Predicting USC football’s record in Caleb Williams’ final season

Year two of the Lincoln Riley era at USC comes with brighter lights and higher expectations, though, that should be no problem with superstar quarterback Caleb Williams leading the charge.

On3’s JD PicKell believes the Trojans can accomplish something great in 2023, if they keep their foot on the gas down the stretch.

“I want to focus our attention on the back half [of USC’s schedule] — the last six games,” PicKell said. “We have the equivalent of the Pac-12 Hunger Games plus Notre Dame. … This is going to be a gauntlet for USC. At Cal — that just screams trap game to me. Not saying it’s going to happen, but that’s the one game I wish they were playing at home.”

USC’s final six games features a trip to Notre Dame before hosting Utah the following week. The game at Cal that PicKell mentioned is sandwiched between the Utah game and a matchup against another potentially sneaky game against Washington. The final two games see the Trojans travel to Oregon before returning to LA for a rivalry matchup against UCLA.

“I think 9-3 is something you can definitely see happening. You have to go at Oregon, Utah has been problem for them the past couple of seasons. Who knows what Washington could be,” PicKell said. “You can see 9-3 on here. I think you can also very easily see 12-0.

“Having Caleb Williams in every single game will give you a chance. He’s the best player in college football. There might be a day where [USC] doesn’t have it, and he just takes over. … So, I’m going to go ahead and pick USC to finish this coming season in 2023 11-1.”

An 11-1 season would certainly put the Trojans back in the Pac-12 Championship game and a win there likely sends them to the College Football Playoff. Not bad for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and his squad.

Caleb 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 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 year’s draft class — let alone next year’s.