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For a handful of individuals, Caleb Williams‘ Heisman-level season was appreciated on tape delay. When Williams was tearing off long runs, escaping pressure in the pocket and delivering Patrick Mahomes-like lasers to receivers, his offensive linemen weren’t always able to watch. They were blocking.

So every Monday, when USC came in for film study, the linemen who played in the game would sit and take in the full Williams show for essentially the first time. The delayed gratification gave players like center Brett Neilon a greater appreciation for what Williams has done.

“Blocking for him during the game, I don’t always get to see what’s doing behind me,” Neilon said. “But when I go back and watch the film, I’m like, ‘Wow, he really made a huge play here,’ when I thought it was just like a routine throw. Playing with him on the field is special, but then you rewatch that tape, you really get to see, he’s a playmaker. He’s just a gamer.”

“He’s just been incredible,” said offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees. “I think that’s why you hear that ‘H’ word thrown out. He’s been Superman out there.”

The phrase “Heisman moment” is often overused. Usually, the player who finds himself being paired alongside those two words is in need of a Heisman moment to solidify their case as the year’s best player in college football.

In the case of Williams and his 2022 season, it is difficult to overuse the phrase, in part, because there are a handful of moments that qualify. Williams did not win the Pac-12 championship and he will not have a chance to win the national title. But over the course of 13 games, the sophomore who transferred from Oklahoma to USC wowed with single plays more than any other player in college football.

Williams turned linebackers into speed bumps, cornerbacks into aimless wanderers in need of a map and defensive lineman into traffic cones. His arm made throws that defied physics and his legs kept trudging even when there didn’t seem to be a path out. As soon as the ball touched his hands, Williams turned extraordinary throws into the norm and made magic out of messes to the point where it seemed, at times, that he was better off breaking the play rather than following it. Chaos suited him; improvisation was second nature.

And that’s all before you consider the numbers: 4,075 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, 66% completion percentage, 814 rushing yards and 10 more touchdowns on the ground as well as only four interceptions, zero fumbles and an 86.5 QBR.

Williams certainly ascended as the season progressed, but from Game 1, he was showing the ability to turn games into highlight factories for his résumé. So, as Williams gets ready for what will likely be his Heisman coronation this Saturday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App), here’s a look at his best moments this season.


The long ball vs. Stanford

After easily dispatching Rice in the opener, Williams and USC headed to Palo Alto to try and avoid another bad loss at Stanford. The tone of the game was set early by Williams. With the score 7-7 late in the first quarter, he dropped back and took his time in the pocket before lacing a pinpoint pass to Jordan Addison on the run. The ball flew at least 60 yards and hit Addison in stride for a 75-yard touchdown — the longest Williams would have all season.

Just as his scrambling became a fixture of his performances, Williams’ arm strength was also on display all season. In some ways, a throw like this — with plenty of time and his feet set — would be one of the easier ones he’d have all season.


From a timeliness standpoint, this might have been one of Williams’ best throws. The potent USC offense had stalled in a low-scoring affair in Corvallis. But with one minute and 20 seconds left and down 10-14, the Trojans needed a lifesaver to keep their record intact. Enter Williams.

Had this throw to Addison been a millisecond sooner or a millisecond later, it likely wouldn’t have been caught, USC would have probably dropped the game and the season would have looked quite different.


A different kind of arm strength vs. Washington State

It’s third-and-16 near midfield and Williams is on the run, rolling out to his right. He spots Mario Williams open downfield, but doesn’t try to stop, set up and throw. Instead, from the 43-yard line, Williams pushes off his back foot while on the run and leaps into the air as he sends the ball downfield. By the time Mario catches it, he’s a footstep from the end zone. It’s a 43-yard touchdown throw that will later be gawked at by film buffs on Twitter. It’s one of many NFL-level throws Williams has all season.


This was Williams’ first true showcase, in large part because the Sun Devils actually pressured him pretty well. But it didn’t matter. Against ASU, Williams displayed his otherworldly capabilities when extending plays. On multiple occasions, Williams found himself with seemingly no option, only to slip out of potential sacks and turn losses into gains.

“I think it’s black magic,” running back Travis Dye said. “I go off and do my job, I turn around it looks like he’s about to be sacked, and all of a sudden he Houdinis out of it and we have a 20-yard gain. I don’t understand.”

On one particular play in the first quarter, Williams was completely wrapped up by a Sun Devils defender who had jumped on his back. Williams not only stayed upright, but proceeded to break into the open field, completely break a defender’s ankles and earn a first down with a 20-yard run on third-and-4. Later in the game, it looked like Williams was about to get sacked in the end zone for a safety, but with two ASU linemen converging on him, Williams was somehow able to throw a high fly ball in the vicinity of Addison, who pulled it down for a catch.

“We practice things like that every day, it’s called scramble rules,” Addison said. “So once it happens in the game we’re ready for it.”


The Heisman-worthy moments in a loss (Part 1) vs. Utah

USC would lose this game by one point after Utah nailed a 2-point conversion on its final drive, but the show Williams put on is worthy of remembrance. There was the 55-yard run he pulled off on third-and-8. The fading, back-foot throw to Mario Williams for 65 yards. And the spin move backward to avoid a blitzing Utah defender near the red zone, only to fire another back-foot throw to the back of the end zone for another score. And that was all in the first half.

