Caleb Williams comes to life when it matters most for USC

That was as close as it could get.

The Oregon State Beavers gave the USC Trojans everything they had on a wild night in Corvallis. Yet, somehow, Lincoln Riley’s group escaped with a gritty 17-14 victory in stunning fashion.

Through three-plus quarters, the USC offense was essentially the Travis Dye Show. Caleb Williams struggled all night as the Beavers defense came to play in a highly-anticipated battle of undefeated teams on another edition of Pac-12 After Dark.

With less than eight minutes to play, Williams’ numbers were concerning: He was 11-of-27 for 123 yards and no scores.

The Beavers then took the lead on a Jam Griffin touchdown with less than six minutes to play, and Williams threw everything else out the window to engineer a masterful drive.

He turned it around and completed five passes, including a beautiful 21-yard strike to Jordan Addison for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:13 left in regulation. Athletes have to have short memories. No matter how many bad things happen in a game, there is always the next play. Caleb Williams wiped away 58 and a half minutes of subpar football with a clutch late strike inside the final 90 seconds. Teammates saw the struggles for most of the night, but they’ll remember the crunch-time response more than anything else:

That was the answer USC needed, and that’s precisely why Riley wanted Williams to join him in LA.

With everything on the line, even after a poor night, he shrugged it off and delivered a beautiful drive that began at USC’s own 16-yard line.

His final stats were severely underwhelming: 16-36, 180 yards and a score. But, the Trojans escaped Corvallis with the win, and Williams put the team on his shoulders when it mattered most.

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Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire