There's Still a Ricky Williams Playing College Football
June 21, 1999 | Football
June 8, 1999
By Dennis Dodd
Editor for CBS Sportsline
So you figured Ricky Williams had left college football.
Heck, he hasn't even left Texas if you look to the bustling city of Lubbock in the Western part of the state.
Of course, up until now, you didn't really have to consider Lubbock unless you were a fan of Buddy Holly. Not unless you were a fan of flat land, searing heat and chilling cold. So it was no surprise that no matter what Texas Tech running back Ricky Williams accomplished in his first two seasons, it took second place behind what Texas' Ricky Williams did in Austin.
Even the Heisman Trophy winner couldn't lower himself to acknowledge the man who shares his name.
"Who have they played?" the Texas' Williams said early last season. "Fresno State, UTEP and North Texas? I'm sure he's a great running back, but I think we've played a little bit stiffer competition."
It was always the name thing. If he were named Joe Smith, Tech's Williams would be carving out a career of his own. Instead, he must not only be better, but be better than the name.
"It was a positive," Williams insists. "He helped me make a name for myself."
Williams stumping for Williams? Sure. It's the only way he can approach what might be a record-breaking career. Williams already has piled up 2,476 yards in two seasons at Tech.
Considering his learning curve so far, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Williams could average, 1,900 yards over the next two seasons and break his namesake's all-time NCAA rushing record. But that's getting ahead of the story.
"I'm different because he's a bigger, more explosive back," Tech's Williams says. "I get around the corner quick. I like to use my quickness."
That's enough for comparisons. This Ricky is tricky. His game is tough, up-the-middle running and game-breaking scrambles off the perimeter. That's why Tech intends to use him not only as a its workhorse, but also as a slot receiver and a blocker. Dare we say it, the kid might be more exciting than the other Ricky Williams.
Make note: This will be the last reference to the "other" Ricky Williams. Texas' version is now earning money for a living in New Orleans. Tech's version is still an amateur, but who knows for how long?
Everything about Tech's 5-8, 195-pound tailback screams for attention. He set a freshman school record in 1997 with 894 yards. In '98 he was second (in the state) to You Know Who with almost 1,600 yards. Tech won its first six games but almost no one noticed. He still couldn't get the deserved attention.
"I wouldn't classify him as a big-time recruit," says Tech offensive coordinator coach Rick Dykes. "When we recruited him it was down to Texas Tech and Iowa State. They had Troy Davis and we had Byron Hanspard. It came down to where could he play the fastest?"
Score one for little ol' Lubbock. In the fall, Williams will start as the nation's second-leading returning rusher. Just like the city he plays in, Williams was almost an afterthought everywhere but in his own backfield. He's had games of 40 carries and averaged 28 rushes per game. He may get some relief this season considering the return of fullback Sammy Morris from academic difficulties and one of the biggest offensive lines in the country.
But don't count on it.
"We're not like A&M or Texas," Rick Dykes says," where they have three or four backs they can plug in. Backs know if they come here, they've got a chance to get the ball all the time."
What head coach Spike Dykes saw from Williams did not immediately impress him. Williams weighed only 165 pounds out of Duncanville High School. But Duncanville head coach Bob Albert came to Dykes with a vision of Williams as the next workhorse in Tech's tailback factory.
"I usually don't try to hype a player because it will catch up with you," Albert says. "I just let them watch the film and make their own decision. I told Coach Dykes that Ricky was a real small player and might not play very much for them. But because of his leadership ability and his work ethic and his productivity, he definitely would be worth risking a scholarship on."
What Albert and Dykes couldn't have foreseen was just how bad Williams did want it. In their two head-to-head meetings, Williams has outrushed his Texas namesake 279-221. More importantly, Tech won both meetings.
"All I had to do was show it on the field," Tech's Williams says. "After the last game, we said hi to each other. We never did sit down and talk about it. He helped me make a name for myself. I still have two more years. You can't really say who is better than you. There's a lot of things I feel like I can achieve."
Rick Dykes saw it the first time Williams stepped on the practice field. "He's the hardest-working freshman I've ever coached," Dykes says. "He came in early that first summer, worked out, lived in town at his own expense, got to know the guys on the team. He started seventh on the depth chart at tailback, but his work ethic is like nothing I've ever seen."
To know the burden Williams carries, you have to trace back Tech's tailback legacy. This is the school of Donny Anderson (2,280 yards from 1963 through '65) and James Hadnot (2,794 from '76 through '79), who both played in the NFL.
Modern history produced pros Bam Morris and Hanspard. Morris rushed for 3,544 yards before eventually helping the Steelers to Super Bowl XXX. But he stumbled off the field, being convicted of marijuana possession near his hometown of Cooper, Texas.
A probation violation leaves Morris, now playing with the Kansas City Chiefs, living on the edge. A judge has told him that another probation violation will land him in jail for the next 10 years.
Hanspard is the school's all-time leading rusher (4,219 yards) who was a Heisman Trophy candidate in 1996. But it was later revealed that Hanspard, now with the Atlanta Falcons, had basically dropped out of school that final fall semester and played despite a 0.00 grade-point average.
Tech has since paid for its now-infamous academic oversights. The NCAA has put the program on probation. Spike Dykes is limited to 80 scholarship players and at this moment has only 78-a dangerously low total for a program that is hoping to compete for the Big 12 title.
Williams, then, must be that shining light.
"He mentioned it a couple of times," Williams says of his coach. "He made it to where it was something we didn't have to worry about. He brought up the scholarships one time and he didn't want to talk about it anymore."
That's the Tech way. Keep your mouth shut and play hard. Despite being from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Williams has taken on the West Texas demeanor. It seems that the Red Raiders are never big enough or fast enough, but they can knock your socks off.
Going into each of the last two Novembers, Tech has been in the running for the Big 12 South Division title. Since the Big 12 debuted in 1996, no team has a better record against division foes (11-4).
It is a team that is loaded, at least offensively. Morris, a senior who will block for Williams, is one of the most highly rated NFL prospects at his position. He recently ran a 4.4 40-yard dash for pro scouts and can't wait to get back on the field.
Morris' last action came in 1996, when he caught a game-winning 81-yard touchdown pass against Texas A&M. He then became academically ineligible and missed '97. Tech failed to academically certify him correctly for '98 and that season was a washout as well.
Amazingly, Morris is on track to graduate in December and is expecting his first child during Tech's bye week in late September. "Ricky and I, we're not trying to draw attention to ourselves," Morris says. "We're trying to do whatever we're supposed to do to win games. With (senior) Rob Peters at quarterback, we're pretty stacked back there."
Between handoffs to Williams, Peters found time to throw for 1,269 yards and nine touchdowns. Teammates were impressed when Peters went through a spring drill throwing left-handed, because of a cast on his throwing hand that was healing an injured right thumb.
All of them will play behind All-Big 12 left guard Curtis Lowery, who at 6-5, 327 pounds is a midget compared to 363-pound left tackle Jonathan "The House" Gray.
"Respect is something Tech has to keep trying to earn," Williams says. "You have to win more games, do a lot of things that other teams don't do. If that means going undefeated or going to a big bowl, that's the only way you get respect."