Caleb Williams shares initial impressions of Notre Dame on film
In Week 7, the USC Trojans will have their hands full with another top-25 showdown. The Trojans will be on the road on Saturday as they take on the N0. 21 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
These two programs faced off last season in the Coliseum, with the Fighting Irish defense giving USC’s star quarterback Caleb Williams all he could handle. As USC prepares for this epic matchup, their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback shared a few thoughts on Notre Dame and their defense.
“They’re a team that plays hard; they play well together,” said Williams. “They got a bunch of players that are returning and a couple of new players in the secondary. The secondary, they got a couple of picks. Number 20, he’s got good ball skills. On the defensive line, they got a couple of new defensive linemen.
“It’ll be a good test for us; it’ll be fun. Obviously, it’s USC versus Notre Dame, so it’s a great rivalry, one of the greatest rivalries in college football.”
Williams would love nothing better than for USC to pick up the victory on Saturday with a similar Heisman Trophy-worthy performance as he put together last season.
In last year’s matchup, the Trojans star quarterback was deadly accurate, completing 18 of his 22 pass attempts for 232 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. He also accounted for three of USC’s four rushing touchdowns while carrying the ball nine times for 35 yards. If Williams can put together another Heisman-like performance against this vaunted Notre Dame defense on Saturday, not only will he help the Trojans pick up win number seven on the season but also inch one step closer to capturing back-to-back Heisman trophies.
Bruce Feldman predicts Caleb Williams to win Heisman Trophy
Bruce Feldman of The Athletic believes history will be made by USC’s Caleb Williams in 2023.
For one reason or another, we haven’t seen a repeat Heisman winner in a long, long time. Earlier this week, Feldman joined The Rich Eisen Show to explain why that’ll change this year, as Williams is simply too good.
“It’s, yeah — but, we’re going to see — what happens when they lose?” Feldman said, stating that it’s Williams’ award to lose. “I’m sure it won’t be his fault. He has one turnover this season. He probably could’ve had a couple of picks in previous games, certainly at ASU. But he’s playing at an incredibly high level. He’s putting up the numbers. I mean, some of these other quarterback’s in the Pac-12 are also putting up ridiculous numbers though.
“So there’s a lot — we’re not even at the midway point. Like if you asked me who do I think is going to win, I think Caleb is going to win it.”
Moreover, it’s easy to see why Caleb Williams is the Heisman favorite once again, as he’s amassed 1,603 passing yards and 21 touchdowns to only a single interception. He’s also rushed for three scores.
Time will tell if he can keep it up and avoid voter fatigue, but we’re not going to doubt Caleb Williams’ chances of repeating as the best player in all of college football, and neither is Bruce Feldman.