Post by elp525 on Oct 6, 2011 5:08:37 GMT -5
Thursday October 6, 2011
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Nick Williams was the best kickoff return man in college football in 2010. He's becoming one of Connecticut's offensive threats in 2011.
The junior kickoff and punt return specialist has three catches in the past two games for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Williams averaged a school-record and NCAA-best 35.29 yards retuning kicks for about half of last season. He's averaging 46.3 yards per reception this season and already has as many receiving touchdowns as he did return touchdowns in 2010.
"We would like to get him involved," Huskies Coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "You know how it goes, though. Sometimes the play is designed to go to him and you can't get to it him, but we would like to get some more touches in the game plan for Nick."
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Williams remains a threat on kickoff returns and he'll test No. 16 West Virginia (4-1) in Saturday's noon game at Mountaineer Field (Big East Network telecast on WCHS in Charleston-Huntington).
Williams averages 21.6 yards per return for the Huskies (2-3) while the Mountaineers are No. 104 in kickoff return defense and allow 24.37 yards per return.
Already this season WVU has allowed returns of 30, 30, 32, 33, 36, 72 and 99 yards. The only team that hasn't had a 30-yard return against the Mountaineers is Maryland, which had two 29-yard returns.
"You try to do everything in preparations at the same level and apply the same focus every week, but when you do know some information like that, it is a little more inspiring," Williams said. "You do get a little more juiced up when you know the opportunity might be slightly larger this week."
Williams hasn't been as successful on punt returns and averages 4.8 yards per return, but WVU allowed Marshall's Andre Booker to return the first punt of the season 87 yards for a touchdown. The Mountaineers have only allowed 42 yards on the four returns since then.
Williams isn't satisfied with his kickoff returns, either. He had 95- and 100-yard touchdowns last season but his longest return of 37 yards this year is barely greater than his average last year. Teams have schemed, covered and simply tackled better against UConn this season.
"It's just something that hasn't happened yet, but last year it wasn't until the sixth or seventh game of the year when we got going. I had two big ones and that helped boost the stats right there, but I'm confident it's going to happen this same year. We have the personnel, the coaching and the camaraderie to break some."
Williams wasn't needed on kickoffs last season until injuries to others gave him a chance in the fifth game. His only return was 54 yards. A week later, Williams, from East Windsor, N.J., returned to the Garden State and had a 100-yard return in a loss at Rutgers. Williams didn't play in the 16-13 win against the Mountaineers, but had a touchdown against Pitt and ended up first-team all-Big East.
When Pasqualoni, the former Syracuse coach, returned to the league as the Huskies coach in January, he began to see a bigger role for Williams.
"He's in the mode of that smaller, quicker inside receiver who can catch the ball and make people miss and be productive with the yards after the catch," Pasqualoni said. "We're kind of excited and we've been excited about Nick since we got here. He plays hard and he's a great kid. We're just anxious and hopeful to get him the ball a few times."
Williams, who had two receptions as a freshman in 2009 and none last year, has slowly risen up the depth chart. Some in front of him transferred and others just weren't as good as Williams up until his breakthrough game. He caught two short passes against Buffalo and turned them into a 64-yard gain that set up a touchdown and then a 49-yard touchdown.
The Huskies beat the Bulls, 17-3.
"Those were five-yard passes that just happened to be against man-to-man coverage," Williams said. "Once I beat the man on me, the field opened up."
Williams the receiver turned into Williams the return man.
"It was pretty similar," he said. "The one difference was if you break one, you're usually going against the secondary and only about four guys. There's no developed area where you're supposed to run the ball. If you break one on offense, you don't have 11 guys running down trying to get you. They're not in lanes, either."
Last week, UConn lost a shootout to Western Michigan, 38-31, but Williams was at it again. His 26-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Johnny McEntee on fourth-and-5 with 2:03 to go allowed the Huskies to tie the score 31-31.
"We're starting to form a relationship with Johnny and I saw him rolling out of the pocket and I saw a hole in the coverage, so I threw my hand up," Williams said. "He saw me in the end zone and made a great throw. I anticipated the ball being tipped, but it wasn't. Fortunately it just fell into my lap."
The play was reviewed and confirmed.
