Lincoln Riley makes Caleb Williams' case for Heisman Trophy

Caleb Williams currently holds +787 odds to win the Heisman Trophy. That ranks fourth among all candidates, and USC head coach Lincoln Riley discussed exactly why his QB1 deserves to win college football’s most prestigious award.

“He’s playing at a really high level. He’s had one turnover, a lot of touchdowns. His team has won a lot of games. He’s done it different ways; here as of late he’s done it without some really impactful players both on the line and obviously at the skill positions,” Riley said of his quarterback. “He’s been as valuable as any player in the country and I think it’s pretty simple.

“This stuff always plays out. A lot of that stuff, just like conference races will be decided here as time goes, but up to this point, I don’t think there has been a better, more valuable player in college football than him.”

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Williams has compiled 3,029 total yards this season – more than CJ Stroud, Hendon Hooker, Bo Nix and Stetson Bennett. His 32 total touchdowns trail only Nix’s 36 regarding Heisman favorite quarterbacks. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is in a statistical class of his own, but still ranks behind most of that group.

In a season where the reigning Heisman Trophy winner returned to school, and Ohio State‘s star quarterback was the preseason favorite to win it this season – to say that two playmaking signal callers from the Pac-12 are the ones leading the way (at least statistically) over the rest of the pack would come as a surprise to many looking back on the preseason’s hype.

That surely isn’t lost on USC, Williams and Riley, who are currently trailing Nix and the Ducks in the current Pac-12 Conference standings. Oregon (6-0, Pac-12) sits atop the throne undefeated in conference play, while USC (6-1) remain in the passenger’s seat. UCLA and Utah are creeping up at 5-1, respectively, but the capabilities of Williams and Nix have set the Trojans and Ducks apart from the other members of the conference.

Still, both teams are fighting for a potential spot in the College Football Playoff. If both teams can win out and meet in the Pac-12 Championship game, the Ducks (No. 6) and the Trojans (No. 8) will likely be competing for one of the top four spots in the final CFP rankings.

If that’s the case, who’s to say a Pac-12 title-winning 12-1 Oregon or USC couldn’t have a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in their ranks?