Texas Tech University Athletics
Senior Running Back Ricky Williams
November 16, 2001 | Football
Nov. 16, 2001
By Alisa Brydson - Texas Tech Media Relations - Ricky Williams, one of the best running backs that Texas Tech has ever had on its roster, is on track for a record-breaking season. In 2001, the senior from Duncanville has added to his already impressive resume as a running back. Williams is the teams' leading receiver with 10 receptions per game and 95 receiving yards per game.
Williams came to Texas Tech after an impressive career at Duncanville High School. He was named first-team all-district 6-5A as a junior and senior, while leading his team to a 10-0 record his senior year.
He was named to Texas' Top 100 lists by every newspaper and was listed as one of the Top 75 players in the Southwest SuperPrep. After averaging 8.3 yards per carry, and heavy recruitment from Iowa State and Kansas State, Williams chose Texas Tech.
"I was leaning more towards K-State or Iowa State but chose Tech because it was more of a running school," Williams said. "I knew I would have a better chance of playing because Byron (Hanspard) was leaving and hopefully I would get to play as a freshman."
And, boy did Williams ever get to play.
Williams' freshman year, 1997, was a great start for the then 5'8", 175-pound running back. He set the school's freshman single-season rushing record by rushing for 894 yards on 201carries.
The Sporting News selected him as second-team Freshman All-American. One of the greatest highlights of the season was when Williams out dueled Texas' Ricky Williams, 131-80 yards on the ground in Austin in a 24-10 Tech victory.
Williams finished the season as the top freshman in the Big 12 in rushing average. And then, there was his famous sophomore season.
The 1998 campaign assured Williams' place among Tech's all-time great rushers with 1,582 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. At the end of the season he was named as a Doak Walker Award semifinalist, second-team All-American, finalist for Offensive Player of the Year and second-team All-Big 12.
Though, numbers and awards may not stick out in fans' minds, everyone should remember that Tech's Williams, once again, out-gained Texas' Williams 148-141 yards in the Tech victory over UT 42-35.
"What I remember most about that season was my incredible offensive line," Williams recalled. "They put in so much hard work and we helped each other...the team unity we had that year was amazing."
At the start of the 1999 season Williams was a preseason All-American, Heisman Trophy and All-Big 12 candidate. His season reached an untimely end because of a knee injury suffered in the season opener against Arizona State.
"After the injury, I got a little down because I had never had a big injury," Williams stated. "I did not know what to do, but I knew I had to focus and get back."
And that is exactly what he did.
In 2000 after returning from knee surgery, Williams proved himself as a valuable asset in Mike Leach's high powered passing offense. He tied for eighth in the Big 12 in receiving with 4.3 catches per game and finished the season with 52 receptions for 228 yards.
Now, in 2001, the 5'9", 190-pound running back is a Doak Walker Award candidate and leads all active Big 12 rushers in all-time yardage.
Against New Mexico, the season opener, Williams carried the ball 14 times for 55 yards and caught seven passes for 89 yards.
In the second game of the season, Williams set a school record with 13 receptions, set the record for receptions by a running back and became the fifth rusher since the founding of the Big 12 to rush for over 3,000 career yards.
Heading into the Kansas game, Williams led the nation in receptions with 9.8 receptions per game and combined with wide receiver Nehemiah Glover and running back Wes Welker to rank second in the nation among top receiving trios with 19.7 catches per game.
With his knee 100 percent and four games under his belt, Williams is looking forward to the rest of his final season and what it holds for him and his teammates.
"I chose to stay at Tech because I still had so much that I wanted to do and this season is turning out to be what I had hoped for," Williams said. Texas Tech has provided me so much and I wanted to do the same in return. I think staying was the best decision that I could've made."
