Stepping Up
November 09, 2004 11:30 AM | General
November 9, 2004
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez raised a few eyebrows last Sunday afternoon when he said that true freshman Pernell Williams might start this weekend’s game against Boston College.
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| Pernell Williams has rushed for 228 yards and scored three touchdowns in four games this season.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
The coach likes the way Williams hits the holes and runs underneath his pads. “We are going to get him into the game earlier if not start him this week,” said Rodriguez.
Even though Williams has only appeared in four college games after having his redshirt lifted prior to the Connecticut game, Rodriguez believes Williams is up to the challenge if called upon.
“He’s got a lot of game experience and we think he’s ready,” Rodriguez said. “We told all of our backs that they are basically all co-starters so I think their mindset is that they are ready to take the first snap if needed.”
These last few weeks have been a whirlwind for the 20-year-old New Lebanon, Ohio, resident. Williams arrived in the fall thinking he was going to spend this season as a redshirt, working on the scout team and getting bigger for next season. But running back depth was an issue during fall camp and became even more of a priority during the Central Florida game when Kay-Jay Harris left with a hamstring injury and both Jason Colson and Bryan Wright were hobbled.
Wright has been nursing various ailments throughout the season and that gave Williams more of an opportunity to get reps. He did so well that the coaches decided to lift his redshirt during the week prior to the Connecticut game.
“I knew I was going to play that week. Coach Rod told me,” Williams said softly. “I had to get ready.”
Williams got into the game in the second quarter and carried once for four yards. In the second half he carried 15 times for 84 yards and scored the game-sealing touchdown, a 13-yard run.
He got his first start two weeks later at Rutgers and scored the game’s first touchdown. He finished the contest with 38 yards on eight carries.
Last week against Temple, Williams once again took the bulk of the carries rushing 16 times for 72 yards and scoring on a six-yard run. Williams is averaging a very solid five yards per carry and has scored three touchdowns, but his longest run has covered just 13 yards. Williams says it’s just a matter of time before he breaks a longer run.
“I think I can be a breakaway back but right now I’m still learning and I need to hit the weight room and get bigger,” he said.
Williams says he had plenty of long runs in high school at Jefferson High School last year when he ran for 1,789 yards and scored 23 touchdowns to earn first team all-state honors. He ran in primarily a one-back offense at Jefferson High School after playing in the veer his junior year at another school. Consequently, Williams isn’t sure which style suits him best. “It’s hard to say because I can’t really describe my style,” Williams said. “I don’t know what kind of style I have?”
Williams also excelled as a cornerback and says most of the college recruiters were after him to play in the secondary, particularly Michigan State.
“Some of them recruited me as both. Minnesota and Cincinnati had me at running back,” he said.
Williams actually played defensive back in the Big 33 and North-South all-star games knowing he was already pegged for running back at WVU. “It really didn’t matter because I knew I was coming to college to play running back. I wanted to live my DB days out,” he said.
Despite making his mark early in his college career at running back, Williams admits he sometimes misses playing in the secondary.
“I like both positions,” he said. “Sometimes when I’m playing running back now I look at the defense and I think about playing defensive back. When I was playing defensive back I wanted to run the ball.
“I like to get after people.”
That is exactly what Rodriguez likes about Williams’ running style. MSN radio play-by-play man Tony Caridi calls it “honking it up in there.”
“I’m hitting the holes quicker but I’m letting little tackles bring me down right now,” Williams said. “Once I get to the point where I run through tackles and break them then I think I can be more effective.”
Williams also admits his inexperience has inhibited him from playing the position more naturally. He says he is concentrating so much on making his reads that he still sometimes runs robotically.
“I’ve gotten nervous at times going through my reads making sure I make the right read,” he said. “Once I feel comfortable enough with the offense and I can just go and not be thinking: just let it come instantly.”
In Rodriguez’ offensive system, making the correct reads and making them quickly is tantamount. Williams says there are positive yards on every play if you’re right.
“In this offense you make your reads. After you make your one, two read that should lead you up to the person that you need to handle, either the safety or the backer. That’s when you need to be an athlete,” he said.
The 5-foot-10, 202-pounder is excited about the opportunity to play No. 24-ranked Boston College this weekend. He says he isn’t getting caught up in the hype of the game but is instead staying focused on the task at hand.
“Right now we’re trying to stay focused on the little things and having good practices,” he said.
As for his rapid rise up the depth chart, Williams says it probably won’t sink in until after the season. “I just live day by day and let it go; whatever happens, happens,” he said.
“It probably won’t sink in until after the season and then I’ll go, ‘Wow’ when I look back on it,” he added.
Many Mountaineer fans are saying the same thing about Pernell Williams right now.
