Caleb Williams and the Trojans were ready to march into the CFP, but the hobbled QB and his struggling defense were stopped again by Utah
LAS VEGAS — At the end of a 59-yard run on USC’s ninth offensive play of the Pac-12 championship game—a swerving, tackle-breaking sprint that should have convinced any last doubters about the deserving winner of the Heisman Trophy—Caleb Williams felt something unmistakably bad in his hamstring.
As Williams hobbled through the rest of the game, he said he tried to follow something Kobe Bryant once said: “The game is bigger than what you’re feeling.” Williams hung in there and kept dealing. Riley asked him at one point if he was even 50-percent healthy and whether backup Miller Moss needed to go in the game. “He was not even close to 50 percent,” Riley said. “He wouldn’t let me take him out. Wouldn’t even let me take him out at the end [after the game was out of hand].
Riley will have to think long and hard about whether to retain defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, who also was his DC the final three seasons at Oklahoma. This was a shaky unit all season, and it collapsed completely as this game went along against the hard-running Utes. As was exactly the case when Utah upset USC 43–42 in Salt Lake City in October, the Utes scored on five of their last six possessions. They simply kept pounding the Trojans until the Trojans didn’t want to tackle anymore.
And now, Ohio State seemingly is the beneficiary of USC’s loss. “Coach [Ryan] Day, you’re welcome,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said to the leader of the Buckeyes during the national TV postgame interview. Having been pummeled by Michigan, at home by 22 points in its last game, Ohio State comes slinking into the Playoff via the backdoor.
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