Caleb Williams Named to Davey O'Brien Watch List
USC quarterback Caleb Williams was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List on Tuesday as preseason accolades continue rolling in. The award is given to the player judged by the Davey O’Brien Foundation as the top quarterback in all of college football.
A number of major college football award watch lists will be announced this week. Williams appearing on everything for which quarterbacks are eligible won’t be a surprise.
Williams was one of 16 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien Award last season. Twelve of those semifinalists return this season, including Alabama’s Bryce Young, who won the award in 2021.
As a true freshman, Williams completed 64.5% of his passes for 1,912 yards and 21 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He also rushed 79 times for 442 yards and six touchdowns.
Williams burst onto the scene during the Red River Rivalry game against Texas. He took over with Oklahoma facing a 35-20 deficit before halftime. The Sooners eventually won 55-48. Williams threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed four times for 88 yards and a score in that game.
His best regular season game came against Texas Tech. Williams completed 77% of his passes for 402 yards and six touchdowns. He was also terrific in the only game he played against a Pac-12 opponent. Facing Oregon in the Alamo Bowl, Williams threw for 242 yards and three touchdowns without an interception or sack. He also rushed seven times for 34 yards.
The Davey O’Brien Award has been given annually since 1981. No USC quarterback has ever won the award.
2022 Davey O’Brien Watch List
There are 35 quarterbacks named to this year’s Davey O’Brien Award Watch List.
USC is scheduled to take on four of them.
The Trojans will see two in back-to-back weeks at the beginning of the season. USC will travel to Palo Alto on September 10 to take on Stanford and quarterback Tanner McKee.
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McKee threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns, plus rushed for another score, in a 42-28 win against USC last season.
The Trojans will then host Fresno State and quarterback Jake Haener on September 17 at 7:30 pm.
Haener threw for 300 yards or more eight times last season. He’ll be looking forward to another trip to Los Angeles as well. The last time he was in town, he threw for 455 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-37 upset win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
USC will play road games against the other two Pac-12 quarterbacks on the watch list. The Trojans travel to Salt Lake City on Oct. 15 to take on Utah and quarterback Cameron Rising. That looks to be one of the Pac-12 games of the year at this point.
Then USC will close out its conference schedule with a trip to the Rose Bowl to take on UCLA and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
Thompson-Robinson saved his best for USC last season. He threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns as the Bruins blew out the Trojans, 62-33.
