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WATCH: Caleb Williams, Mario Williams connect for early touchdown in USC spring game

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•04/23/22•

Jonathan Wagner

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Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images.

Caleb Williams and Mario Williams began their collegiate careers last season at Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley. When Riley took the USC job, both Caleb and Mario Williams followed him to to become Trojans. In USC’s spring game, Caleb Williams found Mario Williams for an early touchdown right out of the gate.

Caleb took the snap in the red zone, and found Mario Williams in the back right corner of the end zone to get the early touchdown for USC.

At Oklahoma, Mario Williams turned into a solid weapon down the stretch as a freshman, bringing in 35 receptions for 380 yards and four touchdowns last season. Caleb Williams eventually unseated Spencer Rattler as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback, throwing for 1,912 yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 442 yards with six more touchdowns.

Now, Caleb and Mario Williams are looking for their early success at Oklahoma to translate over to USC, and if the first quarter of Saturday’s spring game is any indication, the duo will have no problem doing so.

Caleb Williams hopes Saturday’s touchdown is his first of many at USC this season

When Williams took over at Oklahoma last season, he immediately took college football by storm. He is a Heisman Trophy candidate this season at USC, and Saturday’s touchdown to Mario Williams could be the first of many this season.

Even though Caleb started off hot for Oklahoma last year, he did slow down a little bit down the stretch. As he enters his second season of college football, Williams is looking to improve in the pocket. Lincoln Riley thinks that could be great for his game.

“Just want to do it effectively,” Riley said. “I don’t want to harness those guys, but if people’s plan when Caleb plays is to try to keep him in the pocket, then he’s got to be able to beat that, and he’s fully capable of beating that. And that’s always part of progression of a young quarterback. Most guys, [they’ve] got to learn more and more of when to stay in there and when not to. I think he’s getting a feel for that. He’s pushing himself on it. I didn’t think it was something he, in his past, has been bad at, but it’s like a lot of areas, it’s something he can certainly get better at.

“As a quarterback, people are going to try to play you all kinds of different ways. If you’ve got ways to beat anything they throw at you, you become pretty tough.”