Kyren Williams has been a star in Notre Dame’s backfield the last two seasons and despite playing behind a nearly entirely rebuilt offensive line from a year ago, he’s increased his average yards per carry to 4.2 after a strong showing against USC.
Williams is down in yardage but is on pace to score more total touchdowns than a season ago when he burst onto the scene for what was an eventual College Football Playoff team.
Brian Kelly was asked who the star running back on Monday. Is there a former Notre Dame running back that Williams reminds the head coach of?
“He plays with such an energy and an edge that it’s hard not to pass that on to the entire group. Boy, I don’t know, maybe Theo Riddick had a similar kind of vibe to him. Theo played like that. he played physical, and it kind of rubbed off on the group. That’s the guy that he kind of reminds me of.”
-Brian Kelly on Kyren Williams – October 25, 2021
Riddick was great in his own right and the kind of player you feel like reached his absolute full potential after a difficult start to his Notre Dame career that saw him change positions and suffer through some growing pains.
Riddick was also the heart and soul of the 2012 offense that wasn’t always pretty, but effective when they needed to be en-route to a 12-0 regular season.
Williams certainly compares to Riddick in being a spark plug type to me, and no offense to Riddick, but the overall talent level of Williams is significantly higher in my eyes.
Related:
Gallery – Theo Riddick at Notre Dame
Every Notre Dame leading rusher since the Lou Holtz era began