Brenden Rice discusses how he is gelling with Caleb Williams

USC landed a number of big-name transfers under first-year head coach Lincoln RIley, including star quarterback Caleb Williams, but wide receiver Brenden Rice has somehow slipped under the radar — at least, compared to others like Williams.

Rice, the son of NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, reeled in 21 receptions for 299 receiving yards and three touchdowns last season as a member of the Colorado Buffaloes, and he’s since transferred across the Pac-12 to USC. Now, Rice is learning behind Caleb Williams under center, a process he says is going swiftly so far — but there’s still work to be done.

“I’m trying to compare and contrast, and try to get a real feel for the quarterback situation,” Rice said, explaining that he’s still getting acclimated to catching passes from Williams at USC. “It’s amazing, though, just seeing how everything develops in the stage that we’re in, and seeing guys come together. I’m getting a feel out there for how these plays are ran, where I’m going to get the ball, where I’m going to have to do a little extra within my routes to get open. There are so many things that we can get into, and I’m just thankful.”

A 6-foot-3, 205-pound wide receiver from Chandler, Arizona, Rice hardly saw the field much until his second season at Colorado. However, he comes to USC with three years of eligibility, due to the COVID-19 blanket waiver in 2020.

Rice was ranked as a four-star prospect coming out of high school, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 79 wide receiver in the 2022 recruiting class when he first committed to Colorado.

Caleb Williams dissects first month at USC

Star quarterback Caleb Williams took the college football world by storm this year when he transferred to USC, and after one month with the Trojans, he’s feeling good about the outlook of the program.

Williams first burst onto the scene in epic fashion last season, as the true freshman entered the year as a backup to Spencer Rattler. But after Rattler struggled, Williams came in and led Oklahoma to an epic come-from-behind win over Texas in the Red River Showdown, ultimately securing the starting role with the Sooners. But after Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma in favor of USC, so too did Williams — and now, he’s confident about his future on the West Coast.

“It’s been a little weird. I wasn’t ever expecting to be here,” Williams said of his decision to transfer to USC. “But now I’m here. So, I’d say we have a lot of similarities from workouts and verbiage and language — just talking to the coaches, talking to the strength staff, and thinks like that. Hearing that and a bunch of guys — coaches — came to here (USC) from there (Oklahoma), my old school. Like I said, it’s just a little weird because you have new colors, new logos and all these other things, so it’s a little weird. But it’s been really, really fun.”

Williams was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He finished the season with 1,912 passing yards, holding a 64.5 percent completion rate, while throwing 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. Moreover, Williams, now reunited with Riley at USC, ran for 442 yards and six more touchdowns in 2021.