Tag: Mario Williams

Former USC receiver Mario Williams transfers to Tulane

Mario Williams seeks a fresh start in New Orleans.

The transfer portal keeps on churning in college football. A couple of former USC wide receivers found new homes on Monday.

Dorian Singer landed at Utah, and Mario Williams landed at Tulane, per his X account.

Williams originally was at Oklahoma and was one of a number of players to follow Lincoln Riley from Norman to Southern California. In 2022, Williams caught 40 passes for 631 yards with five touchdowns.

However, in 2023, he had just 29 receptions for 305 yards and a pair of scores. After the rough year, he entered the portal and is now headed for Tulane.

The Green Wave defeated the Trojans in the Cotton Bowl last year, so it’s an interesting landing spot. Williams should be a top target for the new-look Tulane offense under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall, the former Troy Trojan coach who is replacing Willie Fritz.

The Green Wave also landed former Alabama wide receiver Shazz Preston in the portal.

The changes keep on coming for the USC roster. Caleb Williams also officially declared for the 2024 NFL draft on Monday, to the surprise of no one.

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Mario Williams will be one of the more sought after names in the portal at WR

Where’s Mario? Better question: Where is he going?

You know by now that Mario Williams has entered the transfer portal, according to multiple reports. The talented receiver originally came to Los Angeles with quarterback Caleb Williams from the University of Oklahoma.

After two seasons with the Trojans, Williams will look for his third college team.

The receiver came down with 35 catches for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2021 for the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2022, his debut season with the Trojans, Williams grabbed 40 catches for 631 yards and 5 TDs. In 2023, Williams finished with 29 catches for 305 yards and 2 TDs.

Williams was also a talented baseball player in his high school days. He was rated as the 86th-ranked prospect in Florida (Plant High School) in Tampa Bay.

Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M and West Virginia all offered Williams out of high school and will try to land him in the portal for the 2024 college football season.

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USC receiver Mario Williams enters the transfer portal after a brutal 2023 season

It just didn’t work out for Mario Williams at USC

The USC career of receiver Mario Williams is over. Williams, who came to USC from Oklahoma along with Caleb Williams (no relation), endured an injury-plagued 2022 season but made some meaningful contributions to a good Trojan team. Mario Williams worked well with Jordan Addison and was part of a very explosive and productive offense. He did drop some passes that year, but he still was an impact player, albeit not on the same scale as Addison, who was a legitimate college football superstar at his position.

In 2023, with Addison gone to the NFL, Mario Williams was expected to take the next step in his evolution and development. It just didn’t happen. We all saw how much USC missed Addison in the wide receiver room. We were able to appreciate how much Addison stretched and opened up the field for his teammates. Williams and new receiver Dorian Singer weren’t able to have that same effect on the rest of the Trojans’ wideouts. Caleb Williams struggled to find open receivers with the same regularity he enjoyed one year earlier.

Now, here we are: Mario Williams has decided to enter the transfer portal. Some might say it’s a huge loss for USC, given his upside, but after seeing how 2023 went, it’s probably best for both the player and the program that a parting of ways is occurring. Lincoln Riley can look for a new receiver in the portal, with Julian Fleming of Ohio State being one obvious option if he can land the plane.

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Social media reacts to Xavier Watts’ scoop-and-score for Notre Dame

What a night for the kid.

[autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag] will not forget this game. The Notre Dame safety knew his team had to show a complete effort against USC. He provided that and then some. Not only did he have two interceptions to set up touchdowns, but he picked up a ball that [autotag]Cam Hart[/autotag] knocked out of Mario Williams’ hands and ran it to the end zone:

They say that to the winner goes the spoils, and Watts deserves every bit of them. Everyone on the Irish had a good game, but this was the perfect exclamation point to as good a night as a safety can have. Whatever Watts gets as a result of this game, he’ll cherish it for sure.

Irish fans are celebrating, and it’s not unwarranted in the least. This win was huge. There were many things to celebrate about this contest, but let’s focus only on tweets that came from this Watts score:

USC statistical leaders through six games

You probably can name one of these guys offhand.

USC nearly lost its perfect season against Arizona but survived. Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff chances ended with a loss at Louisville. Neither team is coming into their annual meeting with the best momentum. That means talent could be the game’s determining factor.

This is a perfect opportunity for the Trojans to make a statement. They’re catching the Irish when they’re fatigued and struggling. The only thing that could slow them down is the wet conditions forecast for the game, but they’re preparing for that by using water in rather interesting ways in practice. While there’s no way to tell if that will affect anything, it shows they’re not leaving anything up to chance.

