USC football: Caleb Williams broke an absurd number of USC football records in 2022
Caleb Williams, USC's Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, had one of the best seasons of any QB ever in 2022 and he set a few Trojan records along the way.
Williams overtook a five year passing yardage mark set by Sam Darnold in 2017 by throwing for 4,537 yards last season. Darnold's previous record stood at 4,143. Williams and Darnold are the only two USC quarterbacks in the program's rich history to throw for over 4,000 passing yards in a season. In 2017, Darnold's 4,225 total offensive yards set a new USC record, which Williams also broke by ending the year with 4,919 total yards.
Additionally, Williams set new USC records for total touchdowns (52) and passing touchdowns (42) in a season. Both marks beat out the previous records set by Matt Barkley in 2011, which Cody Kessler tied in 2014. Barkley and Kessler each threw 39 passing touchdowns and had 41 total touchdowns in 2011 and 2014 respectively.
In USC's 48-45 win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl, Williams broke another USC record with his 503 yards from scrimmage. The previous high mark was set by Kedon Slovis, who had 502 yards from scrimmage in 2019 against UCLA when the Trojans beat the Bruins 52-35.
As if that wasn't enough, here are the other USC football records Williams set in 2022:
- Lowest interception rate in school history (1%)
- Most passes completed (333)
- Most passes attempted (500)
- Highest all-time passing efficiency rating (168.5)
- Most rushing yards by a QB (382)
Williams will return to USC for his junior season in the fall. There's a good chance he will set even more Trojan records in what will likely be his final year in college football.