Caleb Williams sat on the USC bench in silence biting his cheek, frowning a familiar frown. Then he tossed his head back and put his head in his hands.

The realization washed over him in real time.

And now the Trojans’ time has run out.

Utah’s 34-32 last-second win at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night in front of a stunned crowd all but ends USC’s College Football Playoff dreams, just about certainly ends Williams’ repeat Heisman Trophy hopes and most certainly casts a pall over a season that began with immense promise.

For weeks, the Trojans felt things slipping from their grasp. An uninspiring win at Arizona State. A worrisome win at Colorado. Needing three overtimes to beat Arizona at home. A definitive loss at Notre Dame.

And now this.

A game-winning field goal, set up by a 26-yard scramble by a pig-farming, walk-on, backup quarterback-turned-starter, on 2nd-and-15 with 16 seconds left, converted by a kicker coming back from injury.

For a Trojans team playing with fire nearly all year, this was one too many matches.

And now they are officially burned out.

You can’t lay this one entirely on the feet of the defense, but isn’t that more fun?

Alex Grinch has provided more standup comedy bits than the O.J. trial and Monica Lewinsky scandal all rolled into one. Those references may be a bit dated, but not as dated as Grinch’s scheme. See there?

On Saturday, against an offense with more Band-Aids than returning starters, the Trojans allowed nearly 500 yards of total offense and 23 first downs. They let a converted strong safety, Sione Vaki, pile up more than 210 yards of total offense, and a converted quarterback. Ja’Quinden Jackson, grind out 117 yards on 26 carries.

They turned Bryson Barnes, the pig farmer, into Michael Vick. Back in the saddle after three games because of the ineffectiveness of Nate Johnson, Barnes set career highs for passing yardage (235), passing touchdowns (3) and rushing yards (57).

“We really took over there for a while, and we got a little soft at the end,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “But you know, they’ve got a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they’re going to make some things, and that’s just the way it is. But we’ve got ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, and we’re proud of that guy, too. What a warrior he is.”

The Trojans weren’t totally inept — a Caleb Bullock quick-pick-6 in the 4th quarter cut Utah’s lead to 28-23 — just mostly inept, never more so than Bear Alexander’s inexplicable roughing the passer/targeting penalty on 3rd-and-9 on Utah’s game-winning drive.

Of course, you can’t blame Grinch for that. Just everything else.

Unlike so many times in the past, even Riley and Williams could not make up for the defense’s ineptitude.

For the 2nd straight game, USC’s offense struggled. For the second straight game against Utah, the offense labored.

The dynamic Williams looked out of sorts behind a remade offensive line that allowed 3 sacks. You can see the weight of the world on Williams’ face, and it’s clear the watchful eyes of local and national media has soured him.

He completed 24-of-34 passes for 256 yards, and while he avoided the 3 interceptions that plagued him last week against the Fighting Irish in a 48-20 defeat, he also avoided the very scenarios in which he normally thrives. He had zero passing touchdowns, though he ran one in.

“We stalled out there on a couple of drives, had a couple of big penalties, a couple of negative plays, if you opportunities down the field that we didn’t make,” Riley said. “The turnover/kind of hanging onto the ball plagued us a little bit. They are one of the best defenses in the country, we were going to make some plays, they were going to make some please. All the games (against) then were going to be like that. But we missed some big opportunities.”

The bad offense. The poorly timed penalty. The incredible game-winning run by the pig farmer.

None of those were the most embarrassing moment of the night for USC.

That happened in the post-game press conference, three times.

First, Riley let his players skip out on facing the music once again. Cowardly move.

Then, he pretended as if he isn’t to blame for creating massive expectations from the second he stepped foot on campus.

“We’re in the middle of the season. That’s a dream world,” he said, laughably. “You’re fighting your ass off every single week. We don’t come in every single week talking about winning a national championship, going to the playoffs. I don’t know where that narrative starts. You come in every single week to try and fight your tail off to play well and win a ballgame, and it’s a strain every week to do it.”

And, of course, there was this.

Just…what? What a ridiculous thing to say. A serious coach does not say that.

Then again, Riley has never been a serious coach.

The only thing serious, in fact, is the danger this program is in. Things very well could get worse from here.

Forget the CFP. Forget the Heisman.

At this point, USC is just trying not to have its season veer off a cliff.