BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -One of Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer’s chief concerns heading into the season was the inexperience of his tailbacks after a season-ending injury to Darren Evans.
Enter Ryan Williams. The redshirt freshman has put that concern to rest, showing breakaway speed and an affinity for punishing tacklers.
“I think he’s a hard guy,” Beamer said this week. “He might run around you, he might run away from you or he might run over you. Like I said, I think he’s the real thing.”
No question.
987.
And he’s doing it with a style that motivates his teammates to keep opening holes.
“He has an attitude,” left guard Sergio Render said. “He plays with an attitude. He plays full speed. He’s kind of like an offensive lineman because you know, you’ve got to play with attitude. He loves to embarrass people. He doesn’t like to get tackled. … He’s mean.”
Just one year removed from being redshirted because he was still learning blocking schemes and pass protection, the 5-foot-9 speedster nicknamed ‘Lil Sweetness’ said he’s heard his name mentioned in early Heisman Trophy talk, but he tries not to pay any attention.
“There’s thousands and thousands of college football players, and I’m not going to try and chase the Heisman. If anything, I’ll let it chase me if the opportunity comes,” he said.
“I’m just trying to help the team win.”
So far, he’s been the Hokies most valuable offensive player, and by a wide margin.
In Virginia Tech’s season-opening loss to No. 3 Alabama, he rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 42 yards, accounting for 113 of the Hokies’ 155 yards.
He then ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns in a half against Marshall, 107 yards and a touchdown against No. 23 Nebraska despite playing sparingly in the second half after tweaking an ankle injury, and 150 yards and two touchdowns against No. 17 Miami.
run or reception cover at least 40 yards in each game, and his lead in the ACC rushing race is by nearly 42 yards a game over Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech, the leading ball carrier in a triple option attack that is supposed to dominate on the ground.
Further, Williams has done his work against some of the best defenses in the country, making it possible that with Duke and Boston College just ahead, his fun has just begun.
Not so for opponents like Blue Devils cornerback Leon Wright, who at 175 pounds will be spotting Williams about 30 pounds and a whole lot of momentum if they meet Saturday.
“You have to be aware of his running skills and his power, and when you do get a chance to make a hit, make a tackle, you have to make it solid and be able to bring him down – or at least hold him until your guys can rally around,” Wright said.
Williams’ running style is patterned after the man whose number – 34 – and nickname he shares. He even has the number and ‘Lil Sweetness’ tattooed on his right forearm.
“I’m not the biggest guy. I always feel like I’m the smallest guy when I touch the field,” he said. “My idol was Walter Payton, and his quote was, `Never die easy. Die hard.’ He never wanted to go down on the first contact, and that’s one thing that I try to run by.”
livering a crushing blow rather than absorbing one.
“I try to hit them before they can hit me,” he said with a smile.
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AP sports writer Joedy McCreary in Durham, N.C., contributed to this report.
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