Urban Meyer gives way-too-early prediction for 2023 national champions
Urban Meyer made a way-too-early prediction for the 2023 national champions in college football. The former Florida and Ohio State head coach likes the USC Trojans.
USC made it to the Pac-12 Championship Game in Year 1 under Lincoln Riley which paved the way for immense potential. But the Trojans sputtered in the end with their second loss to Utah and then a loss to Tulane in the Cotton Bowl.
However, Meyer revealed a good reason why USC could be the logical pick for the national championship next season.
“You know that USC team is something,” Meyer said on All Things Covered. “Caleb Williams, I got to witness him against Utah, FOX did that game and I was on the sideline. And you know, I just saw, he got hurt on that long run. He got hurt and wasn’t the same for the rest of the game. So, anytime you have a guy like that as a returning quarterback, and Alex Grinch is the defensive coordinator … He coached with me at Ohio State, I think he’s really good.
“They struggled on defense. And I’m kind of watching, but if they can hit the transfer portal, and get some players on defense, I really think USC is gonna be right there.”
Williams won the Heisman Trophy last season. Since it was only his second season, Williams had to come back for a third collegiate season.
Having arguably the best quarterback in college football can go a long way.
How USC can take next step, win national championship
“Well, it’s a long answer to that,” Riley said. “You know, you come in here day one, and you’re trying to, in a lot of ways, just starting to teach these guys how to compete and what championship habits look like. I mean, you’re starting from the complete ground floor on everything. We’ve learned a lot of things, we’ve grown in a lot of ways and that’s why we’re at this game and why we’re an 11-win team and we’re two plays different from being who knows where?”
However, Riley pulled back and said there was plenty of work to be done before USC could talk about being in the position to win a national title.
“But there’s still so much more to go to be in that position where you close out a conference championship game or you win a big bowl game like this. Or win a semifinal game or win a national championship, right,” Riley said. “I’ve seen it and we’ve won, it’s been a lot of times. We’ve made just a couple of more than the other one and a half times when we haven’t won and it’s been right there.
“That’s what’s painful about it … I think we’ve made a lot of big jumps this season to get over that hump. (But it’s) equally as challenging as just getting this thing started like we all did this year. And so it’ll be a big challenge.”