Caleb Williams, fueled by loss to Utah, predicts USC makes CFP - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — USC quarterback Caleb Williams said last year's loss to Utah in the Pac-12 conference championship game still «burns,» and he predicted the Trojans will be in the College Football Playoff this fall.

«I'm very determined,» Williams, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, told ESPN on Friday at the Pac-12 media day. «I haven't been in the College Football Playoff in my two years of playing.… It's been tough. It bothers me because I play for championships. I don't play for anything else. So not being able to have the chance and being so close frustrates me. This year it's going to be a good one.»

Had USC defeated Utah and won the conference last year, the Trojans most likely would have earned a top-four finish and a spot in a CFP semifinal. Williams was hindered by a hamstring injury, though, and the Utes beat the Trojans 47-24. USC also lost to Utah during the regular season, and Williams said he still replays in his mind what went wrong last season.

Without hesitating, he pinpointed two touchdown passes he said he missed against Tulane in the Cotton Bowl and a wide-open receiver he missed down the middle in the first game against Utah, when he «got off his read too fast.»

«I have plays in my mind that I can think of and vividly,» he said. «I zone out and think of the play and where we were and all that. It's for sure a chip. I know I'm not the only one.»

USC coach Lincoln Riley agreed.

«In reality, getting to the point where we were a play away from winning the conference or going to the playoff, was that largely positive? Yes,» he said. «But do I want us to have the sour taste in our mouth that it was right there and we didn't finish it? Absolutely. I want there to be excitement, but I want that pissed-off