Caleb Williams explains late-game laugh with Lincoln Riley, how he's still developing

Caleb Williams and Lincoln Riley brought their partnership from Oklahoma to USC this offseason, and the duo’s Trojans debut went about as swimmingly as possible on Saturday.

As USC was taking care of business against Rice, Williams and Riley shared a moment of jubilance on the sidelines. Aside from the thrill of victory, the Trojans quarterback explained just what was going on.

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“I didn’t want to come out, so I was trying to play as smart as possible by going down before anybody could hit me or anything like that,” joked Williams. “He actually, before I even said that, he said, ‘I know that you’re trying to stay in the game,’ talking to me.”

While Williams may have been able to get away with that earlier in his career, the USC coach knows all of his tricks now.

“This isn’t Year 1 together anymore,” quipped Riley.

Continuing, Williams went down that path of differences between Year 1 and Year 2 with Riley, and expanded on where he believes he’s developing as a quarterback.

“More reps has helped tremendously. More reps in the sense of not just this year, but overall. Been in this offense, been able to command. Coach Riley giving me more trust, with some checks or anything like that,” stated Williams. “It just allows me to see the field, he can talk to me with more detail when we’re in the film room or anything like that.

“Just going through all of that, going through practice, going through camp. Fall ball. All of that. The reps and him being able to talk to me as a Year 2 guy, it’s helped me a lot.”

Moreover, Year 2 is off to a roaring start for Williams, who passed for 249 yards and two touchdowns, while missing on just three passes throughout the game. Additionally, the USC star rushed for 68 yards on six carries, showing his dynamic abilities to the world.

Next week, USC will look for a little revenge against Stanford, who handed them a loss at home last season. With Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams leading the way, there’s little doubt that they’re much more equipped to take on the Cardinal in 2022.