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Fourteen months ago, USC quarterback Caleb Williams was a freshman backup at Oklahoma entering the Red River Rivalry game against Texas hoping to give the Sooners a spark.

Now, the 20-year-old is a Heisman Trophy winner.

On Saturday in New York, Williams — much like he did on the field this year — left no doubt that the Heisman was his, securing the award given to the most outstanding player in college football in a decisive victory. Williams outraced Georgia‘s Stetson Bennett, TCU‘s Max Duggan and Ohio State‘s C.J. Stroud for the award.

Williams received 544 first-place votes. His 2,031 points easily beat out Duggan, who finished second. Stroud was third, followed by Bennett.

“I may be standing up here today, but y’all get to go to the College Football Playoff,” Williams said in his acceptance speech, in saluting the other finalists in front of him. “Guess you can’t win them all.”

Over the course of 13 games this season, the former five-star recruit from the Washington D.C. area dazzled with his play, throwing for 4,075 yards and 37 touchdowns and rushing for 372 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, as well as only four interceptions.

How he did it was through a display of consistent efficiency and an array of highlight plays that left teammates, coaches and fans alike in awe. His creativity and vision when plays broke down resulted in almost never throwing the ball away, but instead turning scramble plays and potential sacks into electric runs or miraculous passes.

Williams’ performance went beyond the numbers and highlights too. After head coach Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC in November 2021, Williams followed and became the fulcrum for the Trojans’ turnaround from a 4-8 season to an 11-win team.

“While this may be an individual award, I certainly understand that nothing, in this sport or life, is done alone,” Williams said.

With Williams under center, USC started 8-0 for the first time since 2006 and defeated both of their rivals — UCLA and Notre Dame — in the same season for the first time since 2016.

Despite his age, Williams was tasked with a crucial responsibility once he joined Riley in moving from Norman, Oklahoma, to Los Angeles via the transfer portal. He was one of the only players who was intimately familiar with Riley’s style and his offense. At 19, Williams became one of the captains of the team and, on offense, a second coach on the field.

Though the Trojans fell one game short of winning the Pac-12 title and playing in the College Football Playoff, Williams’ leadership during a year of transition for USC helped the Trojans have one of the best turnarounds of the sport. Williams and USC are likely to enter 2024 as both Heisman and title contenders, respectively.

Williams joins Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray as the third quarterback Riley has coached to win the award. Riley also coached 2019 Heisman runner-up Jalen Hurts.

A product of Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., Williams is the seventh official USC player to win the award (though Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman remains vacated) and the third quarterback from the school. He’s the first Trojan quarterback to win since Matt Leinart in 2004.

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‘Vibrant’ Sanders says Buffs will ‘win differently’

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'Vibrant' Sanders says Buffs will 'win differently'

BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he feels “healthy and vibrant” after returning to the field for preseason practices after undergoing surgery to remove his bladder after a cancerous tumor was found.

Sanders, 57, said he has been walking at least a mile around campus following Colorado’s practices, which began last week. He was away from the team for the late spring and early summer following the surgery in May. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, said July 30 that Sanders, who lost about 25 pounds during his recovery, is “cured of cancer.”

“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant, I’m my old self,” Sanders said. “I’m loving life right now. I’m trying my best to live to the fullest, considering what transpired.”

Sanders credited Colorado’s assistant coaches and support staff for overseeing the program during his absence. The Pro Football Hall of Famer enters his third season as Buffaloes coach this fall.

“They’ve given me tremendous comfort,” Sanders said. “I never had to call 100 times and check on the house, because I felt like the house is going to be OK. That’s why you try your best to hire correct, so you don’t have to check on the house night and day. They did a good job, especially strength and conditioning.”

Colorado improved from four to nine wins in Sanders’ second season, but the team loses Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, the No. 2 pick in April’s NFL draft, as well as record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes have an influx of new players, including quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian “Ju Ju” Lewis, who are competing for the starting job, as well as new staff members such as Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is coaching the Buffaloes’ running backs.

