azygous plays much than immoderate different subordinate successful assemblage football.
Williams turned linebackers into velocity bumps, cornerbacks into aimless wanderers successful request of a representation and antiaircraft lineman into postulation cones. His limb made throws that defied physics and his legs kept trudging adjacent erstwhile determination didn't look to beryllium a way out. As soon arsenic the shot touched his hands, Williams turned bonzer throws into the norm and made magic retired of messes to the constituent wherever it seemed, astatine times, that helium was amended disconnected breaking the play alternatively than pursuing it. Chaos suited him; improvisation was 2nd nature.
And that's each earlier you see the numbers: 4,075 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, 66% completion percentage, 814 rushing yards and 10 much touchdowns connected the crushed arsenic good arsenic lone 4 interceptions, zero fumbles and an 86.5 QBR.
Williams surely ascended arsenic the play progressed, but from Game 1, helium was showing the quality to crook games into item factories for his résumé. So, arsenic Williams gets acceptable for what volition apt beryllium his Heisman coronation this Saturday (8 p.m. ET connected ESPN/ESPN App), here's a look astatine his champion moments this season.
The agelong shot vs. Stanford
After easy dispatching Rice successful the opener, Williams and USC headed to Palo Alto to effort and debar different atrocious nonaccomplishment astatine Stanford. The code of the crippled was acceptable aboriginal by Williams. With the people 7-7 precocious successful the archetypal quarter, helium dropped backmost and took his clip successful the pouch earlier lacing a pinpoint walk to Jordan Addison connected the run. The shot flew astatine slightest 60 yards and deed Addison successful stride for a 75-yard touchdown -- the longest Williams would person each season.
Just arsenic his scrambling became a fixture of his performances, Williams' limb spot was besides connected show each season. In immoderate ways, a propulsion similar this -- with plentifulness of clip and his feet acceptable -- would beryllium 1 of the easier ones he'd person each season.
The crippled victor vs. Oregon State
From a timeliness standpoint, this mightiness person been 1 of Williams' champion throws. The potent USC discourtesy had stalled successful a low-scoring matter successful Corvallis. But with 1 infinitesimal and 20 seconds near and down 10-14, the Trojans needed a lifesaver to support their grounds intact. Enter Williams.
Had this propulsion to Addison been a millisecond sooner oregon a millisecond later, it apt wouldn't person been caught, USC would person astir apt dropped the crippled and the play would person looked rather different.
A antithetic benignant of limb spot vs. Washington State
It's third-and-16 adjacent midfield and Williams is connected the run, rolling retired to his right. He spots Mario Williams unfastened downfield, but doesn't effort to stop, acceptable up and throw. Instead, from the 43-yard line, Williams pushes disconnected his backmost ft portion connected the tally and leaps into the aerial arsenic helium sends the shot downfield. By the clip Mario catches it, he's a footstep from the extremity zone. It's a 43-yard touchdown propulsion that volition aboriginal beryllium gawked astatine by movie buffs connected Twitter. It's 1 of galore NFL-level throws Williams has each season.
Williams ➡️ Williams 🎯@uscfb strikes archetypal 💪 pic.twitter.com/ziNJCyUwAn
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 8, 2022The scrambles vs. Arizona State
This was Williams' archetypal existent showcase, successful ample portion due to the fact that the Sun Devils really pressured him beauteous well. But it didn't matter. Against ASU, Williams displayed his otherworldly capabilities erstwhile extending plays. On aggregate occasions, Williams recovered himself with seemingly nary option, lone to gaffe retired of imaginable sacks and crook losses into gains.
"I deliberation it's achromatic magic," moving backmost Travis Dye said. "I spell disconnected and bash my job, I crook astir it looks similar he's astir to beryllium sacked, and each of a abrupt helium Houdinis retired of it and we person a 20-yard gain. I don't understand."
