Caleb Williams was excellent

Paolo Uggetti, ESPNSep 30, 2023, 07:14 PM ET STONE, Colo.– For a quick moment on Saturday at Folsom Field, Caleb Williams discovered himself in a place he hasn’t been much throughout the past year: on the margins of the spotlight, not in its center.After winning

the Heisman Prize last December, Williams has actually ended up being the focal figure of college football, the next terrific thing, the likely No. 1 general NFL draft pick. On Saturdays, he’s universal, appearing both on the field and most likely on your television too. However as Williams heated up for the much-anticipated showdown in between the Trojans and Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes, the focus, as it has for most of this season, gravitated toward Sanders and the hoopla that surrounds him.Prime Time

‘s procession out of the tunnel and onto the field for pregame warmups has become its own occasion, and on Saturday, the walk had its share of star-studded opening acts prior to he took his popular stroll. Former NBA players Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, rap artists Da Child and Lecrae, DeSean Jackson and CC Sabathia all left of the tunnel and on the sidelines, each of their steps echoed by those of professional photographers, fans, videographers and media. Eventually, Sanders lastly emerged and every lens fixated on him as he sent out the crowd into a frenzy and the stars on hand gathering to him. He was the primary event.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Then, the

game started

, and Williams took the stage.He had actually gone to bed earlier than usual the night previously, the only tweak he had actually made to his routine provided the 10 a.m. kickoff. Whatever else was the exact same, therefore was Williams’popular efficiency and jaw-dropping plays. Over the course of the game, with his father, Carl, watching from the standing room only press box, Williams rushed as he does. He removed, threw across his body, off one foot or the other, attempting deep balls and short slants alike to 10 various receivers, and made them look simple and easy as he’s wont to do.”The kid constantly plays that way. I haven’t seen him play badly,”Deion Sanders stated. “That kid is a flat-out baller, male. He is a difference-maker. He makes them better. The thought process, even simply directing traffic and putting them in the ideal playcalls and the ideal circumstances, he does a wonderful task of marking off and changing things and getting the ball out of his hands. It was a satisfaction for me to play against him and their head coach. That was enjoyable.”

By the time USC emerged with a 48-41 win, a red-faced Williams jogged off the field having actually thrown for 403 lawns and six touchdowns (tied for a profession high) on 40 tosses and 30 conclusions. Besides his only interception– his first this season– USC required every one of those conclusions to edge the Buffs in a game that ended up being another example of the paradox that is this Trojans team: talented to the brim and winning, but not without its worrisome concerns, particularly on defense.

“We’re always in it with Caleb, naturally,” senior security Bryson Shaw stated. “But we desire it to be on us. We want to be the defense. We want to make the plays.”

The defense has actually been a concern with this USC group and it remains so. Players and coaches understand it. Despite the flashes of improvement, they know the pressure that comes with yet another struggling efficiency. Shaw went out of his way Saturday to combat the story that protective planner Alex Grinch is to blame, noting they’re the ones not performing.

“As players, we are letting him down,” Shaw said. “He’s putting us in the best spot. We’re not making plays. We’re missing out on tackles. We’re refraining from doing our task.”

Regardless of the fact Riley stated he thinks his team’s problems have actually progressed this season and enhanced, the script of the majority of USC games because he got here appears to be crafted in comparable cadence: strong starts, unstable surfaces. Riley always explains that a win is a win, and he’s ideal. USC has found out, by large need, to win ugly. The question, naturally, is how sustainable that will be going forward.That answer seems to be as long as Williams is under center, anything is possible.On a day when plenty were paying

attention to Deion and Shedeur Sanders, Williams made another comprehensive statement as the best quarterback in the game. Up until this game, Williams had mainly travelled through USC’s first four games, at times not requiring to play the 4th quarter or perhaps the second half and still installing computer game numbers. Against Colorado, the game asked more of him, and he provided.”Things have been working, “Williams said, matter-of-factly,

when inquired about his efficiency.”And you got to keep going, keep striving. It’s the only method things keep being smooth and feeling that way.”Postgame, Shedeur– who completed with an outstanding 371 backyards and 4 touchdowns of his own– was inquired about facing Williams.”I feel like my stage is my stage,”Shedeur stated, when asked about sharing the stage with Williams. “He’s a fantastic player, however it’s not on his stage or anything like that.” USC quarterback Caleb Williams was his normal self against Colorado, throwing from all kinds of positions. AP Photo/David Zalubowski If there’s anything Williams has shown the college football world over the past two seasons it’s that he can turn any phase into his own. Saturday, that stage was Folsom Field. However going forward, those phases will only get tougher. Home games versus Utah and Washington wait for. Road challenges at Notre Dame and Oregon loom.Can the defense improve? Will the offense need to outscore everyone? Can Williams keep this up? “As the season continues to go on, certain experiences are needed, “wide receiver Tahj Washington said.”[ We ‘d] rather have them now than later on.” For Riley, the trip to Colorado was an efficient and favorable tip that any game in this environment won’t be simple and more verification that they have the capability to win even when they stumble.”Listen, we’re a group that gets circled around every week therefore yeah, to come win these on the roadway, you go find a method,”Riley said. “I promise you at the end of the year nobody’s going to look back on this and care, right? They’re going to recall and see a dub.”Five games into the season, USC has five wins and though the record is two-dimensional, everybody has actually viewed the 3-D variation. The wins are wins however in the mission for an area in the College

Football Playoff and beyond, USC will have to outrun its shortages or totally erase them on the fly. The previous is difficult, while the latter nearly feels impossible.And yet for every single condition, there is Williams, carrying out wonders in the backfield and pressing his ceiling ever so greater with every game. “People definitely take what he does for granted,”wide receiver Brenden

Rice said.”It won’t be until he leaves that individuals will really understand the greatness that they’re seeing and what they really get to come out here

and see every single day.”USC understands the success they have in front of them. The obstacle at hand is not losing it.