Analysis: How Notre Dame football knocked around 'King' Caleb Williams in 48-20 romp
SOUTH BEND — When the night was over and the beating was through, vanquished USC quarterback Caleb Williams stood in the bowels of Notre Dame Stadium and stared at the floor.
To his left was Trojans coach Lincoln Riley, fresh off the second-worst loss of his decorated coaching career. From outside the cramped visitors’ interview area, this 48-20 Notre Dame football romp was still generating a celebration that will echo for some time.
“I made mistakes that I usually don’t make,” the reigning Heisman Trophy winner said glumly. “Been in college for three years now. Don’t think I’ve ever had a season or a game or anything like that.”
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Three first-half interceptions put the 10th-ranked Trojans (6-1) in a deep hole. Before Saturday night, Williams had thrown just 10 interceptions through the first 31 games of his career and never more than two in the same game.
That had happened to Williams just once: a November 2021 loss at Baylor as an Oklahoma freshman.
Six sacks for the Irish, split among seven different defenders, left Williams dazed and battered. His bid to join Archie Griffin (1974-75) as the only repeat Heisman winners had been damaged significantly.
Williams, the brash transfer who had run circles around Notre Dame last season in a 38-27 showcase out west, was asked why he kept forcing throws he normally would avoid.
“There was a couple maybe you could call forced,” he said after going 23-of-37 passing for 199 yards and one touchdown. “The scramble drill, I’d say I could’ve thrown that away. Live to fight another down.”
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This was a reference to interception No. 3, the one Williams threw right to Benjamin Morrison in traffic. It came on second-and-10 from the USC 35 with the Irish leading 17-3 and still more than half the game left to play.
On the previous series, on first down from the USC 16, defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio had tipped a Williams pass over the middle and safety Xavier Watts grabbed his second interception of an all-world evening. Watts took that one back to the 2.
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Williams, now 22-6 as a college starter, rarely looked comfortable against coordinator Al Golden’s blitzing, shifting defense. USC receivers struggled to get separation against Morrison, Cam Hart and Thomas Harper, the Oklahoma State grad transfer who is now 2-0 against Williams.
“Everything we saw on tape was what they were doing,” Williams said flatly and firmly. “A couple throws that I always make, I didn’t make. The one to Lake (McRee) went over his head. How often do you see that?”
Williams was referencing the fourth offensive snap of the night, a first-down flip from the USC 37 that sailed over the head of his towering tight end and right into the greedy hands of Watts. Thirty-eight yards later, Watts’ return had gift-wrapped a fast start for the slumbering Irish offense.
“We needed some juice,” Watts said. “We got some juice.”
There would be five takeaways in all, including Watts’ 15-yard fumble return for the sixth and final Irish score with 3:27 left.
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Early in the week, Watts talked about his plan to avoid hesitation and to “shoot his shot” against the skilled and dangerous Trojans offense. Saturday night, the ball kept finding Watts, who has four interceptions over the past six games after entering the year with zero.
“Just something you never really imagine,” Watts said. “I was just out there playing, just trying to have fun, do my job, and things ended up happening. Just crazy.”
Watts also set up short drives for a fourth-quarter touchdown in Game 3 at N.C. State and for an early field goal in Game 6 at Duke. Those picks came at the expense of Brennan Armstrong and Riley Leonard, so Watts certainly isn’t preying on the helpless.
On Thursday, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman stressed the importance of “controlled aggression” for the Irish pass rushers. Williams’ preferred “escape routes” had been studied carefully, and the hope was to clog those while guarding against the improvisational flair of the projected top overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.
“The play is never over with Caleb Williams,” Freeman said once the game plan was in. “You’d better be alert because he could turn around and run the other way.”
Williams had a 38-yard touchdown run that would have tied the game at 10 wiped out by a second-quarter holding penalty. Nose tackle Howard Cross III caused that pivotal flag with his quickness off the line.
At other times Saturday, Williams’ usual pirouettes and feints went for naught as the Irish seemed to know what he would do before he did it. You could almost see “Superman” tripping over his own cape.
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So much for those “King vibes” he’d spoken of before this rematch went south.
“Nights like this happen,” Williams said. “Games like this happen in careers. If you play for awhile and want to play for awhile, things happen like that. … It starts with the head of the snake.”
Heavy the head that wears the crown, imaginary or not.
On Saturday night, it was the Irish defense that did all the chopping.
Follow Notre Dame football writer Mike Berardino on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Analysis: How Notre Dame football defense stopped USC QB Caleb Williams
