Caleb Williams on struggles in loss: 'I made mistakes I usually don't make'

The defensive side of the ball, once again, did not go well for USC in their 28-point loss to Notre Dame this weekend. However, it was the poor play of the offense, specifically that of star QB Caleb Williams, that really did the Trojans in in South Bend.

Williams critiqued himself following USC’s 48-20 loss to the Fighting Irish on Saturday night. He said the fact of the matter is that he didn’t have his best performance which, over time, happens to everyone in their careers at some point or another.

“I made mistakes that I usually don’t make,” said Williams. “I’ve been in college for three years now and don’t think I’ve ever had a season or game like that. Nights like that happen.”

“There was a couple (throws), maybe, you could call ‘forced’. The scrambling drill? I’d say I could have threw that one away, live to fight another down,” Williams admitted. “Games like this happen in careers. If you want to play for a while? Things happen like that.”

In the end, Williams said it wasn’t anything that Notre Dame was doing defensively that threw him offense. To him, it just came down to errors that he made that he hadn’t often committed over his time in college.

“Everything we saw on tape was what they were doing,” said Williams. “A couple of throws that I always make? I didn’t make.”

“A couple mistakes that happened don’t usually happen. Everything, like I said, that they were doing? They showed on tape,” Williams continued. “We didn’t go execute as a team. As the leader of the team, the leader of the offense? I didn’t do that good tonight. I’ll be better.”

Williams went 23-37 (62.2%) for 199 yards, a single touchdown, and three picks against the Irish. The yardage was the fewest of his season as he hadn’t finished under 200 yet this fall and was also the third-fewest of his time at USC. His one passing score was also season-low while the trio of picks, which accounted for three of the Trojan’s five turnovers, was a career-high.

As Williams said, we all hit a bump in the road. At some time or another, everyone is due. That’s why, with this moment behind him, he now wants to get back to work in order to return to being the unbelievable player we’ve all come to know.

“You’ve got to get through it, you’ve got to keep fighting, got to keep being a leader,” said Williams. “It starts at the head of the snake and I’ll be back.”