What Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams said after USC's win over Arizona

The Trojans were depleted on Saturday, but they found a way to win

TUCSON - Caleb Williams was angry after USC's 43-42 loss to Utah. So angry that he promised to "get back up and punch somebody else in the face."

Williams did exactly that on Saturday, passing for a career-high 411 yards and five touchdowns to lead USC to a 45-37 victory over Arizona.  

Williams showed off his immense arm talent throughout the game, throwing on the run, across his body, into tight windows. And he did all of it without his two best receivers. Jordan Addison and Mario Williams both missed the game with injuries. 

Here's what Williams and USC head coach Lincoln Riley had to say after the Trojans improved to 7-1. You can watch the full press conference in the video above.

Williams on connecting with 10 different receivers:

"You get to spread the ball around a little bit more and the other team can't key on on anybody," Williams said. "Those guys stepped up and I just tried to put the ball where they could make catches."

Photo by Yannick Peterhans

Riley on his team's resilience:

“With the way the last few weeks have gone, for our guys to come in here and overcome a lot of things out of our control, I was as proud of this win as any of the seven this year,” Riley said. “So many guys stepping up, contributions from all sides. Knew it was gonna be a tough matchup, knew it was gonna be an emotional game."

“The number of things that didn’t go our way is a long list. Some tough things didn’t go our way in the first half, and playing without the number of players that we were, I don’t know many teams that would’ve responded like this,” Riley said.

“I told you guys for the last two weeks, I do believe this team will respond based on the vibe after the Utah game, based on what we’ve seen the last two weeks, but you gotta go do it. You can go be awesome for the previous 13 days, but if you’re not ready to put it on the line and work tonight, and overcome it, then it’s kinda all for nought. I just think the mindset of this team was in a really, really good place tonight.”

Riley on USC's defense containing mobile quarterbacks:

“Listen, the quarterback here is a unique challenge. We had him dead to rights, I don’t know how many times in the game, and he made some plays. You gotta give them credit too, some of the throws and catches out there, you can’t cover some of them better. They made some unbelievable plays, especially in the first half,” Riley said. “Still gave up too many big plays.”

Riley on players that stepped up:

“I thought Mason (Murphy) did a nice job stepping up, and I thought Courtland Ford came in and played well for us, so I’m proud of those two guys at tackle for stepping up. Obviously moved (Jonah) Monheim around a little bit and he continues to be really impressive with his versatility as a player. He’s been super valuable,” Riley said.

Riley on the debacle at the end of the first half:

“They admitted that they messed it up,” Riley said. “The explanation given to me at the beginning of the third quarter was that they obviously didn’t handle it properly. Anybody knows that who was watching.” 

Here's more on the Pac-12 officiating and how badly they bungled the final five seconds of the first half.