On 1 peculiar play successful the archetypal quarter, Williams was wholly wrapped up by a Sun Devils defender who had jumped connected his back. Williams not lone stayed upright, but proceeded to interruption into the unfastened field, wholly interruption a defender's ankles and gain a archetypal down with a 20-yard tally connected third-and-4. Later successful the game, it looked similar Williams was astir to get sacked successful the extremity portion for a safety, but with 2 ASU linemen converging connected him, Williams was someway capable to propulsion a precocious alert shot successful the vicinity of Addison, who pulled it down for a catch.
"We signifier things similar that each day, it's called scramble rules," Addison said. "So erstwhile it happens successful the crippled we're acceptable for it."
The Heisman-worthy moments successful a nonaccomplishment (Part 1) vs. Utah
USC would suffer this crippled by 1 constituent aft Utah nailed a 2-point conversion connected its last drive, but the amusement Williams enactment connected is worthy of remembrance. There was the 55-yard tally helium pulled disconnected connected third-and-8. The fading, back-foot propulsion to Mario Williams for 65 yards. And the rotation determination backward to debar a blitzing Utah defender adjacent the reddish zone, lone to occurrence different back-foot propulsion to the backmost of the extremity portion for different score. And that was each successful the archetypal half.
here's that absurd caleb williams to mario williams walk pic.twitter.com/KMTqhpXE0n
— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) October 16, 2022Williams had different 1 of those back-stepping touchdown throws later, but nary agelong was much awe-inducing than the 2 Houdini-like plays helium completed successful the 2nd quarter. Having ran backmost into his ain extremity portion portion facing unit from a fistful of Utah defenders, Williams turned into a hoops constituent defender crossing implicit a portion defense. Instead of shooting the shot successful this case, Williams kept it and ran a full of 30 yards without being touched until helium stepped retired of bounds. The catch? The play was called backmost due to the fact that of a holding penalty.
So Williams repeated it. Sort of. On third-and-15, alternatively of moving horizontally and retired erstwhile the unit came, Williams moved vertically and stayed in, juked 1 defender and threw a shot connected a enactment to Addison, who was crossing the mediate of the field.
"He wants to widen the play truthful he's going to bash it," Addison said. "He's not going to conscionable beryllium determination and spot that nobody's open, instrumentality the sack oregon propulsion it out. He's going to marque thing happen."
The no-look flip vs. Colorado
This 1 is self-explanatory. In a mostly overlooked crippled wherever USC blew retired Colorado, Williams made this timely no-look flip to moving backmost Austin Jones for a touchdown that softly began the comparisons to Mahomes.
— All-American Bowl (@AABonNBC) November 12, 2022Earlier successful the season, Williams had done thing to temper those, either. When asked if helium had watched the Mahomes item against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wherever helium pirouetted his way to a touchdown throw, Williams said helium saw it, and thought, "I tin bash that too."
The rivalry crippled showcase vs. UCLA
It was a crippled that some USC and Williams needed -- connected premier clip against their biggest rival -- to summation attraction and nationalist consideration, some for the playoff and the Heisman. Williams, for his part, wasn't arsenic flashy arsenic helium was effective. The sophomore completed 74.4% of his passes, threw for a season-high 470 yards and scored doubly successful the aerial and erstwhile connected the crushed connected his mode to a 48-45 win.
"I've played with truthful galore large quarterbacks successful my beingness and I deliberation he's 1 of the ones wherever you spell retired decidedly and you person nary worries nary substance what the people is," said wide receiver Kyle Ford. "More than thing there's a definite assurance with him."
But the infinitesimal that elicited the astir chatter was this propulsion successful the 2nd 4th to wide receiver Brenden Rice. It was possibly the propulsion that encapsulated Williams' best. First, helium stepped up successful the pocket, slid near and distant to debar incoming pressure. He had country to tally for a decent summation connected 2nd down, but alternatively helium pivoted horizontally to stay down the enactment of scrimmage. There, helium threw a dart to Rice portion connected the run, which became the benignant of propulsion that needed to beryllium rewatched from the space down Williams to truly beryllium appreciated.
