Can USC Football fans breathe sign of relief after Caleb Williams' injury comments?

USC Football Head Coach Lincoln Riley said on Sunday that he was not certain on whether Caleb Williams (hamstring) will play in the Cotton Bowl. He said that he is going to do what he can to rehab Williams' injury, and that he's just glad the game wasn't in two or three weeks from Sunday, because if so the chances of him playing would be even lower.

Williams, however, sang a different tune at a Caleb Cares (Williams' charity organization) graduation ceremony (Audubon Middle School). He told the LA Times that he'll be playing despite "still sporting a pretty serious limp" according to Ryan Kartje of LA Times.

Kartje tweeted all this information, and Williams re-tweeted that information. It seems like he most certainly thinks he's playing. Here are those tweets he re-tweeted below:

Look--Williams is an ultra-competitor. If he thinks he's playing, then he's playing, right? Well, it's complicated. He refused to be taken out of the Pac-12 Championship Game when he suffered the injury, so one may think he would refuse to sit out the Cotton Bowl.

But Riley and the program as a whole may not want to risk Williams' long-term health in a bowl game that's not a College Football Playoff game. Would it really be worth it to risk Williams' long-term health in a bowl game that has no National Championship implications at all if he's not at 100%? It's at least debatable, and therefore even if Williams has his mind made up on playing, USC may decide that it's not in his best interest to play if he's not fully recovered by gametime on January 2nd.

No. 10 USC Football will likely win if Caleb Williams does indeed start in the Cotton Bowl vs. No. 16 Tulane.

That's because again, USC Football will likely only start Caleb Williams if he's at 100%. In that case, it's hard seeing the Trojans lose.

The only game the Trojans have lost with Williams healthy this year was a game against the now-No. 8 Utah Utes on the road by one point. Not to mention, that game was decided by multiple terrible roughing the passer calls made in Utah's favor. The conference even admitted to those calls being bogus.

The 11-2 Trojans will likely not have trouble scoring at a very high clip against a Green Wave defensive line that is tied for 80th in sacks and tied for 103rd in tackles for loss. Even if backup USC QB Miller Moss starts, SC will have a good chance against that lackluster defensive front.