USC will dominate headlines because of Caleb Williams

The USC Trojans will dominate college football headlines this year because of quarterback Caleb Williams, according to On3’s J.D. PicKell.

There are a lot of expectations for the Trojans and head coach Lincoln Riley. Anything short of a Pac-12 title and a College Football Playoff appearance will be a disappointment.

PicKell broke it all down on The Hard Count and said there will be a lot of storylines with uSC and Williams.

“The USC Trojans, the best way to define this one for me is, hey, Bright Lights, Big City, Heisman quarterback,” PicKell said. “All those things equate to, you’re gonna grab headlines and last year, they were a preseason storyline, but a lot of people kind of lost track of USC because they played so many games at night on the West Coast. Which means a lot of the good people in the Southeastern Region of the United States were in bed and getting ready for Sunday by that time. 

“So for USC, again, no more snoozing on them when it comes to College Football Playoff. Actually, it’s College Football Playoff or it’s a failed season for USC. They have the best odds to win the Pac-12. They’re in the top five in terms of winning the national title. USC has enormous expectations for 2023 and Caleb Williams is a major reason why, he’s there for one more season … We all know that Caleb Williams has one more year in LA he’s not going to come back for another year and is gonna be the top pick in the NFL Draft. Can you blame him? So this is your one year. 

USC got a Heisman winner in Williams last year as he finished with 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns, five interceptions, a 66.6% completion percentage, 382 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

“You went and got a top three portal class,” PicKell said. “You went and got some key pieces on the defensive line. And you got Caleb Williams, who’s going to put on a show for the duration of the entire season. How much are you able to get out of that?

“How much are you able to get out of a generational talent that is Caleb Williams? USC will make headlines and I believe it’ll be a story that we cover in depth from Game 1, not just when it comes to November. So USC, absolutely a headline team when it comes to this 2023 season.”