USC coach Lincoln Riley has a unique perspective on what a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback looks like.
After all, he coached two Heisman winners and a runner-up in his five seasons at Oklahoma.
And now he has Caleb Williams, who ranks fifth nationally in total offense at 336.6 yards per game with 2,742 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and remarkably only 1 interception, along with 287 yards and 4 touchdowns rushing.
USC's sports information department came up with a stat that puts Williams' incredible season so far in perspective, noting that since the 2004 season no quarterback has thrown for more touchdowns through his first nine games while having only 1 interception.
RELATED: TrojanSports staff roundtable: Making the Heisman case for Caleb Williams
While some oddsmakers may vary, Williams currently has the third-best Heisman odds at +650 behind only Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud (+100) and Tennessee QB Hendon Hooker (+200) with Michigan RB Blake Corum close behind at +750.
Stroud, the Heisman runner-up to Alabama QB Bryce Young last year, has passed for 2,453 yards, 29 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in nine games while rushing for just 75 yards for undefeated Ohio State. He's behind his 2021 pace, when he finished with 4,435 yards, 44 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 12 games. He's also thrown just 1 TD pass the last two games and had the worst passing game of his career last week, completing just 10 of 26 passes for 76 yards and 0 TDs while rushing for a season-high 79 yards in a 21-7 win at Northwestern.
Hooker has passed for 2,533 yards, 21 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and rushed for 355 yards and 4 TDs for one-loss Tennessee. He too is coming off his worst game, passing for a season-low 195 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT in a 27-13 loss to Georgia.
Corum has 1,187 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 6.0 yards per carry plus a receiving score for undefeated Michigan.
Williams, meanwhile, is getting better as the season progresses, arguably playing his three best games the last three contests, averaging 384 passing yards (twice breaking his career-high), 36.3 rushing yards and has accounted for 15 touchdowns (14 passing, 1 rushing) and 0 turnovers in that stretch.
He was at the peak of his powers in USC's lone loss -- the 43-42 defeat at Utah -- passing for 381 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs with 57 rushing yards. He also played the last two weeks without his top two wide receivers and missing a starting offensive lineman in both games, and instead of seeing any dropoff as a result, he's helped make the Trojans' other wideouts stars for those weeks.
Even in his worst game of the season, a statistical anomaly in that 17-14 win at Oregon State in September, he still led the game-winning drive and threw a precision dart for the go-ahead touchdown.
So again, it was worth asking the question to Riley this week about how he sees Williams' Heisman candidacy, having coached 2017 winner Baker Mayfield, 2018 winner Kyler Murray and 2019 runner-up Jalen Hurts at Oklahoma.
"He's played at a really, really high level. He's had one turnover, a lot of touchdowns and his team's won a lot of games. He's done it with different ways. He's done it here as of late without some really impactful players being able to play both on the line and at the skill positions. He's been as valuable as any player in the country, and I think it's pretty simple," Riley said. "I mean, this stuff always plays out, right? A lot of that stuff, just like conference races and all that, will be decided here as time goes. But up to this point, I don't think there's been a better or more valuable player in college football than him."
