Tulane Players, Coaches Prepare for Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans

USC quarterback Caleb Williams says he’s going to play in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Monday, a little more than four weeks removed from a hamstring injury that severely limited him during a loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game. USC fans were understandably skeptical when he said that a week removed from significantly limping through the final three quarters of a game in which he took a beating from the Utes.

There might still be some wait-and-see from USC fans, who undoubtedly will want to see how Williams is moving if he indeed is behind center for the first snap of the game. But Tulane players and coaches need no convincing. They’re preparing for Monday morning with the full assumption it’ll be Williams running the show for a dynamic and powerful USC offense.

Tulane defensive coordinator Chris Hampton spoke highly of what USC head coach Lincoln Riley can do on that side of the ball.

“One of the best offensive coordinator probably in college football history,” Hampton said of Riley. “They can throw the ball well. They run the ball extremely well. Probably a little bit better than people anticipate who don’t watch the film. [They] do a good job blocking on the perimeter…We’ve got our hands full.”

Hampton started listing the offensive statistical categories in which USC excels. He didn’t stop for a while.

“First-down offense, third-down offense, red-zone offense, scoring offense, total offense,” he said. “They don’t have very many weaknesses.”

USC hasn’t seemed to offer any deliberate misdirection as to Williams’ availability. But Hampton and the Green Wave probably wouldn’t buy it if they tried.

“We’re preparing as if he is [playing],” Hampton said. “I haven’t even thought about if he doesn’t play.”

Tulane’s Big-Time Tacklers

Tulane has linebackers in Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson who bring 114 and 108 tackles, respectively, into this game. The battle between the Williams in cardinal and gold and the Williams in green and blue will likely alone be worth the price of admission.

The Tulane linebacker is coming off one of his best statistical games of the season. He had eight solo tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup. Now he’ll take aim at the best offensive player in the country.

“He does a great job moving around the pocket, making great throws,” Williams said of the USC quarterback. “He didn’t win the Heisman for no reason. He’s an excellent player for sure.”

Williams called the USC offense “a nice challenge.” And said the Tulane defense can’t get down if Caleb Williams makes plays only Caleb Williams can make.

“He makes a lot of guys miss all the time, just scrambling around the pocket,” Williams said. “It’s amazing to see on film…We want to get after him. You’ve got to come in here cool, calm, collected. If you miss, it’s okay. Get back up and keep going.”

Williams will likely be a guy doing plenty of the chasing. He leads Tulane with 8.5 tackles for loss and is tied for the team lead with five sacks.

Tulane Playing With Confidence

Hampton and Tulane defenders were asked to compare the USC offense to a group they’d seen previously. Hampton said it might be similar to what they saw from SMU. Though, he added the caveat that Williams runs more like John Rhys Plumlee from UCF than Tanner Mordecai at SMU.

Anderson compared Williams to former Texas and SMU quarterback Shane Buechele in his ability to escape the pocket and make throws downfield.

Even if Williams is close to 100%, this USC offense isn’t. The Trojans will be playing without center Brett Neilon, left guard Andrew Vorhees and top wide receiver Jordan Addison. That’s in addition to Travis Dye, who was lost for the year before the final few regular season games.

The Green Wave might bring one of the best defenses the Trojans have seen all season into this one. And Tulane has seen more than its share of success against opponents this year.

Kansas State averaged 33.2 points per game this year but scored just 10 against Tulane. Houston averaged 36.1 and scored just 24. East Carolina scored nine points against Tulane but averaged 32.5 this season. Those were three top-40 scoring offenses in the country this season.

But even without the missing players, USC’s top-five offense is very likely stronger than anything Tulane has faced this season. The Trojans will need Williams to play at his typical Heisman-best against a stout Tulane defense.