USC vs. Washington takeaways: What's next for Caleb Williams?

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With USC’s biggest goals now gone, Lincoln Riley could only focus on the small tasks he had left.

The USC coach tried to skirt big-picture questions after USC’s 52-42 loss to No. 5 Washington on Saturday at the Coliseum. He fought against “generalizing the whole season,” even though many of the issues that hampered the No. 20 Trojans (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) on Saturday were the same as those of previous weeks.

Using the same message he delivered after past losses, Riley tried to reframe the latest defensive debacle as a gritty effort that just came a few plays short. He deflected a question about his handling of the defense.

“My job’s to go and try to beat Oregon next week,” Riley said.

USC was already out of the College Football Playoff picture, and now its conference silver lining is all but gone too. Fighting back into the Pac-12 championship conversation would require a monumental upset next week over No. 6 Oregon in Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks have lost only once in the last five seasons. Then the Trojans finish the season at home against rival UCLA.

“I told the guys, like you don’t sign up at the beginning of the year and put all this work in and all the sacrifice we do saying, ‘All right, only if everything goes great, we’re going to stick with it,’ ” Riley said. “You’re a phony if you do that and that’s not what this program’s about, that’s not what we’re building, it will never be like that.”

After 11 straight home wins under Riley, USC has lost consecutive games at the Coliseum.

Here are three takeaways from the loss to Washington:

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What’s next for Caleb Williams?

USC backup quarterback Miller Moss, left, consoles quarterback Caleb Williams in the final moments of the Trojans' loss.

He dutifully shook hands after the game. He greeted Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with a bashful smile. But the only person Caleb Williams wanted to see after Saturday’s loss was his mom.

After shaking hands with opposing players and coaches after the game, the 21-year-old climbed onto a ledge into the first row of stands, buried his head into his mother’s shoulder and cried. His whole body shook as he held her arm. She held a sign close to cover his face.

Williams’ hopes for the “immortality” that comes with winning championships are slipping away. Even in one of the most parity-filled college football seasons yet, the Trojans are well outside of the playoff conversation with a third loss. Just getting into the Pac-12 championship will require wins against Oregon and UCLA and probably help from other teams to get the Trojans on top of the conference’s complicated tiebreakers.

If USC can’t pull off the miraculous turnaround, Williams will have spent three years in college at two different schools without a conference or national championship.

When asked whether there was frustration of not being able to capitalize on Williams’ elite play this year, Riley demurred.

“We’re just fighting like crazy every week to play as good as we can, and not get too wrapped up in all the big-picture stuff right now,” Riley said. “There’s too much left to play for. And so we’re going to go prepare hard, Caleb’s gonna go prepare hard, all of us, and obviously try to get past this one and get on to another big opportunity next week.”

Williams finished with 312 yards and three touchdowns on 27-for-35 passing. He also rushed for 16 yards and one touchdown in 10 carries, but absorbed a critical 12-yard sack on third down in the fourth quarter that knocked the Trojans out of field-goal range, preventing USC from potentially tying the score.

After the crushing loss, Williams tried to move on quickly.

“I want to go home and cuddle with my dog and watch some shows,” Williams said.

The junior wore a navy quarter zip with “Heisman” printed on the right chest during the postgame news conference. A few minutes before, as Penix walked up the tunnel off the field, Washington fans serenaded the visiting quarterback with chants of “Heis-man! Heis-man!”

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Same old struggles against the run

Washington running back Dillon Johnson runs through a hole in the USC defense during the first half.

Letting the Pac-12’s best running back run free was one thing. But an offense that entered Saturday averaging 102.2 rushing yards provided a new low for USC.

After being embarrassed on big plays last week by Cal’s Jaydn Ott, the Pac-12’s leader in rushing yards per game, USC gave up 316 rushing yards to Washington. It was the most rushing yards allowed by the Trojans since 2017, when Notre Dame ran for 377 yards. Washington running back Dillon Johnson, who had never rushed for more than 100 yards during his four-year college career, racked up 256 and four touchdowns in 26 carries.

“We’re biting ourselves again,” linebacker Mason Cobb said.

Ott scored on touchdowns of 43 and 61 yards against USC last weekend before leaving the game because of an injury. The Trojans reiterated they just needed to “do our job” to shut down the explosive, back-breaking plays. Yet after giving up 55 plays of 20 yards entering Saturday’s game, USC gave up seven more against Washington.

“It definitely can snowball,” linebacker Shane Lee said of the repeated big plays. “But it just goes back to everyone being in the right spot, everyone doing their job, communication pre-snap.”

The Huskies, who entered as the top passing offense in the country, had their best rushing performance since 2017 while Penix threw for 256 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 22-for-30 passing.

Johnson’s previous career high was 100 yards in 20 carries against Oregon. He surpassed that total in two big plays Saturday, rushing for a 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a critical 53-yard scamper that opened a decisive Washington fourth-quarter drive.

After the Huskies (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) forced a USC punt to maintain their three-point lead with 7:42 left, Johnson ran untouched through the line for his career-best rush that flipped the field in a single play from Washington’s nine-yard line to USC’s 38. The Huskies chewed up five minutes, 22 seconds on the drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown from Johnson that put the Trojans down by 10 with 2:20 remaining.

“They were slowing down,” Johnson told reporters. “They weren’t pressuring as much as we thought they would. It made our day kind of easy.”

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Next man up

USC wide receiver Tahj Washington, left, celebrates with running back Austin Jones after scoring a touchdown.

In a matchup of Heisman-contending quarterbacks, running backs stole the show. USC had its best rushing performance in six games with 203 rushing yards and three touchdowns, even without MarShawn Lloyd, who was out because of an injury sustained against Cal.

Lloyd entered as the nation’s most efficient rusher, averaging 7.74 yards per carry, and led the Pac-12 in total rushing yards with 766. He watched the game from the sideline in his jersey and sweatpants with a thick diamond chain hanging around his neck.

Austin Jones started in his place and ran for 127 yards in 11 carries. Darwin Barlow got his first significant action since September and ran for a 43-yard burst that set up his one-yard touchdown. Even Raleek Brown, who had not played since USC’s season opener against San José State, made an appearance. The sophomore who can still play in two more games this season while retaining his redshirt eligibility had three carries for 16 yards and one 14-yard touchdown with two catches for four yards.

“I thought the guys stepped in and played well,” Riley said. “I thought the O-line did some really good things against a very talented front.”

The Trojans averaged 7.5 yards per carry, their most efficient running performance since routing Nevada on Sept. 2.