Through three games, Antonio Williams is already earning the trust of his head coach and quarterback.
With Clemson up 34-20 and just under seven minutes remaining in Saturday’s contest, it was reasonable to assume that the true freshman receiver’s night was over. Instead, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney had Williams run out there.
A few plays later, Williams scored his first career touchdown on a 19-yard pass from D.J. Uiagalelei in the fourth quarter. Williams also recorded a career-long 38-yard reception in the second quarter.
“I wasn’t expecting to go in,” Williams said following Clemson’s 48-20 win over La. Tech. “We were up. I thought the game was over — I wasn’t going back in, but Dabo said to go in. It was like a little fade route, so I just routed them up and happened to make a play.”
It’s been three games, but it’s clear that Swinney and staff have a lot of trust in Williams already. The Tigers are gonna need the Dutch Fork (Irmo, S.C.) product and his explosive ability after the catch as they get into the meat of their conference schedule.
“He had more opportunity, but sometimes you can’t always dictate where the ball is going,” Swinney said. “A lot of it’s — the one big one, they went cover zero on us and really tried to challenge us. What a great throw and a great catch — and a great decision by D.J. But, a really good release, good recognition by a young player. They had nobody on the roof. A great job of giving him the eyes and finding the ball and he just attacks it…He’s certainly has shown that he can be a guy that we can count on as we go through this conference play.”
“Antonio man, he’s a special, special athlete,” Uiagalelei said after the win. “He’s a grown man. He’s a freshman, comes in, and makes plays. He’s a spark, man. That play right there, he did a really good job. I tried to give him a chance there…and he went out there and grabbed it. Man, he made a hell of a play. I’m just excited to see that. He’s gonna continue making those plays as his career goes on — I’m excited to see him play this season.”
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