As you’re about to see, there are several players responsible for the Trojans’ offense being the country’s highest scoring, not the least of whom is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback. Here he is among the top Trojans players on both sides of the ball:

How should the USC coaching staff handle Mario Williams after 3 dropped passes vs Arizona State?

Should Mario Williams be benched? Should the coaching staff continue to ride with him? This is a difficult conversation to have. #USC

The Mario Williams situation at USC is concerning, and the right way to handle it is not all that obvious. USC fans will say that Williams needs to be benched after dropping three passes against Arizona State. That might be the right move, but there is precedent for the idea that sticking with him is the better approach.

Let’s remember that Brenden Rice had the dropsies for much of last season at USC. It was logical to bench him. However, the staff stuck with him. Rice then had a breakout game in the Cotton Bowl against Tulane. Now, he is a very strong, very reliable receiver for USC. He made numerous big plays against Arizona State. The staff decided to stay with Rice instead of punishing him. That decision worked out.

It could be that Mario Williams needs tough love in a way Brenden Rice never did. Maybe benching Williams is the right move to make. Yet, the example of Brenden Rice would indicate that sticking with a player is the best way to maintain his confidence and get production from him.

It will be fascinating to see how Williams responds, and how the coaching staff deals with this larger situation.

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Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

Pac-12 football analyst identifies Mario Williams as a breakout star in 2023

Dorian Singer will get a lot of attention, which could enable Mario Williams to become the big hitter in this passing attack.

The USC Trojans’ 2023 football roster is hugely talented, and sometimes it’s easy to forget about specific players.

One example is Mario Williams, who transferred from Oklahoma after Lincoln Riley took the job, as did quarterback Caleb Williams.

Jack Follman of SuperWest Sports mentioned one breakout player for each Pac-12 program, and Mario Williams was his pick here:

“The big-time Oklahoma transfer was solid in 2022. I think he steps up in 2023 though with Jordan Addison off to the NFL. He’ll be a bigger target for Caleb Williams.”

Having a Biletnikoff Award winner such as Jordan Addison last year certainly didn’t help Williams get more opportunities. In 2023, the possibility is there, especially with the way USC likes to spread the ball around on offense. Dorian Singer has gotten a lot of the attention in the wide receiver room, and veteran Tahj Washington also figures prominently in the USC aerial attack. Yet, don’t forget about Mario Williams, another manifestation of the noticeable depth USC has at this position.

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How talented is the Oklahoma Sooners roster ahead of 2023?

According to recruiting rankings over the last 5 years, the Sooners should have one of the best rosters in 2023. But is that an accurate reflection of this roster?

We heard in the build-up to last season that the Oklahoma Sooners had one of the more talented rosters in the country. People (including me) pointed to that analysis as to why Oklahoma should be a contender in 2022. Some (not me) pointed to that analysis as to why 2022 was a coaching failure.

Based on recruiting rankings over the last five years, the Oklahoma Sooners should have one of the best rosters in college football. Based on recruiting rankings from the last five cycles, the Sooners have the eighth-best roster ahead of 2023. Brad Crawford of 247Sports explains:

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful program, and that’s no different at Oklahoma, a blue-blood accustomed to winning big. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen in Year 1 under coach Brent Venables, who came over to the Sooners following a lengthy tenure as Clemson’s top recruiter on staff under Dabo Swinney. The arrival of three five-stars in the 2023 recruiting cycle, however, is going to be a shot in the arm for Oklahoma prior to the school’s entry to the SEC in 2024. According to 247Sports’ recruiting rankings, Oklahoma has the second-most talented roster in the Big 12. You can probably guess who owns the league’s most lethal collection of talent. – Crawford, 247Sports

Oklahoma and Brent Venables have done a lot over the last two recruiting cycles to bring in talent from both the high school and transfer portal ranks. But as we saw last year when Oklahoma supposedly had one of the better rosters according to high school recruiting evaluations, it didn’t pan out to wins.

That doesn’t mean the analysis or rationale is wrong. The top of the list is carried by Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State, three teams that most would argue are the most talented teams in the country.

But given the turnover that Oklahoma’s undergone since Venables has taken over, do recruiting rankings prior to the coaching change accurately reflect the talent on the Sooners’ roster?

Oklahoma’s last two recruiting classes were strong, but there aren’t a lot of players left over from the three recruiting classes prior to Brent Venables’ arrival.