"I think it's definitely the beginning of something," he said. "As the season goes on, I hope to get more involved and make more plays, but I really want to contribute in ways to help the team win."
by Mike Casazza
Charleston Daily Mail
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Nick Williams was the best kickoff return man in college football in 2010. He's becoming one of Connecticut's offensive threats in 2011.
The junior kickoff and punt return specialist has three catches in the past two games for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Williams averaged a school-record and NCAA-best 35.29 yards retuning kicks for about half of last season. He's averaging 46.3 yards per reception this season and already has as many receiving touchdowns as he did return touchdowns in 2010.
"We would like to get him involved," Huskies Coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "You know how it goes, though. Sometimes the play is designed to go to him and you can't get to it him, but we would like to get some more touches in the game plan for Nick."
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound Williams remains a threat on kickoff returns and he'll test No. 16 West Virginia (4-1) in Saturday's noon game at Mountaineer Field (Big East Network telecast on WCHS in Charleston-Huntington).
Williams averages 21.6 yards per return for the Huskies (2-3) while the Mountaineers are No. 104 in kickoff return defense and allow 24.37 yards per return.
Already this season WVU has allowed returns of 30, 30, 32, 33, 36, 72 and 99 yards. The only team that hasn't had a 30-yard return against the Mountaineers is Maryland, which had two 29-yard returns.
"You try to do everything in preparations at the same level and apply the same focus every week, but when you do know some information like that, it is a little more inspiring," Williams said. "You do get a little more juiced up when you know the opportunity might be slightly larger this week."
Williams hasn't been as successful on punt returns and averages 4.8 yards per return, but WVU allowed Marshall's Andre Booker to return the first punt of the season 87 yards for a touchdown. The Mountaineers have only allowed 42 yards on the four returns since then.
Williams isn't satisfied with his kickoff returns, either. He had 95- and 100-yard touchdowns last season but his longest return of 37 yards this year is barely greater than his average last year. Teams have schemed, covered and simply tackled better against UConn this season.
"It's just something that hasn't happened yet, but last year it wasn't until the sixth or seventh game of the year when we got going. I had two big ones and that helped boost the stats right there, but I'm confident it's going to happen this same year. We have the personnel, the coaching and the camaraderie to break some."
Williams wasn't needed on kickoffs last season until injuries to others gave him a chance in the fifth game. His only return was 54 yards. A week later, Williams, from East Windsor, N.J., returned to the Garden State and had a 100-yard return in a loss at Rutgers. Williams didn't play in the 16-13 win against the Mountaineers, but had a touchdown against Pitt and ended up first-team all-Big East.
When Pasqualoni, the former Syracuse coach, returned to the league as the Huskies coach in January, he began to see a bigger role for Williams.
"He's in the mode of that smaller, quicker inside receiver who can catch the ball and make people miss and be productive with the yards after the catch," Pasqualoni said. "We're kind of excited and we've been excited about Nick since we got here. He plays hard and he's a great kid. We're just anxious and hopeful to get him the ball a few times."
Williams, who had two receptions as a freshman in 2009 and none last year, has slowly risen up the depth chart. Some in front of him transferred and others just weren't as good as Williams up until his breakthrough game. He caught two short passes against Buffalo and turned them into a 64-yard gain that set up a touchdown and then a 49-yard touchdown.
The Huskies beat the Bulls, 17-3.
"Those were five-yard passes that just happened to be against man-to-man coverage," Williams said. "Once I beat the man on me, the field opened up."
Williams the receiver turned into Williams the return man.
"It was pretty similar," he said. "The one difference was if you break one, you're usually going against the secondary and only about four guys. There's no developed area where you're supposed to run the ball. If you break one on offense, you don't have 11 guys running down trying to get you. They're not in lanes, either."
Last week, UConn lost a shootout to Western Michigan, 38-31, but Williams was at it again. His 26-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Johnny McEntee on fourth-and-5 with 2:03 to go allowed the Huskies to tie the score 31-31.
"We're starting to form a relationship with Johnny and I saw him rolling out of the pocket and I saw a hole in the coverage, so I threw my hand up," Williams said. "He saw me in the end zone and made a great throw. I anticipated the ball being tipped, but it wasn't. Fortunately it just fell into my lap."
The play was reviewed and confirmed.
"I think it's definitely the beginning of something," he said. "As the season goes on, I hope to get more involved and make more plays, but I really want to contribute in ways to help the team win."
