By BUCKY DENT
GREENVILLE, N.C. — Ryan Williams couldn’t be consoled late on the night of Oct. 29. Or the next day, for that matter.
Chagrined by his late fumble which led to North Carolina’s winning field goal in a 20-17 upset of Virginia Tech Oct. 29, Williams tossed and turned all night. He didn’t get to sleep until the sun rose the next morning and couldn’t bear to attend classes.
After his day of mourning, Williams made a pledge. The fumble would be flushed from his memory. He would not let it affect the rest of his season.
Williams lived up to his promise in Greenville, N.C. on Thursday night, rushing for a career-high 179 yards on 26 carries in the Hokies’ 16-3 non-conference win over East Carolina.
“How about the way he bounced back?” Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “He had a couple of runs which were just relentless, just amazing.”
Held to three yards in the first quarter, Williams rolled up 85 in the second quarter, including a 46-yard jaunt on which he broke two tackles three yards behind the scrimmage line.
It was the type of run which Williams prides himself on, not because of the yardage, but because of how it happened.
“I don’t ever want the first man to tackle me,” he said.
While an offensive line which at times featured two freshmen — center Michael Via and right tackle Andrew Lanier — certainly did its part, Williams made plenty of yardage after initial contact.
East Carolina’s experienced defense had allowed just one back to rush for more than 100 yards before Thursday night. They also hadn’t seen a back like Williams.
“No doubt in my mind he was going to bounce back,” Hokies split end Danny Coale said of Williams. “With Ryan, a game like this is always a possibility.”
With his huge night, Williams went over 1,000 yards for the season, the second straight Tech freshman to do it. He and Darren Evans (2008) are only the third set of freshman teammates to do it in the Football Bowl Subdivision this decade, joining duos from Nevada and Texas Christian earlier in the decade.
Williams, who has 1,109 yards, will certainly surpass Evans’ 1,265 yards of last year, barring injury or some other unforeseen circumstance. The Hokies’ next two games are against horrid rush defenses in Maryland and N.C. State.
Almost certainly assured of winning Freshman of the Year honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Williams also boosted his chances of being a first team All-ACC pick.
More importantly, he answered any lingering questions about his mental toughness.
“I hate turning it over, even in video games,” he said. “But things happen. I’m not perfect, but I’m going to be as close to it as I can.”
