Quarterback Caleb Williams has worked during spring practice to scramble less quickly and wait for a pass play to develop. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The mystifying moment when Caleb Williams announced his arrival to the college football masses came on a designed fourth-down run last October. Already trailing Texas 28-7, Oklahoma was on its own 34-yard line, desperate for some kind of spark. So on fourth and one, Lincoln Riley sent in his true freshman and asked him to make a play with his legs.
Such plays seemed to come naturally to Williams, who spent his youth football days as a running back before growing into the top dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2021. But within a split-second of the snap, the hole collapsed in front of him.
Three Texas defenders surrounded Williams in the backfield, but the freshman stayed patient. He slid suddenly to his left, deftly dodging one, then cut right, shaking loose from another. As he danced free, the Texas defense parted before him. Williams sped for a 68-yard touchdown run and never looked back, eventually leading Oklahoma to a stunning comeback that would cement his place atop the Sooners offense.
It was that superlative rushing ability that first set Williams on a path toward stardom last season, as he followed in the footsteps of other dual-threat quarterbacks who came before him in Riley’s offense, like Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts.
Yet at USC, where Williams now resides, there’s no such precedent. While the modern dual-threat quarterback has become commonplace across college football, USC has continued to march forth with a parade of pocket passers.
Not since the 1991 season, when Reggie Perry held the reins, have the Trojans entrusted their offense to a quarterback who could be classified as a dual threat. That season wound up an abject disaster, as Perry threw three touchdowns with 12 interceptions, and USC won just three games. Perry ultimately transitioned to safety after the season.
The program’s…