USC Football: Caleb Williams Eyes Heisman Win, Longs for National Championship

Williams is hungry for a championship.

While last season was groundbreaking in the eyes of many USC fans, who had grown weary of eight-win seasons and Outback Bowl appearances, for Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams, it wasn't quite good enough.

Williams was far and away the most outstanding player in college football last season, throwing for over 4,500 yards, 42 touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions. A hamstring injury slowed him down in the Pac-12 Championship, as the Trojans' hope at their first College Football Playoff appearance slipped away in Las Vegas.

In his effort to bring the Trojans back to their glory days, Williams was rewarded with a nice piece of hardware. The sophomore quarterback became the eighth Trojan to receive the Heisman Trophy, separating USC as the school with the most players to have won the award.

Williams doesn't care about the Heisman Trophy.

"I haven't been in the College Football Playoff in my two years of playing," Williams said at the Trojans' final Pac-12 media day. "It's been tough. It bothers me because I play for championships. I don't play for anything else. So not being able to have the chance and being so close frustrates me. This year it's going to be a good one."

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Is Caleb Williams the best player in the country? pic.twitter.com/MP8M1yJ5Ll

— College Football Report (@CFBRep) July 16, 2023

The last two games of the Trojans' season stick out as especially painful but motivating to Williams. The Pac-12 Championship is where the Trojans lost their chance at the CFP. Their Cotton Bowl loss against Tulane University is where they were, in a word, embarrassed. 

"I have played in my mind that I can think of, and vividly," Williams said. "I zone out and think of the play and where we were and all that. It's for sure a chip. I know I'm not the only one."

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For USC Head Football Coach Lincoln Riley, the dissatisfaction Wiliams and the rest of the Trojans hold over from last season is a good sign.

"In reality, getting to the point where we were a play away from winning the conference or going to the playoff, was that largely positive? Yes," Riley said. "But do I want us to have the sour taste in our mouth that it was right there and we didn't finish it? Absolutely. I want there to be excitement, but I want that pissed-off attitude. I don't think I've had to cultivate that or create it. It's there. It's definitely there."

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The Trojans' chance to avenge their shortcomings in 2022 will begin Aug. 26 against the San Jose State Spartans at the LA Memorial Coliseum.