Oklahoma had the No. 4 recruiting class in 2019 on the strength of the signings of [autotag]Spencer Rattler[/autotag], [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag], [autotag]Trejan Bridges[/autotag], and [autotag]Theo Wease[/autotag]. All four of those players are gone. [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Grimes[/autotag], and [autotag]Nate Anderson[/autotag] are the top players remaining from the 2020 class but haven’t ascended into star players for the Sooners just yet.

The top three players in the 2021 class, [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag], [autotag]Clayton Smith[/autotag], and [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag], are gone as well.

So, while the recruiting at Oklahoma has been good, the strength of the Sooners’ recruiting classes from 2019-2021 isn’t reflected on the 2023 roster. Given the amount of roster turnover that Oklahoma has undergone since Venables has taken over, these “talent rankings” don’t adequately reflect where Oklahoma is as a roster right now unless you look strictly at the last two recruiting classes.

But that doesn’t mean this isn’t a group capable of reasserting the Sooners as Big 12 contenders. Oklahoma brought in one of the best transfer portal classes in the first phase of the portal. Specifically, on the defensive side of the ball, the Sooners brought in several impact players. [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag], [autotag]Reggie Pearson[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Lacey[/autotag], and [autotag]Rondell Bothroyd[/autotag] could all start for the Sooners, but at least will play significant roles for the Sooners.

Brent Venables and his staff have added talent over the last two offseasons. They have a better roster than they did a year ago, especially on the defensive side of the ball. There’s optimism that will reveal itself on the field in a wide-open Big 12 in 2023.

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After strong sophomore season, Sooners WR Jalil Farooq headed for huge 2023

After a strong performance in 2022 where he was third on the team in total yards, Sooners WR Jalil Farooq is set to have a huge season in 2023.

A freshman during the 2021 season, Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver [autotag]Jalil Farooq[/autotag] didn’t see much playing time. That was until the Alamo Bowl after [autotag]Mario Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Jadon Haselwood[/autotag] departed via the transfer portal, and [autotag]Michael Woods[/autotag] declared for the 2022 NFL draft.

That left [autotag]Marvin Mims[/autotag], [autotag]Drake Stoops[/autotag], and Farooq, then a true freshman for the Sooners, to lead the way for Oklahoma in their matchup against the Oregon Ducks.

Mims and Stoops did what they do, each recording a touchdown reception from then-quarterback [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag]. But it was Farooq’s performance that provided a glimpse of the future at wide receiver.

In his first extended action in the Alamo Bowl, Farooq caught three passes for 64 yards in the win over the Ducks. He had 48 yards after the catch, and each of his three receptions went for a first down.

That led to an opportunity for him to earn a feature role with the Sooners in 2022. And he didn’t disappoint.

Operating on the outside, opposite Marvin Mims, Farooq became the do-it-all option for the Sooners in 2022. He had 37 receptions for 466 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran the ball 12 times for 121 yards, averaging 10.1 yards per carry on the season.

Only Eric Gray and Marvin Mims had more total yards than Farooq’s 606 in 2022. Farooq was also the Sooners’ best kick returner, averaging 22.9 yards per return on 12 opportunities for 275 yards.

He was a threat in the run game on reverses and helped the Sooners in the intermediate part of the field. He ran hard and with purpose with the ball in his hands and is a perfect fit in Jeff Lebby’s offense. An offense that wants to run a lot of wide receiver and bubble screens and jet sweep action.

Jalil Farooq’s after-the-catch ability will make him a huge threat in Oklahoma’s offense in 2023. With Marvin Mims gone and doubt as to who will replace him, Farooq should see a huge uptick in touches both as a receiver and a runner. With more of a focus on getting the ball in his hands, Farooq will push for 1,000 total yards next year in Lebby’s fast-paced offense.

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Alex Grinch’s defense lost the Cotton Bowl, but USC special teams failures contributed as well

A few huge special teams blunders cost #USC, reviving conversations about the need to hire an actual special teams coach. Will Lincoln Riley resist or adjust?

The USC Trojans have a lot of reasons for falling short in the Cotton Bowl. Tulane came storming back and got the 46-45 victory in one of the best games of the entire season for neutral fans who just wanted a fun game. They got one.

It wasn’t good or fun for USC fans, however.

The defense had plenty of issues once again and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch was back on the roster in the social media world after a terrible performance.

That said, special teams also had a couple of miscues. For starters, kicker Denis Lynch was short on a 52-yard field goal attempt in a dome; that would have been the longest kick of his career, but he didn’t have enough leg. That was jarring.

The other miscue was the difference maker: Mario Williams botched a late kickoff return and the Trojans ended up with the ball at their own 1-yard line, which led to a safety.

Where do we even begin? The defense was bad, but special teams was another talking point after the loss: