LAS VEGAS — At the end of a 59-yard run on USC’s ninth offensive play of the Pac-12 championship game—a swerving, tackle-breaking sprint that should have convinced any last doubters about the deserving winner of the Heisman Trophy—Caleb Williams felt something unmistakably bad in his hamstring.
“You ever have an old rubber band?” Williams said, with a sardonic smile. “That’s kind of what it felt like.”
An old rubber band snapping. In the words of USC coach Lincoln Riley, his quarterback “popped a hamstring” on the play. It was the beginning of a cascading series of calamities that would wind up costing the Trojans a Pac-12 title and College Football Playoff berth. After USC scored on its first three possessions for a 17–3 lead, everything fell apart in a 47–24 collapse against nemesis Utah that was celebrated wildly by Ohio State fans everywhere. The Buckeyes appear to have backed into the CFP by virtue of this result.
