Caleb Williams shares what is different entering second year at USC

As if the Pac-12 didn’t have enough to worry about — Caleb Williams isn’t taking his foot off the gas after his 2022 Heisman Trophy campaign. Comfortable and confident heading into the new season, he might leave the rest of the conference in the dust as USC sets its sight for one final conference championship.

Williams isn’t taking any prisoners on his path to the College Football Playoff in 2023, and he’s as poised as ever under head coach Lincoln Riley.

“Not just for myself, but for everybody overall. Most of the guys that are playing have been in the offense for a while. But confidence in the scheme and things like that,” Williams said of his team’s comfortability. “After you get a year under your belt, you get a bunch of trials and tribulations. You get a bunch of successful plays and things like that, but [it helps build] confidence overall. Then you get to work on it during the whole summer, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

If Williams comfort and confidence are both improved heading into 2023 — based on his performances last season — the college football is about to get put on notice. Again.

Williams’ skills allowed him to finish the 2022 season with the most passing touchdowns in the nation (42) while also finishing with the third most passing yards (4,537), a top-five QBR, and only five interceptions on the year. Williams’ efforts earned him the aforementioned Heisman Trophy — and he’s undoubtedly going to be a favorite for the nation’s top award this season, too.

Many NFL mock draft analysts are slotting Williams as the No. 1 overall choice in the 2024 NFL Draft. ESPN’s Todd McShay went as far as saying he would have projected Williams ahead of Bryce Young in this past year’s draft class — let alone next year’s.

With Williams being the new face of college football for the year, he is sure to be getting every team’s best shot. Most players would succumb to that kind of pressure, but Williams is looking to sent his team to the promised land and lock up an elusive second Heisman Trophy.

That effort will begin on Aug. 26 when the Trojans open their season up against San Jose State at home. They’ll play Nevada the following week — both matchups have seen USC open as 30+ point favorites before heading straight into Pac-12 play during Week 3 against Stanford. Their first real test won’t come until Oct. 14 when they travel to Notre Dame.