Only two years ago, the USC Trojans looked as hopeless as the Colorado Buffaloes did this time last year. Lincoln Riley was hired to replace an ineffective Clay Helton. Riley brought with him sophomore quarterback Caleb Williams from Oklahoma. USC went from a losing team to one that nearly won the Pac-12 and made the College Football Playoff in year one at the helm. Colorado may be the new USC.
Even with the juggernaut Trojans being a massive favorite over their Week 5 opponent, Williams refused to punch down at the upstart Buffs in his post-practice meeting with the USC media on Wednesday afternoon. Given that this game has the potential to be a shootout, Williams was wise enough not to give Coach Prime and the guys any extra bulletin board material. Smart move by him.
While Williams could have been critical of what Sanders is doing in Boulder, he actually likes it.
"It's been good for them. Something that Colorado's needed and haven't had in a while. Deion and his son, Travis and all those other players have done a good job making that side of the world and that stadium and all of that very exciting. It'll be a good game, and really excited to get out there and go vs. the defense, our defense go vs. their offense and to have the crowd roaring at us."
Here is Williams' entire meeting with the media ahead of the Colorado game with USC athletics.
No. 8 USC enters Saturday's game vs. Colorado as a massive 21.5-point road favorite over the Buffs.
Caleb Williams avoids a trap, won't give Colorado bulletin-board material
If this game were being played in Los Angeles, Williams might have been a tad more braggadocious, but that is not really his style. He tends to let his game do his talking for him, or at least in between trips to the nail salon. Either way, Williams is playing for three things this season: A second Heisman, a national championship and securing his right to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Keep in mind that while the Trojans are 4-0, Colorado is probably the toughest team they will have faced up to this point. They clobbered San Jose State and Nevada in the non-conference and dominated two Pac-12 bottom-feeders in Arizona State and Stanford. Colorado is better than all four of those teams. Riley, Williams and the rest of the Trojans know this. They will not overlook the Buffs.
Overall, USC's first true test does not come until a few weeks down the road when the Trojans have to travel to South Bend to take on traditional rival Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will be the first-ranked team they will be going up against this season. Assuming the Trojans get to 7-0 with a win over Colorado, Notre Dame and Arizona in between, they will play at least three more ranked opponents.
Depending on how UCLA fares, USC still has to play Utah, Washington and Oregon after Notre Dame.