Despite the changes and his own health challenges, Deion Sanders expects Colorado to continue ascending. The Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 when they host Georgia Tech.

“The next phase is we’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” Sanders said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Mary’s at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game, because we want to be physical and we want to run the heck out of the football.”

Sanders said it will feel “a little weird, a little strange” to not be coaching Shedeur when the quarterback starts his first NFL preseason game for the Cleveland Browns on Friday night at Carolina. Deion Sanders said he and Shedeur had spoken several times Friday morning. Despite being projected as a top quarterback in the draft, Shedeur Sanders fell to the fifth round.

“A lot of people are approaching it like a preseason game, he’s approaching like a game, and that’s how he’s always approached everything, to prepare and approach it like this is it,” Deion Sanders said. “He’s thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. He don’t get covered in, you know, all the rhetoric in the media.

“Some of the stuff is just ignorant. Some of it is really adolescent, he far surpasses that, and I can’t wait to see him play.”

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LSU QB Nussmeier dealing with patellar tendinitis

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LSU QB Nussmeier dealing with patellar tendinitis

LSU starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier aggravated the patellar tendinitis he has been dealing with in his knee but will not miss any significant time, coach Brian Kelly said Friday.

Kelly dropped in ahead of a news conference Friday with offensive coordinator Joe Sloan to tell reporters that Nussmeier did not suffer a severe knee injury or even a new one. According to Kelly, Nussmeier has chronic tendinitis in his knee and “probably just planted the wrong way” during Wednesday’s practice.

Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally in passing yards (4,052) last season, his first as LSU’s starter, and projects as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2026.

“It’s not torn, there’s no fraying, there’s none of that,” Kelly said. “This is preexisting. … There’s nothing to really see on film with it, but it pissed it off. He aggravated it a little bit, but he’s good to go.”

Kelly said Nussmeier’s injury ranks 1.5 out of 10 in terms of severity. Asked whether it’s the right or left knee, Kelly said he didn’t know, adding, “It’s not a serious injury. Guys are dealing with tendinitis virtually every day in life.”

LSU opens the season Aug. 30 at Clemson.

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3 departing members file updated suit vs. MWC

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3 departing members file updated suit vs. MWC

Three departing members of the Mountain West Conference are suing the league, alleging it improperly withheld millions of dollars and misled them about a plan to accelerate Grand Canyon’s membership.

Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State filed an updated lawsuit in the District Court of Denver arguing the conference and Commissioner Gloria Nevarez willfully disregarded the league’s bylaws by “intentionally and fraudulently” depriving the schools of their membership rights.

The three schools, which are all headed to the Pac-12 after the 2025-26 school year, are seeking damages for millions of dollars of alleged harm caused by the Mountain West, including the withholding of money earned by Boise State for playing in last year’s College Football Playoff.

“We are disappointed that the Mountain West continues to improperly retaliate against the departing members and their student athletes,” Steve Olson, partner and litigation department co-chair for the O’Melveny law firm, said in a statement. “We will seek all appropriate relief from the court to protect our clients’ rights and interests.”

The Mountain West declined further comment outside of a statement released last week. The conference has said the departing schools were involved in adopting the exit fees and sought to enforce those against San Diego State when it tried to leave the conference two years ago.

“We remain confident in our legal position, which we will vigorously defend,” the statement said.

The three outgoing schools argue the Mountain West’s exit fees, which could range from $19 million to $38 million, are unlawful and not enforceable. The lawsuit also claims the Mountain West concealed a plan to move up Grand Canyon University’s membership a year to 2025-26 without informing the departing schools.

The Mountain West is also seeking $55 million in “poaching fees” from the Pac-12 for the loss of five schools, including San Diego State and Fresno State starting in 2026. The two sides are headed back to court after mediation that expired last month failed to reach a resolution.

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