BALTIMORE, Md. — Caleb Williams isn’t shy about why he’s attending Gonzaga College High School over the many other area schools.
“I’ve had a goal that I’ve had for about, say, seven years now: Stanford [University], I want to go there,” said Williams, the Eagles’ 6-foot freshman quarterback. “That’s my number one choice, if I ever get that chance. I came [to Gonzaga] for the academics and the coaching and just the football program. I feel like it gives me the best chance on getting there.”
That’s not a shabby goal to set at the age of 7. Stanford has produced 10 NFL starting quarterbacks over the years, including Pro Football Hall of Fame member, John Elway, in addition to Andrew Luck, who stars for the Indianapolis Colts. Not to mention, Stanford’s acceptance rate is a mere 5 percent.
“That’s my dream,” Williams said. “I’ve just been pushing, working, learning the playbook, studying, putting the extra work in with my coaches.”
All the above is paying dividends for Williams, who now starts under center — not on junior varsity — but on varsity for the seventh-ranked team in the D.C.-Maryland area, in one of the toughest leagues nationally: The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.
“It’s rare. It’s rare,” Gonzaga coach Randy Trivers said of a freshman quarterback starting in the WCAC. “He’s done just a great job in training camp of really grasping and learning the offense. He has good command out there.”
Williams made his varsity debut Saturday at Gilman School in Baltimore. He finished with 140 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 6-for-11 passing. Williams added 16 yards on the ground and his passer rating was nearly perfect at 139.2.
“The kid played well,” Trivers said.
While Williams started the season-opener, it was clear Trivers and the coaching staff wanted to ease Williams into action. Of the 45 Gonzaga plays Saturday, 11 were pass attempts from Williams. Nonetheless, the freshman capitalized on his opportunities.
On his first drive, Williams connected with Sydney Person on a 12-yard hitch route, which set up a two-yard touchdown run by Loic Sangwa on the next play.
His second drive, though, was a forgettable one. Williams botched a snap at the Gonzaga 33-yard line, and Gilman recovered the football. Luckily, for Williams at least, the Greyhounds never capitalized.
Minutes later, Williams uncorked a 70-yard score down the right sideline to receiver Dean Engram that pushed the Eagles lead to 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
“He’s a very talented, young quarterback,” Engram said. “He has a bright future and is going to help us a lot this season. … Yeah, I know: A freshman starting in the WCAC is a big role. But he’ll be good.”
Out of the second half gate, Williams, with just enough patience to allow his receiver to break free, heaved a 50-yard beauty into the hands of Person, who scored and swelled the Gonzaga lead to 28-0.
Trivers then called Williams to the bench — not the benching bench, but the moment of job well done as the backups took over.
The first game, and win, was in the books — a 38-0 rout over 14th-ranked Gilman — and the all-important first step in the pursuit of the program’s first conference title since 2002.
“One of our words is ‘now,’ and it’s in the [acronym], ‘NEF.’ Now, embrace, finish,” Williams said. “That’s the word that we use. I have to focus on the now, and now I get to go have some with the family.”
EDITOR’S NOTE (Oct. 17, 2021):
Caleb Williams is now one of the hottest commodities in college football, now flourishing as a true freshman for the Sooners at Oklahoma University.
Last week he was summoned off the bench in the Red River Showdown versus the University of Texas, in which his team trailed 35-17 with six minutes left, and willed the Sooners to a win for the ages.
Williams amassed over 300 yards and three touchdowns in the 55-48 win keyed by a 25-point fourth quarter.
This past week, Sports Illustrated featured the former Gonzaga College High School quarterback with a similar headline to the story you’re reading coupled with an appropriate subheading: “Meet Caleb Williams: ‘He Saves The Day’, Oklahoma’s true freshman quarterback who came up huge in the Red River Showdown has been building his legacy for years.“
On Saturday, Williams made his first Power Five start and led the fourth-ranked Sooners to a 53-31 win over Texas Christian University.
Now he has everything going for him: his Sooners are in the thick of the College Football Playoff race, he’s a projected first-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and, according to The Athletic, has the sixth-best Heisman Trophy odds after one start (!)
The football world may just be learning of Williams, but he’s thrilled in some capacity on national television before.
In 2018, his championship-winning, walk-off Hail Mary pass that gifted the Eagles their first WCAC title since ’02. It lit up SportsCenter for a day or two.
Then a reporter had an idea.
And when the reporter happened to cover Gonzaga’s ice hockey league championship game for The Washington Post, there she was.
Four years later, Williams and I aren’t as vested in the metropolitan area. Obviously he didn’t end up at Stanford (I never did ask him what happened to that) but in Norman, Oklahoma, instead.
While some are just discovering Williams, it’s neat to reminisce and recollect the story that began at Baltimore’s Gilman School four years ago.
