USC tsunami: Caleb Williams scores avalanche of points in awesome first-half display
The USC Trojans looked the part of a heavyweight team on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
In the first half, they completely dominated and rag-dolled the Stanford Cardinal, throwing their opponent around every inch of the Coliseum with terrifying, swift, merciless force.
USC played hard, fast and tough. The Trojans’ speed and skill established a very big lead which kept growing every few minutes. It was a sight to behold. USC was able to play a lot of backups in the second half as a consequence of the first-half barrage. Had USC kept its starters in for the duration, it could have scored over 80 points against a Pac-12 (Power Five) opponent.
Bigger tests will come later. This was a night of fun. It was a time to simply sit back and enjoy the magic of Caleb Williams, Zachariah Branch, Tahj Washington, and the rest of the Trojans, who played a genuinely complete half and looked like a top-10 team.
Here are the highlights, the nuggets of analysis, and the reactions:
QUICK SEVEN
TOUCHDOWN CALEB WILLIAMS❕✌🏼#USC Leads Stanford 7-0
🎥 @On3USC #FightOn pic.twitter.com/EU05nwPf2n
— Scott Schrader (@Scott_Schrader) September 10, 2023
MAHOMES-LIKE
Caleb Williams sidearm 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HBH9QPDyFy
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 10, 2023
LLOYD SCORES
MarShawn Lloyd takes the hand off from Caleb Williams for the 5-yard TD run!! #Stanford 0#USC 14
1st Quarter/ 9:05 remaining pic.twitter.com/Rm0ojZi9Q8— Nick Hamilton (@NickHamilton213) September 10, 2023
ONE HICCUP
Bad decision by Caleb Williams. On third and three with time, there was no good reason to launch a ball downfield to a covered receiver.
— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) September 10, 2023
SECOND HICCUP
Just completely inexcusable by Mario Williams on that catch.
Get the first down. Don't try to be a hero.
— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) September 10, 2023
SMOOTH
#USC hiding Tahj Washington in the backfield, getting him the ball and then Caleb Williams sprinting downfield to try to get a block on no one in particular.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) September 10, 2023
HE'S REALLY GOOD
Tahj Washington is so consistent it’s insane.
— Justin Urgo (@justin_urgo) September 10, 2023
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
Those little motion handoffs to Zachariah Branch are going to be a staple of the offense before long, methinks. That last play didn't score because it was to the short side of the field and it was really crowded over there.
— RichSC (@OriginalRichSC) September 10, 2023
SEEMS GOOD
21 points, 90 rushing yards, and 114 passing yards through 1 ✌️✌️
— Sidelines – USC 🏴☠️ (@SSN_USC) September 10, 2023
EDUCATED MAN
Austin Jones made a good decision transferring from Stanford to USC. TD. 21-0
— John U Choi DDS, PhD (@jcperio1) September 10, 2023
HE IS SPECIAL
TOUCHDOWN TROJANS!!
No. 1 is SPECIAL!!!! That acceleration to get through that first line of defense was impeccable. Zachariah Branch takes it 75 yards to the house on the punt return. He's now got punt return, kick return and receiving TDs this year. 28-0 #USC.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) September 10, 2023
A BLUR
Zachariah Branch.
My god.
— Chris Treviño (@ChrisNTrevino) September 10, 2023
HIGHLIGHT
ZACHARIAH BRANCH DID IT AGAIN🔥
— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 10, 2023
NEVER, EVER
As Zachariah Branch's high school coach told me: “I’m surprised anybody ever kicks him the ball. I would never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever kick him the ball.”
That's two special teams TDs for him this year and two on offense. https://t.co/APlSQJZnBp
— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) September 10, 2023
EDUCATED? DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT
Stanford people are supposed to be educated.
Nothing intelligent about punting to Zachariah Branch. https://t.co/5fjmTDkErq
— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) September 10, 2023
USC IS COOKING
35-0 in under 20 minutes. #ClickClack
— USC Trojans Wire (@TrojansWire) September 10, 2023
SO GOOD
The protection. The time. The throw from Caleb Williams to Dorian Singer. pic.twitter.com/Tt9BbPIppw
— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) September 10, 2023
YES
Great play by Caleb, yes. But how much time did he have to throw there? Tremendous job by the OL give him a clean pocket.
— RichSC (@OriginalRichSC) September 10, 2023
LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
This honestly isn’t fair.
Caleb Williams is playing a different sport.
— Reign of Troy (@ReignofTroy) September 10, 2023
ZING TO SINGER
Rushing 3 against Caleb Williams = him having all the time in the world to find Dorian Singer for a TD pic.twitter.com/N28ZA2GmVp
— RanDynasty (@ran_dynasty) September 10, 2023
SIMPLY THE BEST
Caleb. No words at this point. Best I’ve seen.
— fight on forever (@gouxforever) September 10, 2023
STATS
Caleb Williams just recorded his fourth TD of the game.
That breaks Matt Barkley's USC record for 4TD games, with 12 in 17 career games.
Matt Barkley did it 11 times in 37 games.
— Reign of Troy (@ReignofTroy) September 10, 2023
HORSE NEEDS A REST
Caleb Williams to Lake McRee for a 1-yard touchdown. USC up 49-3, 10 seconds left in the first half.
No Traveler on that touchdown celebration either. The horse needs a break!
— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) September 10, 2023
CHEF'S KISS
The only thing this game was missing?
A TE TD BABY
— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) September 10, 2023
