COLLEGE BOWL GAMES : Catching on, catching up
Posted on Thursday, January 1, 2009
Los Angeles Times/LUIS SINCO Southern Cal wide receiver Damian Williams (left) makes a catch in front of UCLA's Alterraun Verner earlier this season. Williams, a Springdale native who played as a freshman at Arkansas, is the Trojans' leading receiver heading into today's Rose Bowl matchup with Penn State.
Damian Williams was just another wide receiver as Southern California prepared for the 2008 season.
This is USC, after all, where receivers with similar credentials are as common as earthquakes, struggling actors and gridlock on the maze of freeways surrounding Los Angeles.
No doubt there were questions about Williams' chances of being a major factor considering he was buried on the Trojans' depth chart after sitting out a year, as is required when transferring from one Football Bowl Subdivision school to another, and coming off major shoulder surgery.
Turns out Williams, a former Springdale High School standout who spent one season as a disillusioned Arkansas Razorback before transferring, has been anything but an afterthought at USC. The sophomore is the leading receiver for the fifth-ranked Trojans, who play No. 8 Penn State today at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Williams has become one of quarterback Mark Sanchez's most trusted options, and perhaps as early as next season he could be a favorite target for former Springdale High School and Arkansas teammate Mitch Mustain, who has served as Sanchez's backup this season.
That's too far into the future, though. Williams' present is everything he'd hoped for after leaving Arkansas, even if most everyone else expected otherwise.
Even Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis took note before Williams caught 7 passes for 86 yards and 1 touchdown in USC's 38-3 victory over the Fighting Irish on Nov. 29. In the days leading up to the USC game Weis said Southern Cal's other receivers - Patrick Turner, Vidal Hazelton and Ronald Johnson - might have been more notable than Williams before the season, but not anymore.
"Those guys are all big-play receivers, but Williams has almost become like the go-to guy," Weis said. "He's really having a heck of a year."
Williams enters today's bowl game leading the Trojans (11-1) with 48 receptions for 707 yards. His eight touchdown catches are second to Turner's 10.
"I wouldn't necessarily say I surprised myself," Williams said in a recent telephone interview. "I think I may have surprised some other people. Going into the season, I knew I'd be in the mix somewhere, maybe not lining up being the leading receiver."
That's because USC stockpiles blue-chip athletes like grocers stock their shelves with milk, eggs and bread. No one really knew how the playing time and passes would shake out.
Turner and Hazelton (who has since transferred) were returning starters from a unit that wasn't as prolific last season as it had been for recent USC teams. Johnson was a backup with experience, and so was sophomore David Ausberry. Then there was USC's usual staple of former prep All-Americans looking to prove themselves for the first time.
Williams was the wild card. He was a coveted recruit coming out of high school and showed promise while playing as a true freshman at Arkansas in 2006. But there were also questions given that his redshirt year was shut down after both shoulders were operated on in the spring of 2007.
Two-a-day practices quickly turned into an audition process to weed out the haves from the have-nots.
"That's what our practices are about," Williams said. "They thrive on competition. That's what we love. You get to work out with some of the best players in the country. You learn from them, learn from their mistakes and from the good things they do.
"It can't help but make you a better player."
Williams was one of the stars of preseason workouts. He also had worked out with Sanchez in June and July, and the two clearly had developed a rapport bridging summer to fall.
They got to know each other last season when Sanchez was backing up John David Booty and Williams was sitting out his NCAA-mandated redshirt year. They figured 2008 was going to be their turn at bat, with the ingredients in place for the combination to be a home run threat.
But as the Aug. 30 season opener at Virginia approached, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian wondered how Williams would fare despite making an impression in practice. Williams wasn't a starter that day but expected to see time as the primary slot receiver.
"You still want to see a guy with live bullets," Sarkisian told the Los Angeles Daily News.
Williams responded with a team-best seven receptions for 91 yards in a 52-7 blowout over the Cavaliers.
He kept producing from there: Two touchdown receptions in USC's 35-3 victory over Ohio State in a September showdown, three more games in a row with at least one touchdown receiving, then he scored in each of USC's final three games to help secure the Rose Bowl bid when Oregon State - the only team to defeat the Trojans - lost to Oregon.
Williams is listed as the starter at flanker on USC's Rose Bowl depth chart, but he's been a bigger threat working from the slot. The Trojans' pro style offense seems to fit Williams perfectly. He was a running back way back in his early days at Springdale, and Williams uses that background now to his advantage as a receiver.
Timing is imperative for USC's quick pass offense to be successful, and that is where Williams thrives.
"The faster you can get the ball in your hands, the better," Williams said. "In this offense I run a lot of quick routes. I get a lot of balls at the line of scrimmage and a lot of little crossing routes underneath. You usually have space to run, so I try to make the most of it. In high school, I kind of made a living off those kinds of plays. The defense doesn't have that much time to react to you.
"I just like getting the ball, and playing in space is a lot easier than playing in traffic."
Coach Pete Carroll was impressed with how rapidly Williams caught on to what the Trojans want to do with their passing game.
"The thing that separates him is his natural feel for the position, because he does everything well," Carroll told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Calif. "He's a quick study in everything. As the game plan goes on and we do this and that, change things, he can do everything."
Carroll compared Williams' football smarts to New York Giants receiver Steve Smith, a key component at wideout during USC's run to two national championships and a third Bowl Championship Series title game appearance from 2002-2004.
"[Williams] doesn't look like it, but he's a physical player," Carroll told the Daily Breeze. "We've banged the heck out of him here on our practice field and he's never backed down. He won't even dust it off. He's going to get up on the next play and go."
Williams paid for that aggressiveness in midseason when he sustained another shoulder setback. He first sprained it the week of the Arizona game Oct. 25, played through the pain with less success, then after returning to form separated the same shoulder in the regular-season finale at UCLA.
Williams said sustaining multiple injuries on the same part of his body was demoralizing, but he understands that playing with pain is a part of the job. He expects to ready today, and he expects to make an impact like he has all season.
"I said last spring and last fall he's going to play a huge role, and he has," Mustain said. "He got a little banged up in the [UCLA] game, but he'll be back. As long as he's healthy, he'll always be a threat.
"He's been huge for us this year, from game one until now. I expect him to only get better."
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