Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 NOV. 20, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED D on't blink. You might miss it. By it, I mean the tre- mendous second half of the sea- son Notre Dame junior running back Kyren Williams is having. But maybe I should replace "it" with "him." So just don't blink. You might miss him dashing down the sideline and darting through defenses with as much ease as anyone in college football. Williams will almost assur- edly forego his senior season and enter the 2022 NFL Draft. Could he come back and have his best season yet in an Irish uniform behind an offensive line that will presumably be as effective as it is right now all season? Set some records? Make one more run at a College Football Playoff title? Without a doubt. Would it be the smartest deci- sion? Probably not. Running backs have short shelf lives. In order to maximize his career at the next level, Williams will have to skip his senior season. So that's why Notre Dame fans in attendance should take ad- vantage of watching Williams in what could very well be the final time he takes the field at Notre Dame Stadium this Sat- urday. And oh, what a treat it could be. Georgia Tech's defense has been rather generous against the run this sea- son. The Yellow Jackets allowed at least 150 rushing yards to all of its opponents but one through the first nine games of the season. Williams himself has been on a similar tear. He averaged 144 rush- ing yards in games against USC, North Carolina and Navy. He averaged a mere 60.5 in the first six games of the year. What Williams has managed to do recently is mind-boggling. Yes, it has had much to do with a maligned offen- sive line that has improved immensely from week to week. But some of the things Williams has pulled off in the last month have had nothing to do with the offensive line and everything to do with one of the shiftiest and pound for pound strongest running backs in the game. Bouncing the 91-yard touchdown to the outside against North Carolina? That was all Williams until he needed down downfield blocking help. Juking and spinning his way 20 yards to paydirt against Navy? That was all Williams, too. He didn't even need any help re- covering his own fumble to secure the score, either. The numbers might be more modest than many predicted prior to the sea- son, but they're still really good — even in spite of being slowed by the offensive line's woes early on. Williams brought his yards per carry average up to 5.0 after the Navy game. He reached that mark just once in the first six games of the season. He hit it in the three games immediately thereafter. Through nine games, Williams had 795 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. To reach last year's season-long total of 1,125 yards rushing in 12 games, Wil- liams would need to average 110 yards per game in the final three games of the regular season. Then he could easily set a new career high if he were to play in Notre Dame's bowl game. And if the Irish somehow snuck into the College Football Playoff? Improve even further upon it. A co u p l e m a rks Wi l l i a m s is essentially a lock to surpass are his receptions (34) and re- ceiving yards (313) totals from 2020. Williams already had 34 catches for 293 yards through nine games this season. Even with sophomore Chris Ty re e a n d f re s h m e n L oga n Diggs and Audric Estime set to be on next year's Notre Dame roster, the Irish are sure going to miss Williams. They just don't make too many like him. There aren't a lot of players as high profile as Williams who seem to play the game with as much of a youthful, spry attitude as he does. When Notre Dame debuted the light show after the third quarter of the USC game, all eyes were on Williams. He had as much fun dancing around the field, waving his arms in the air and swinging a towel around as anyone. When walk-on quarterback Chase Ketterer recorded a tackle on special teams against Navy after pre- paring the Notre Dame defense all week as the scout team quarterback, Williams celebrated as joyfully as anyone. He just has a different demeanor about him. With 396 more rushing yards this season (as of Nov. 11), Williams would pass George Gipp for 10th on the Notre Dame all-time rushing list. That wouldn't be so bad for someone who only started for two seasons. Williams won't go down as the best running back Notre Dame ever had. He might not even be immortalized among the names of the greats. But he'll for- ever be remembered for the unthinkable runs he produced and plays he made while wearing an Irish uniform (and all the fun he had along the way). There might not be too many of those left to feast your eyes on. So don't blink. ✦ GOLDEN GAMUT TYLER HORKA Williams started this season slowly behind a struggling offensive line but has taken his game to another level in the second half of the year. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Don't Take Kyren Williams' Season for Granted Tyler Horka has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2021. He can be reached at thorka@blueandgold.com