USC Report Card for Notre Dame: Caleb Williams gets an F

We never thought we would do this. We never thought this could possibly happen. We never thought we would be in this position. Yet, here we are.

We are in a spot where we have to give Caleb Williams the worst possible grade in our USC report card.

Caleb Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner who came back this season with big expectations and dreams under head coach Lincoln Riley, started this season brilliantly. He was awesome in the first three quarters against Colorado as well. However, in the last quarter of the Colorado game and in the eight quarters since then, he and the USC offense have steadily collapsed.

This is a very weird USC report card, folks. The defense was almost entirely irrelevant to the outcome of this game, a plot twist no one expected. Our grades will focus on the offense, and the players who all failed to do their jobs at great cost to the Trojans:

CALEB WILLIAMS: F

Three first-half interceptions. Three gifts to Notre Dame. Three hand-delivered scores to a Fighting Irish team whose offense would have struggled had it been forced to drive 70 or more yards. Caleb Williams is the number one reason USC lost this game. Again, we never expected this plot point, but we have to deal with reality. Caleb Williams flunked this test.

LINCOLN RILEY: F

Lincoln Riley’s coaching performance this season has been horrible. Who cares about beating Stanford and Nevada very badly?

Players aren’t being developed. Players aren’t getting better. Players aren’t getting tougher. Players aren’t getting open. Linemen aren’t evolving. The team and the program have regressed relative to 2022.

Not remotely acceptable on any level. We hope changes will occur against Utah and beyond, but we’re definitely not expecting them.

JOSH HENSON: F

USC’s offensive line coach did a really good job last year with limited depth. This year, Henson is not putting the pieces together. Notre Dame punched USC’s offensive line in the mouth and didn’t stop. The USC offensive line gave Caleb Williams zero help. What’s going on here?

BENNIE WYLIE: F

USC’s strength coach isn’t making players strong and tough. Lincoln Riley faces real questions about his muscle man. Oklahoma fans told us Wylie was going to be a problem. So far, they have been proved right.

EMMANUEL PREGNON: F

MICHAEL TARQUIN: F

JUSTIN DEDICH: F

ANDREW VORHEES: A

Wait a minute: Vorhees isn’t on this team. You’re right. We’re giving him an A because his elite performance for this offensive line in 2022 now becomes that much more important in retrospect. He gutted it out against Notre Dame and helped USC’s offensive line control the Irish’s defensive line.

Vorhees’ career and legacy were magnified and enhanced Saturday night in South Bend, even though he wasn’t in uniform for USC.

DORIAN SINGER: F

What a total, absolute bust. Most people — including me — thought USC got a real prize in the transfer portal. We saw what Singer did with Arizona against USC last year. Caleb Williams was impressed.

Singer can’t get open and can’t open up the field. He is the most disappointing non-lineman on the USC offense by far.

JORDAN ADDISON: A

As with Andrew Vorhees, Jordan Addison isn’t on the 2023 USC roster, but his greatness is worth appreciating in light of how inadequate the 2023 USC receivers (particularly Singer) are. Addison really did change the equation for the 2022 Trojans. No one has replaced his skill and quality. That should be noted.

TRAVIS DYE: A

Dye is also not on the 2023 Trojans, but his do-everything presence and steady leadership were huge reasons why USC won 11 of its first 12 games last year. There’s no one on this 2023 roster other than Caleb Williams who is providing the same cohesive guidance for an offense which has lost its way.

The As we’re giving to 2022 players magnify the inadequacy of the 2023 USC players who all failed dramatically against Notre Dame.

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire