University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Williams Back Where He Belongs
September 24, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
As the final seconds ticked off the Kenan Stadium clock, Antonio Williams stood exactly where he should've been, his feet planted within the interlocking "NC" logo at midfield.
He'd already carried the ball 15 times Saturday. And everyone, from the players to the coaches to the fans sitting in the new Carolina Blue chair back seats, knew Williams was about to receive another handoff as North Carolina tried to put away Pittsburgh for its first win of the season.
Surely he'd envisioned this before.Â
UNC began recruiting Williams in eighth grade. He verbally committed to the Tar Heels as a high school sophomore. But when the New London, North Carolina, native's football aspirations ultimately led him to Ohio State, it seemed as if he'd never find himself in the position he was in Saturday.
Yet there he stood, behind Nathan Elliott in the pistol formation. Williams could've relished the moment. Instead, facing second-and-8 with 1:31 left, he remained focused.
"Coach (Robert Gillespie) always stresses our job is to move the chains …" said Williams, part of a Carolina running back room that refers to itself as the "Chain Moving Gang." "So all I was thinking was, 'Get the first down, seal this game and let's go in the locker room and celebrate.'"
Williams ensured all of that happened.
He received the handoff and sprinted up the middle, as the play called for, before bouncing the run outside. His 15-yard gain resulted in a first down, and from there, Elliott knelt twice to run out the clock on UNC's 38-35 victory.
The play capped an impressive showing by Williams. Making his Kenan Stadium debut, the junior transfer rushed for a career-high 114 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He averaged 7.1 yards per rush. No Tar Heel had averaged 7.1 yards on 16 or more carries since Elijah Hood averaged 10.5 yards on 21 carries at N.C. State on Nov. 28, 2015.
"He played well," said Larry Fedora of Williams. "The guy was violent with his runs. He finished runs off, and he broke tackles. He came up big at the end there to pick up the first down. He was a horse out there, he really was."
Williams ran just as hard in Carolina's 41-19 loss at East Carolina. That performance, however, came to an unexpected end when he was ejected for targeting late in the second quarter. Before then, he'd rushed for 96 yards on just six carries.
Saturday marked UNC's first game since then. And Williams' frustrations with that early exit fueled him, as if he needed any added motivation.
After de-committing from the Tar Heels in July 2014, Williams considered Wisconsin before committing to Ohio State. He enrolled for the 2016 season after rushing for 7,999 yards and 81 touchdowns at North Stanly High School. As a college freshman and sophomore, though, he played in just nine games.
Nobody goes to college with the intention of transferring, Williams said. But as opposed to spending another year in a crowded Buckeyes' backfield and away from his family, he announced his decision to transfer to Carolina in April.
Three months later, he received an NCAA waiver that made him eligible to play this fall.Â
"My journey, I wish it would've went other ways," Williams said. "I'm here now, though. I'm happy to be here, but I'm also upset that things haven't gone the way that I thought they were going to go. I feel like I'm proving myself every time."
So he runs "angry," using his 5-foot-11, 210-pound frame to his advantage. And Saturday, it didn't take long for him to release some of that pent-up rage.Â
On UNC's first possession, Williams caught a screen pass on a third-and-4, but he fell less than a yard short of a first down. The Tar Heels elected to go for it on fourth down. Williams received the handoff then and burst through a hole for a 37-yard touchdown. It was Carolina's first touchdown on an opening drive since its 34-31 win at Pittsburgh last November.
During his dash to the end zone, Williams showed some shiftiness that he hadn't displayed in UNC's first two games, effortlessly juking the free safety.
"I didn't think he had that in him, I ain't going to lie," Dazz Newsome said. "When I saw that, I was like, 'Oh' … That first touchdown, that's when the momentum started. After that, we felt like we couldn't be stopped."
Williams certainly couldn't be contained. He scored his second touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, when he leaped over the goal line for a 1-yard score. He also finished with four runs that went for 14 yards or more; he had two in the first two games.
But Williams didn't carry the Tar Heels' rushing attack single-handedly.
Jordon Brown ran for 29 yards. His 1-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter led to 17 consecutive points for Carolina. Playing in his first game of the season, Michael Carter also made some key contributions, running for 28 yards and catching four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.
With Brown and Carter returning from last season, the running backs already figured to be one of UNC's most talented position groups before Williams transferred. His addition affirms that.
"He's a physical dude," Carter said. "He's a good leader, on and off the field. Me, Jordon and Antonio, all three of us, we try to lead, and we always take care of each other. I just think he adds another dimension to our group that I don't think we had before."
Williams has registered 257 rushing yards through three games. Since 1999, Jacque Lewis (2004) and Hood (2015 and 2016) are the only other Tar Heel tailbacks with 257 or more yards in the first three games of a season.
But as the final seconds ticked off the Kenan Stadium clock, none of that mattered. Williams stood in the backfield. He prepared to receive the handoff and rush for a win-sealing first down.
That, among other aspects of Carolina's first win, was what he'd envisioned.
"I saw a lot of different things in everybody today," he said. "The receivers looked like Carolina receivers, the quarterback looked like a Carolina quarterback and that's what Carolina football looks like. Today, you saw Carolina football."
And Williams is a part of that, just like he always seemed he should've been.
As the final seconds ticked off the Kenan Stadium clock, Antonio Williams stood exactly where he should've been, his feet planted within the interlocking "NC" logo at midfield.
He'd already carried the ball 15 times Saturday. And everyone, from the players to the coaches to the fans sitting in the new Carolina Blue chair back seats, knew Williams was about to receive another handoff as North Carolina tried to put away Pittsburgh for its first win of the season.
Surely he'd envisioned this before.Â
UNC began recruiting Williams in eighth grade. He verbally committed to the Tar Heels as a high school sophomore. But when the New London, North Carolina, native's football aspirations ultimately led him to Ohio State, it seemed as if he'd never find himself in the position he was in Saturday.
Yet there he stood, behind Nathan Elliott in the pistol formation. Williams could've relished the moment. Instead, facing second-and-8 with 1:31 left, he remained focused.
"Coach (Robert Gillespie) always stresses our job is to move the chains …" said Williams, part of a Carolina running back room that refers to itself as the "Chain Moving Gang." "So all I was thinking was, 'Get the first down, seal this game and let's go in the locker room and celebrate.'"
Williams ensured all of that happened.
He received the handoff and sprinted up the middle, as the play called for, before bouncing the run outside. His 15-yard gain resulted in a first down, and from there, Elliott knelt twice to run out the clock on UNC's 38-35 victory.
The play capped an impressive showing by Williams. Making his Kenan Stadium debut, the junior transfer rushed for a career-high 114 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. He averaged 7.1 yards per rush. No Tar Heel had averaged 7.1 yards on 16 or more carries since Elijah Hood averaged 10.5 yards on 21 carries at N.C. State on Nov. 28, 2015.
"He played well," said Larry Fedora of Williams. "The guy was violent with his runs. He finished runs off, and he broke tackles. He came up big at the end there to pick up the first down. He was a horse out there, he really was."
Williams ran just as hard in Carolina's 41-19 loss at East Carolina. That performance, however, came to an unexpected end when he was ejected for targeting late in the second quarter. Before then, he'd rushed for 96 yards on just six carries.
Saturday marked UNC's first game since then. And Williams' frustrations with that early exit fueled him, as if he needed any added motivation.
After de-committing from the Tar Heels in July 2014, Williams considered Wisconsin before committing to Ohio State. He enrolled for the 2016 season after rushing for 7,999 yards and 81 touchdowns at North Stanly High School. As a college freshman and sophomore, though, he played in just nine games.
Nobody goes to college with the intention of transferring, Williams said. But as opposed to spending another year in a crowded Buckeyes' backfield and away from his family, he announced his decision to transfer to Carolina in April.
Three months later, he received an NCAA waiver that made him eligible to play this fall.Â
"My journey, I wish it would've went other ways," Williams said. "I'm here now, though. I'm happy to be here, but I'm also upset that things haven't gone the way that I thought they were going to go. I feel like I'm proving myself every time."
So he runs "angry," using his 5-foot-11, 210-pound frame to his advantage. And Saturday, it didn't take long for him to release some of that pent-up rage.Â
On UNC's first possession, Williams caught a screen pass on a third-and-4, but he fell less than a yard short of a first down. The Tar Heels elected to go for it on fourth down. Williams received the handoff then and burst through a hole for a 37-yard touchdown. It was Carolina's first touchdown on an opening drive since its 34-31 win at Pittsburgh last November.
During his dash to the end zone, Williams showed some shiftiness that he hadn't displayed in UNC's first two games, effortlessly juking the free safety.
"I didn't think he had that in him, I ain't going to lie," Dazz Newsome said. "When I saw that, I was like, 'Oh' … That first touchdown, that's when the momentum started. After that, we felt like we couldn't be stopped."
Williams certainly couldn't be contained. He scored his second touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, when he leaped over the goal line for a 1-yard score. He also finished with four runs that went for 14 yards or more; he had two in the first two games.
But Williams didn't carry the Tar Heels' rushing attack single-handedly.
Jordon Brown ran for 29 yards. His 1-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter led to 17 consecutive points for Carolina. Playing in his first game of the season, Michael Carter also made some key contributions, running for 28 yards and catching four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.
With Brown and Carter returning from last season, the running backs already figured to be one of UNC's most talented position groups before Williams transferred. His addition affirms that.
"He's a physical dude," Carter said. "He's a good leader, on and off the field. Me, Jordon and Antonio, all three of us, we try to lead, and we always take care of each other. I just think he adds another dimension to our group that I don't think we had before."
Williams has registered 257 rushing yards through three games. Since 1999, Jacque Lewis (2004) and Hood (2015 and 2016) are the only other Tar Heel tailbacks with 257 or more yards in the first three games of a season.
But as the final seconds ticked off the Kenan Stadium clock, none of that mattered. Williams stood in the backfield. He prepared to receive the handoff and rush for a win-sealing first down.
That, among other aspects of Carolina's first win, was what he'd envisioned.
"I saw a lot of different things in everybody today," he said. "The receivers looked like Carolina receivers, the quarterback looked like a Carolina quarterback and that's what Carolina football looks like. Today, you saw Carolina football."
And Williams is a part of that, just like he always seemed he should've been.
Players Mentioned
Tailback
/ Football
Tailback
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Tailback
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