Caleb Williams has shockingly bad game as USC gets blown out by Notre Dame

USC quarterback Caleb Williams is arguably the best player in college football, has a real shot at back-to-back Heisman Trophies, is the early favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and just this week was the subject of an ESPN article calling him a generational talent.

You never would have known any of that if Saturday's 48-20 loss to Notre Dame was the first time you saw him play this season.

It was there that Williams turned in the worst showing of his time at USC, completing only 23-of-37 passes for only 199 yards.

The truly damaging parts of the night, however, were the turnovers. 

Williams was intercepted three times in the loss after entering the game having thrown just one in his first six games this season and only five all of last season.

It was not just the number of turnovers that was an issue for Williams.

It was when and where they took place and what Notre Dame was able to do with them.

Williams started the game by throwing his first pick on the fourth play of the game, setting Notre Dame up at the USC 12-yard line. The Irish quickly capitalized to take an early lead. 

Things rapidly got worse in the second quarter. With USC down 10-3 Williams was picked for the second time to set Notre Dame up at the two-yard line which turned into another Irish touchdown just one play later. On the very next USC series Williams was intercepted again to give Notre Dame yet another short field resulting in another touchdown just five plays later. 

Those three turnovers not only resulted in easy touchdown drives, they put USC into a massive hole it was never able to climb out of.

It did not help that Williams spent the majority of the game under extreme pressure as Notre Dame's pass rush was relentless all night, constantly pressuring and hitting Williams all night. He never had a chance to do anything on his dropbacks, and when he was able to get the ball off it usually ended poorly.

This is also a pretty crushing loss for USC's potential playoff hopes. Despite having a perfect record going into Saturday's game, the Trojans have dropped in the rankings after each of their past three wins. USC had almost no margin for error when it came to being in the playoffs discussion and getting blown out by a two-loss Notre Dame team might all but eliminate whatever chances they might have had. 

While the loss might crush USC's chances, it should not mean much in the big picture for Williams. It might hurt him a little in the Heisman race, but winning two years in a row was always going to be tough. He is also still going to be the top prospect going into the draft and NFL evaluators are not going to let one bad game impact that status. Every player is going to have an off game, and given what Williams has already done, as long as he bounces back he will still be one of the best players in the country.