USC coach Lincoln Riley on responding to Tulane, Caleb Williams at halftime of the Cotton Bowl

USC leads Tulane 28-14 at halftime of the Cotton Bowl. Before getting into the locker room with his team, Lincoln Riley gave a little perspective on what he saw in the first half.

First, Riley was asked about how his team responded to Tulane tying the game at 14 points, despite the early lead that USC had built.

“Gotta respond,” Riley said. “That’s the Cotton Bowl. I mean, this is a New Year’s Six Game. They’re pretty damn good. They’re gonna make some plays too. I was proud to see our guys respond. Really closed the half well.”

After that, Riley was asked about his quarterback, Caleb Williams, who is recovering from a hamstring injury and was seen going into the injury tent for his left hand.

“He’s played good. He got a little impatient on the interception. Other than that, he’s played good. Guys have made some plays for him and made a couple nice plays on scramble.”

In the first half, Williams was 20 for 29 passing. He had 253 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Meanwhile, on the ground, Williams ran three times for 10 yards.

Tulane will get the ball to start the second half.

Lincoln Riley admitted Caleb Williams isn’t 100%

Prior to the start of the Cotton Bowl, Lincoln Riley admitted that quarterback Caleb Williams still isn’t 100% healthy. He’s playing through his hamstring injury and it has shown at times.

“Well, he’s not 100% but he’s made some nice progress. We were fortunate that we had the amount of time that we had after the previous game for him to recover. Our training staff has done a great job of working with him to try and get him ready,” Riley explained.

“Listen, he’s a competitor. I mean, there was no way that he was not gonna play in this game.”