Williams had another one of those back-stepping touchdown throws later, but no stretch was more awe-inducing than the two Houdini-like plays he completed in the second quarter. Having ran back into his own end zone while facing pressure from a handful of Utah defenders, Williams turned into a basketball point guard crossing over a zone defense. Instead of shooting the ball in this case, Williams kept it and ran a total of 30 yards without being touched until he stepped out of bounds. The catch? The play was called back because of a holding penalty.

So Williams repeated it. Sort of. On third-and-15, instead of moving horizontally and out when the pressure came, Williams moved vertically and stayed in, juked one defender and threw a ball on a rope to Addison, who was crossing the middle of the field.

“He wants to extend the play so he’s going to do it,” Addison said. “He’s not going to just sit there and see that nobody’s open, take the sack or throw it out. He’s going to make something happen.”


The no-look toss vs. Colorado

This one is self-explanatory. In a largely overlooked game where USC blew out Colorado, Williams made this timely no-look toss to running back Austin Jones for a touchdown that quietly began the comparisons to Mahomes.

Earlier in the season, Williams had done nothing to temper those, either. When asked if he had watched the Mahomes highlight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he pirouetted his way to a touchdown throw, Williams said he saw it, and thought, “I can do that too.”


The rivalry game showcase vs. UCLA

It was a game that both USC and Williams needed — on prime time against their biggest rival — to gain attention and national consideration, both for the playoff and the Heisman. Williams, for his part, wasn’t as flashy as he was effective. The sophomore completed 74.4% of his passes, threw for a season-high 470 yards and scored twice in the air and once on the ground on his way to a 48-45 win.

“I’ve played with so many great quarterbacks in my life and I think he’s one of the ones where you go out definitely and you have no worries no matter what the score is,” said wide receiver Kyle Ford. “More than anything there’s a certain confidence with him.”

But the moment that elicited the most chatter was this throw in the second quarter to wide receiver Brenden Rice. It was perhaps the throw that encapsulated Williams’ best. First, he stepped up in the pocket, slid left and away to avoid incoming pressure. He had room to run for a decent gain on second down, but instead he pivoted horizontally to remain behind the line of scrimmage. There, he threw a dart to Rice while on the run, which became the kind of throw that needed to be rewatched from the angle behind Williams to really be appreciated.

Of course, he had another on-the-run throw that was just as good, if not better


The Heisman game vs. Notre Dame

This one can be dubbed the “running backward game,” if you will. For 60 minutes, Williams avoided the Notre Dame pressure in a way that, perhaps for most quarterbacks, was counterintuitive. The Irish did have two sacks, but they could have had eight had it not been for Williams literally running backward to stay alive and turn negative plays into positive ones. He did it by what had become, at that point, his signature play: avoid pressure, roll right or left and throw on the run off the back foot. This time, though, he added some shuffling backward for difficulty.

Surprisingly, though, Williams’ most Heisman-like moment was a play that resulted in a punt. Near the USC end zone, Williams had third-and-20. Irish defenders rushed at him, but he spun backward out of one, then stepped back even further as another tried to reach for his legs. At this point, his scrambling had set him back 15 more yards, but Williams rolled to his right and found Mario Williams downfield with an off-balance throw. It would not be enough for a first down, but it would be enough to make it onto the highlight reel. The chants of “Heisman” that ensued at USC that night were all but a formality. That Williams finally leaned into the noise and did the Heisman pose a handful of times after scoring (though according to him, it was at the constant behest of his teammates) was fitting. It was, after all, the night he might have secured the award.

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Caleb Williams does a great job to keep the play alive for the completion, tops it off with a TD run later in the drive and then strikes the Heisman pose.


The Heisman-worthy moments in a loss (Part 2) vs. Utah

The Utes were USC’s kryptonite. They outplayed the Trojans on both occasions and were worthy of the Pac-12 championship. Yet that didn’t stop Williams from showcasing what he had been doing all season, even while injured.

The play that will be remembered, for better or worse, is the one where Williams apparently “popped” his hamstring. It was an immediate highlight as Williams rumbled past nearly every defender on a 59-yard run that left him out of breath.

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Caleb Williams makes a play with his feet and runs down the field for a 59-yard rush.

The injury he suffered on that play set him back the rest of the game, but he wasn’t done churning out highlights.

“S—,” Lincoln Riley said postgame. “That’s as gutsy a performance as you’ll ever see.”

He had yet another, back-foot throw for a huge gain, another on-the-run strike to keep a crucial drive alive late, and then he did this:

This throw had a customary slide that avoided pressure, but the throw itself — a sidearm flick while flat-footed around a barreling defender to a streaking Addison in stride — might have been his best of the season.

Of course, none of it was enough for USC to overcome Utah. And so Williams’ season ended with a Heisman résumé, but a step away from the College Football Playoff. The individual reward Williams might receive Saturday will not soothe, but it will represent a season replete with electric moments.

What is bad news for defenses across the country is good news for Williams and USC: Heisman Trophy or not, Williams will be back next season. What will he do for an encore?

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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