How ND beat Caleb Williams

The team that really gave Williams the most trouble was the Fighting Irish in 2023. They limited Williams to 199 yards and one touchdown, while intercepting him three times. That marked just the second time in Williams’ college career that he threw multiple interceptions in a game. The key for the Irish was learning from their past mistakes.

“The thing that was so dangerous about him was his ability to extend plays,” said linebacker JD Bertrand, who was selected by the Falcons in the fifth round of this year’s draft. “Two years ago we could see that. He would turn a four-second play into an eight-second play. We were hurting our secondary trying to make them cover for so long.”

Like most other teams, the Irish plan started by containing Williams with a “true cage rush,” but went beyond that. They didn’t want Williams to beat them with his arm or his legs, so they practically invited the Trojans to run the ball by putting fewer players in the box and packing their pass coverage. Then, they made sure to stay disciplined in their lanes to avoid getting gashed by the USC running backs.

When Williams escaped their contain– because Williams escaping contain at some points was inevitable– they tried to flush him away from his throwing hand. They made sure to keep a spy player on him to limit the damage, too. Finally, the Fighting Irish tried to keep Williams guessing as much as possible with pre-snap disguises.

“We know that a lot of the sideline checks would come in and he would scan the sideline, then communicate. So for us we tried to hold the disguise as long as possible.”

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