"You keep fighting": $2,800,000 NIL valued Caleb Williams leads USC with stoic leadership vows to keep fighting after Trojans heartbreaking loss

Caleb Williams has seen his hopes of joining former Ohio State Buckeyes running back Archie Griffin as the only players to win the Heisman Trophy twice diminsh in the last few weeks.

His even bigger goal of reaching the College Football Playoff and winning the National Championship is effectively over back-to-back losses to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Utah Utes.

Williams has been viewed as a lock to be selected first overall in the 2024 NFL Draft since last season. In fact, he may have been the first player off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft, if he were eligible.

The combination of these things has led many to suggest that he should not risk injury by playing another down of college football. Nevertheles, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner appears motivated to finish the season strong.

Speaking to the media in his first public comments since the Trojans' Week 8 loss, Williams said:

"We’re halfway through the season. You don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen. You keep going, you keep fighting. You stay out here, extra time, be with your guys because you never know when that opportunity is going to come.

"When that opportunity comes, you want to be able to seize that opportunity. So we’re going to keep going, keep fighting on and keep trying to reach our goals." [h/t Los Angeles Times]

Despite the suggestion that he should shut it down, Williams appears intent on seeing the season through. While he's correct that it's unclear what will happen, there has never been a two-loss team to reach the College Football Playoff in nine seasons of the current format.

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How has Caleb Williams performed in his college career?

Caleb Williams, with an NIL value of $2,8 million, joined the Oklahoma Sooners as a five-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, taking over as the starting quarterback midway through his true freshman season.

In seven starts, he finished with 1,912 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. Williams completed 64.5% of his pass attempts, adding 442 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 79 carries. He was named second-team All-Big 12.

Following the season, Caleb Williams joined the USC Trojans via the transfer portal, joining former Sooners' coach Lincoln Riley. He threw for 4,537 yards, 42 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Williams completed 66.6% of his passes, adding 382 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 113 carries.

He won the Heisman Trophy and was named a unanimous All-American. Williams also won the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award as the best player in the nation and was being named AP College Football Player of the Year and Sporting News College Football Player of the Year.

He was also named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Pac-12. Williams also won the ESPY Award for Best Male College Athlete.

In presumably his final season of college football, he has thrown for 2277 yards, 23 touchdowns and four interceptions. Caleb Williams has completed 70.0% of his passes, adding 149 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 61 carries.