Big 12 Football: Caleb Williams stuns OU, enters transfer portal

News that was somewhat expected, but definitely not certain, arrived for one of the biggest stars among underclassmen out of the Big 12 football conference on Jan. 3. Freshman Oklahoma Sooners quarterback and the former elite five-star recruit Caleb Williams put his name in the NCAA Transfer Portal officially early this week.

It was assumed that entering the transfer portal would be a real consideration for Williams after former Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley bolted from Norman a couple of months ago for the job opening with the USC Trojans. But it was not a sure thing for Williams to enter the transfer portal.

What we did know was that Williams was going to mull over the decision of entering the transfer portal this offseason once Oklahoma faced the Oregon Ducks in the Alamo Bowl. And that’s exactly what Williams did.

He mulled over the decision after helping the Sooners beat the Ducks convincingly in the Alamo Bowl last week by a double-digit margin.

Big 12 football star QB Caleb Williams could leave OU as he enters the portal

It appears that Williams’ decision to enter the transfer portal is one that might not guarantee that he leaves Norman this offseason. It sounds like there is still the possibility that Williams returns to Norman after exploring his other options.

Nonetheless, this still means that Oklahoma is down their two starting quarterbacks from the last two seasons in Williams and sophomore Spencer Rattler. The latter of those two quarterbacks committed to the South Carolina Gamecocks out of the transfer portal last month.

The first potential landing spot that will come to mind for most college football fans concerning Williams out of the portal will be USC. Williams was originally recruited by Riley, and a lot of the coaching staff he was familiar with during his recruitment from Oklahoma is now at USC.

But there could be other schools in play here as likely any big Power Five program that has a need at the quarterback position would be smart to at least reach out to Williams. USC and Oklahoma are two of the more obvious landing spots to watch right now, though.

Williams immediately becomes the most notable name available in the transfer portal after the turn of the calendar year. He’s coming off a freshman campaign where he registered nearly 2,000 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, four interceptions, 442 rushing yards, and six rushing scores.