For the second time in as many weeks, USC football lost last Saturday night to the Utah Utes. But this loss felt way more detrimental than their loss to Notre Dame the prior week. It more or less ripped the whole season out from under the Trojans' football team, and more importantly, maybe star quarterback Caleb Williams, who now has some questioning if he should sit out the rest of the season.

USC football was playing with fire

If you've kept up with USC football at all this season, you've seen the writing on the wall. The Trojans were going to lose. Granted, you could say that about every team, even the likes of the top four or five in the country currently. But USC was much different. The Trojans had been playing with fire for weeks.

Lesser opponents in their first three weeks masked the problem, where the Trojans' football team pummeled the opposition offensively while allowing mostly minimal scoring defensively. But then came Arizona State at the end of September, problems quickly arose. Looking at the scoresheet, USC beat the Sun Devils by 14 points, but allowing them to be within even that amount seemed puzzling, especially since even Williams and the offense struggled in the first half of that game.

Then came Deion Sanders and Colorado, who were reeling after being dominated in every facet against Oregon the week prior. USC was 34-14 at the half but let the Buffaloes get within a touchdown to close out that game.

And then there was the three-overtime game against Arizona, which required every bit of Caleb Williams' magic to beat the Wildcats by two points. It was at that point that the cupcake portion of the schedule ended, although it was probably swallowed like a plate full of unwanted vegetables.

Two crucial USC football losses end their championship aspirations

A top-10 USC football team entered South Bend against a Notre Dame team that had just been through their own gauntlet the last three weeks and were then with two losses. Yet, the Fighting Irish were favored in the game. By the time the game was over, the Trojans lost 48-20, and Caleb Williams had the worst game of his career, in which he threw for under 200 yards, one touchdown to three interceptions, and was sacked six times.

To make matters worse, the only thing USC had to do to get right was go against No. 14 Utah this past week. The same Utah football team that caused the only two blemishes on USC's record last year, essentially ruining any chances for them to make a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Utah all but possibly put the nail in the Trojans' coffin for any sort of championship agenda this season when they hit a field goal to win by two at the end of regulation. And all of the 32 points scored by USC never came from Williams' arm.

Caleb Williams' Heisman Trophy and championship aspirations are now done

Caleb Williams did score against the Utes on Saturday, just not by throwing it. He ran 10 times for 27 yards and one score. But it was the first time in 21 games that the former Heisman winner hadn't thrown for a touchdown. Williams and USC's performances have now added fuel to the fire for him to sit the rest of the season out and focus on the NFL Draft in April of 2024, as originally suggested by Emmanuel Acho.

“With National Championship hopes gone, Caleb Williams should consider sitting out the rest of the season. The Heisman is a long shot, College Football Playoffs are even less likely, and he won’t play in the bowl game. The risk of playing far outweighs the reward. A business decision,” Acho tweeted on Saturday.

Does Acho have a point here? Or does Williams still have something to prove?

Caleb Williams still has something to prove in college at USC

Whether Acho or anyone else wants to believe it or not, there's still something to play for here. And a big part of that is Williams' future alone. Those like Acho do indeed have a valuable argument to make is that there is really little left for USC to play for now. Not to mention that the schedule for them doesn't get any easier, having to still face (outside of Cal this week) three top-25 teams, with two being top-10. USC football could easily lose their last three games to Washington, Oregon and UCLA.

But Williams still has to prove that he is indeed the No. 1 pick, that he can overcome his recent bad string of play. He's not the only belle of the ball any longer, so to speak. He far and away has the most hype, maybe even the most talent. But now there are a handful, if not more, quarterbacks looking to make a name for themselves this season who will be entering the 2024 NFL Draft, like the current Heisman favorite Michael Penix Jr., Drake Maye, and others.

The Heisman trophy may be out of reach now, the championships, Pac-12 and national, may be gone, but the future is still what Williams should be playing for.

Plus, whether it's unfair or not for head coach Lincoln Riley to put the entire USC football brand on Williams' shoulders, that's something that the quarterback is going to have to get used to if he's vying to be a franchise quarterback. There's much more pressure that comes with being a No. 1 pick in the NFL, especially for a quarterback, than being USC's starter.

Caleb Williams would set an even further bad precedent toward college football's future

If Williams were to sit out for the remainder of the season, that would essentially set an even further bad precedent that other players would soon then follow. It would kill a lot of the spirit in college football. Williams is still a hot commodity, a must-watch when he's on television screens and in stadiums playing for USC football. If he were to call it quits now, midseason, then where is the line drawn then? We've already seen how players are now sitting out of bowl games.

Williams is just too valuable to the current sport he's in, to have him leave, takes away from the sport that needs him, that's been following him, either rooting for or against him, for too long now for him to up and quit. Plus, what would quitting say about his future in the NFL? Sure, it's a “business decision” that indeed has validity to it, but how do NFL executives feel about it? How do his current USC football teammates feel about it?

Caleb Williams should not sit out the rest of the season.