Another absurd propulsion from Caleb Williams that made that TD thrust hap pic.twitter.com/1KUqY1YAg1
— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) November 20, 2022Of course, helium had different on-the-run propulsion that was conscionable arsenic good, if not better
Caleb Williams is ridiculous, beatified moly. What a propulsion and drawback pic.twitter.com/nShrth4J3K
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 20, 2022The Heisman crippled vs. Notre Dame
This 1 tin beryllium dubbed the "running backward game," if you will. For 60 minutes, Williams avoided the Notre Dame unit successful a mode that, possibly for astir quarterbacks, was counterintuitive. The Irish did person 2 sacks, but they could person had 8 had it not been for Williams virtually moving backward to enactment live and crook antagonistic plays into affirmative ones. He did it by what had become, astatine that point, his signature play: debar pressure, rotation close oregon near and propulsion connected the tally disconnected the backmost foot. This time, though, helium added immoderate shuffling backward for difficulty.
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) November 30, 2022Surprisingly, though, Williams' astir Heisman-like infinitesimal was a play that resulted successful a punt. Near the USC extremity zone, Williams had third-and-20. Irish defenders rushed astatine him, but helium spun backward retired of one, past stepped backmost adjacent further arsenic different tried to scope for his legs. At this point, his scrambling had acceptable him backmost 15 much yards, but Williams rolled to his close and recovered Mario Williams downfield with an off-balance throw. It would not beryllium capable for a archetypal down, but it would beryllium capable to marque it onto the item reel. The chants of "Heisman" that ensued astatine USC that nighttime were each but a formality. That Williams yet leaned into the sound and did the Heisman airs a fistful of times aft scoring (though according to him, it was astatine the changeless behest of his teammates) was fitting. It was, aft all, the nighttime helium mightiness person secured the award.
1:32
Caleb Williams does a large occupation to support the play live for the completion, tops it disconnected with a TD tally aboriginal successful the thrust and past strikes the Heisman pose.
The Heisman-worthy moments successful a nonaccomplishment (Part 2) vs. Utah
The Utes were USC's kryptonite. They outplayed the Trojans connected some occasions and were worthy of the Pac-12 championship. Yet that didn't halt Williams from showcasing what helium had been doing each season, adjacent portion injured.
The play that volition beryllium remembered, for amended oregon worse, is the 1 wherever Williams seemingly "popped" his hamstring. It was an contiguous item arsenic Williams rumbled past astir each defender connected a 59-yard tally that near him retired of breath.
0:37
Caleb Williams makes a play with his feet and runs down the tract for a 59-yard rush.
The wounded helium suffered connected that play acceptable him backmost the remainder of the game, but helium wasn't done churning retired highlights.
"S---," Lincoln Riley said postgame. "That's arsenic gutsy a show arsenic you'll ever see."
He had yet another, back-foot propulsion for a immense gain, different on-the-run onslaught to support a important thrust live late, and past helium did this:
😮💨 @CALEBcsw dodging bodies retired here. pic.twitter.com/tbxKkehkf8
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 3, 2022This propulsion had a customary descent that avoided pressure, but the propulsion itself -- a sidearm flick portion flat-footed astir a barreling defender to a streaking Addison successful stride -- mightiness person been his champion of the season.
Of course, nary of it was capable for USC to flooded Utah. And truthful Williams' play ended with a Heisman résumé, but a measurement distant from the College Football Playoff. The idiosyncratic reward Williams mightiness person Saturday volition not soothe, but it volition correspond a play replete with electrical moments.
What is atrocious quality for defenses crossed the state is bully quality for Williams and USC: Heisman Trophy oregon not, Williams volition beryllium backmost adjacent season. What volition helium bash for an encore?
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