Life sure has been different for Len Williams this week.
Classes opened at Northwestern, for one thing. This means that from Monday until he boarded the team flight to Houston on Friday, the Wildcats sophomore quarterback Williams has been budgeting his time between a full class load and frequent crash courses on what to expect Saturday from the Rice defense.
”During the season, it`s real tough,” said Williams. ”I have to discipline myself better to have time for both football and my education.”
Academically, Williams majors in human development. His week-long film studies in the football center north of Dyche Stadium stress one subject.
”Picking up the blitz. That`s what I`m working at the hardest,” said Williams. ”It`s kind of difficult. My receivers can help me and call it out. But sometimes I can`t hear them and have to read the blitz myself.”
The thought of being blindsided by a blitzing linebacker or defensive back is enough to rattle any 18-year-old about to play in only his second college game. However, Williams said: ”I`m a lot more comfortable this week. Not as tight as last week.”
Coach Francis Peay says it`s hard to detect any sign of uneasiness in the 6-foot, 210-pound graduate of Rockford`s Guilford High School. Williams admits, however, he was ”very, very nervous,” before his debut against Duke last weekend.
”Richard Buchanan and my other teammates were all encouraging me,” he said. ”They kept saying, `You can do it!` But I was nervous. I couldn`t sleep much on Friday night.
”Ordinarily, I`m not a quiet person. But before the game on Saturday, I wasn`t making a sound. Coach Van Diest (Mike, defensive line) came up to me and said, `Why are you so quiet, Cocky? All right, Cocky, you`re all right. You can do it . . .` ”
”Cocky” was anything but that as he handed off on four straight running plays, completed his first college pass and was sacked for an 11-yard loss on his first series as a Wildcat.
But in his second series, he said, the idea began to dawn on him, ”Hey, I can do this,” and some of the old confidence returned.
Williams surprised even himself, he said, as he went on to complete 23 of 31 passes for 231 yards. Four of his incompletions were deliberate clock-stopping pegs into the turf. He did not throw an interception and threw an 8-yard pass to Buchanan for the game`s first touchdown.
It was an amazing debut for a youth whom Peay had switched to running back last fall to fill a painful shortage at that position. Williams never played a down as a freshman last year, and Peay fulfilled his promise to Williams to move him back to quarterback.
”I was frustrated and discouraged last year,” Williams said. ”I never felt I could not play quarterback. My mother pulled me out of that depression. She told me I had to reason to come home. And Coach Peay saw I was not happy and told me to stick it out.”
Of his impressive debut against Duke, Williams said: ”I didn`t know what to expect. I surprised myself. I never threw 31 times before. In high school, maybe I ran 31 times, but I`d rather be known as a passer.”
”I always felt Len was capable of passing,” said Peay. ”I don`t think anyone else did. People speculated that he would run, not pass, or that he was a thrower, not a passer.
”Am I surprised at Len`s progress? No, I`m pleased but not surprised. He had a great arm in school and is a fine athlete. That`s why I told him as a freshman that he would move back to quarterback.”
The recipient of ”You-can-do-it” pep talks from older teammates before the Duke game, Williams really was welcomed into the fold after his successful debut.
”Oh, yeah, like David Woollard,” said Williams, alluding to his outstanding junior tackle. ”After the game, he said something like, `I didn`t know you before, but I really like you now.` ”
A quarterback`s greatest strength is the confidence he instills in his linemen. Williams appears to have acquired that after one game.
This, plus the receiving of the acrobatic Buchanan and the running of Bob Christian and Eric Dixon, should add up to more fireworks from the Wildcat offense.
The problem area for the Cats after Saturday`s 6 p.m. kickoff probably will be on defense. Rice features an attack balanced between Donald Hollas, who has passed for 416 yards in two games, and Trevor Cobb, who has rushed for 241 yards and a 5.1-yard average.
