USC Football: 5-Star Underclassman Quarterback Ditching Trojans

Perhaps it's time the Trojans used the transfer portal themselves?

The quarterback bench depth expected to step up with the anticipated departure of USC Trojans junior starter Caleb Williams just (reportedly) suffered a major blow.

Sources inform Matt Zenitz of 247Sports that five-star USC Trojans freshman quarterback Malachi Nelson will enter the NCAA's transfer portal and ultimately ditch the Trojans.

The 6'3", 190-pound true freshman out of Los Alamitos now seems unlikely to partake in USC's Holiday Bowl matchup (or should we say DIRECTV Holiday Bowl matchup?) against the Louisville Cardinals on the 27th. The game is slated to kick off at 5 p.m. PT.

This is a major blow to the program, as Nelson was the No. 1 overall recruit in his high school class nationwide. And he's gone.

We don't know for sure if Williams is ditching USC for the NFL next season, but given that he's expected to be a top 2-3 prospect in next year's draft, and that the Holiday Bowl is hardly the Rose Bowl (a deserving fate for a 7-5 team that fired its defensive coordinator midway through the season), we assume he's at least done with the Trojans in 2023.

Sophomore quarterbacks Jake Jensen, expected starter Miller Moss, and Gage Roy, plus junior Isaac Ward, comprise the current signal callers available to the squad ahead of its matchup.

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