ARLINGTON, Texas — Tailback Rawleigh Williams III has moved up Arkansas’ depth chart in a hurry.
Williams was the No. 4 tailback when preseason practice opened. Now the true freshman from Dallas Bishop Lynch High School finds himself No. 2 behind Alex Collins as the Razorbacks open SEC play tonight against Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium.
Williams’ status has changed because of injuries to Jonathan Williams and Kody Walker.
“I hate that for those guys, the way that it happened,” Williams said. “Those are my big brothers, and they worked their butts off to be ready for this season.
“At the same time, I feel like I’ve been blessed with an opportunity and I’ve got to make the most of it.”
Injuries have resulted in a bigger role for Williams sooner than expected, but Arkansas’ coaches said he’s shown the talent and poise to have earned significant playing time.
“He’s a superstar in waiting in my opinion,” offensive coordinator Dan Enos said. “He’s going to continue to blossom and get better each and every touch and every game.”
Williams had 11 touches for 69 yards in Arkansas’ 35-24 loss to Texas Tech last week. He rushed 8 times for 32 yards, caught 2 passes for 20 yards and had a 17-yard kickoff return.
“I really believe he took a big step,” Coach Bret Bielema said. “We didn’t really have any hesitation with him.”
Tonight’s game is a homecoming for Williams, who lives about a 30-minute drive from AT&T Stadium.
“It feels good to be seeing my family and playing in front of my home crowd,” he said. “I want to go and make some plays and put on a show. I’ll know a lot people in the stands. To get to play in front of those guys means a lot to me.”
Williams said Tuesday he had rounded up about 15 tickets for family and friends.
“He’s a Texas boy and he’s very engaged in that,” Bielema said. “I think in the recruiting process, what you learned about him is that he’s a kid with a lot of pride.”
Williams, 5-10 and 215 pounds, committed to Ole Miss in February of 2014 after rushing 143 times for 767 yards and 7 touchdowns during his junior season at Bishop Lynch. In June of 2014 he visited Arkansas and switched his commitment to the Razorbacks, then rushed 341 times for 2,814 yards and 37 touchdowns as a senior.
Williams said numerous schools recruited him after he committed to Arkansas — including Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Stanford — but he wasn’t going to change his mind again.
Bielema’s track record of producing top tailbacks helped convince him Arkansas should be his choice. Four tailbacks Bielema coached at Wisconsin have been taken in the top four rounds of the NFL Draft, notably Melvin Gordon (a first-round pick by San Diego in 2015) and Montee Ball (a second-round pick by Denver in 2013).
Collins and Jonathan Williams each rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season. Collins, with 60 carries for 351 yards, is on pace for his third consecutive 1,000-yard season.
“I’ve kept up with Coach B since I was really young, when he was at Wisconsin,” Williams said. “To have a chance to play for him and run the ball for him, I couldn’t turn that down.”
Williams said he was determined to play this season even before the tailback position was depleted by injuries.
“I’m ready for it,” Williams said. “That’s what I came here to do, is play.”
Running backs coach Jemal Singleton said a lot of freshmen have the physical abilities to play immediately but struggle with the mental aspects of learning the game at the college level.
Singleton said that hasn’t been an issue for Williams because he’s proven to be a quick study and hard worker.
“Rawleigh’s a smart young man,” Singleton said. “He understands the things we’re trying to do and he picks it up pretty fast.
“I think he’s handled it well, because he wanted it. He really worked hard this summer to put himself in a position to be able to play.”
Williams said he’s tried to learn as much as he can from his coaches and the older tailbacks.
“I just kind of soak things in,” he said. “I love football, and I want to know as much as I can. When I have free time, I always try to watch extra film and learn more about the game. I think that’s starting to pay off for me.”
Williams has rushed 25 times for 81 yards and caught 4 passes for 25 yards this season. He’s a good blocker in pass protection according to the coaches, which is a must to play against Texas A&M, which leads the nation with 15 sacks.
“I think last week was a pretty good test to show I can do some different things in the offense,” Williams said. “I feel like right now I’m at a good starting point to keep getting better.”