STARKVILLE — Aeris Williams relied more on athleticism than technique at West Point High School.
Williams was a four-star recruit and a three-year starter for West Point coach Chris Chambless. He was named the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 5A Offensive Player of the Year in a senior season that saw him rush for 1,697 yards and 21 touchdowns. For his career, Williams rushed for 3,994 yards.
But when Williams arrived at Mississippi State in the summer of 2014, he quickly learned everyone was athletic and there were things he needed to work.
The redshirt freshman has been learning how to become a complete running back this season, and he is slowly getting there. Williams has earned more playing time in the last two games and is beginning to implement running backs coach Greg Knox teachings.
Williams will continue to showcase what he has learned at 8 p.m. Thursday (ESPN) when No. 25 MSU (6-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) plays Missouri (4-4, 1-4) in Columbia, Missouri.
“They come out of high school and they’re not exactly playing with their eyes,” Knox said. “They just line up to run a play, where in college you have to use your eyes. Your eyes will allow you to have success before the ball is ever snapped because you see things that are coming.”
Williams admits he relied on his skill more than anything in high school. When he arrived at MSU and the coaches didn’t praise him and told him things he needed to work on, he didn’t get down on himself. Instead, he accepted the challenge.
“It’s a good opportunity,” Williams said. “When they tell you that, you know you can get better and better. It just makes you work even harder because you know you can make yourself better.”
MSU senior quarterback Dak Prescott isn’t surprised how Williams handled the constructive criticism.
“He’s a hard worker,” Prescott said. “He got in there and realized he was going to have a chance to play. Just his work ethic is paying off. He’s a guy who works really hard. It’s good to see good things happening.”
Williams has 29 carries for 118 yards, but he leads MSU running backs with two touchdowns. After getting nine carries for 33 yards in the first four games, Williams has rushed for 85 yards on 20 carries in the last four games. He had a 1-yard touchdown against Northwestern State in a game in which he had seven carries for 36 yards. He also had a 2-yard touchdown against Louisiana Tech.
MSU coach Dan Mullen said the biggest key with Williams and redshirt freshman running back Dontavian Lee is what they do when they don’t get the ball.
“When I first got here, I really didn’t know anything about protection, reading holes, none of that,” Williams said. “I used to just run the ball. Now I can read the holes a little bit better, I have great eyes now. I can pick up protection now. I know what everything is. I just have to do it.”
West Point always has been a run-heavy team, which helps explain why Williams wasn’t more comfortable in pass protection. But the Bulldogs have become more of a throwing team as Prescott has improved as a passer. MSU has thrown the ball 34 more times than it has run it.
That’s why Williams had to do his part and learn how to read defenses. He said pass protection has been the hardest thing he has had to learn.
“Just getting leverages and knowing who your guy is,” Williams said. “The defense can switch up on the snap of the ball, so you’ve really got to know where your (guy’s) at and know where your thrust is at. You’ve got to have great eyes so you can go out there and block.”
Knox said Williams and Lee know what to do and have needed time to process the information. He said the same was true of Josh Robinson, who played four seasons for the Bulldogs. He rushed for 1,238 yards and 11 touchdowns last season before being drafted by the Indianapolis Colts selected him earlier this year in the NFL draft.
But the increased playing time is helping Williams adjust to the speed of a game. He said that has helped him understand what he has to do and how fast he has to do it.
“When you get into the game, you get used to it,” Williams said. “It’s just like practice. I’m pretty used to practice. I’m used to it every day. When you get into the game and you start to get more reps, I think you get better and better.”
The Bulldogs don’t have a running back with more than 200 yards. Junior Brandon Holloway is the closest at 196 yards, but he’s more of a threat in the passing game coming out of the backfield.
Junior Ashton Shumpert (159 yards) has been banged up the last few weeks and has played sparingly. Lee has 135 yards.
With four games left in the regular season, Williams could get even more playing time and carries.
“I’m really excited,” Williams said. “I’m ready to go out here and ball really, have great eyes, hit the hole hard, low pad level, and try to score every time I get the ball.”
n Cooke a candidate for 2015 Ray Guy Award: Sophomore punter Logan Cooke was named Friday a candidate for the 2015 Ray Guy Award. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate punter.
Cooke has punted 26 times for an average of 41.8 yards. The Darbun native has placed 11 balls inside the 20-yard line, with four more being touchbacks and 15 being fair catches. He has nine kicks that have gone more than 50 yards, including a career-high 65 yards against Troy.
Ten semifinalists will be announced Nov. 13. Three finalists will be identified Nov. 23. The winner will be announced live at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, on ESPN’s The Home Depot College Football Awards Show.
The Augusta Sports Council created the award in 2000 to honor Guy, a Thomson, Georgia, native and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, who played football at Southern Mississippi.
The Ray Guy Award winner is determined by a national voting body of sports writers, college coaches, sports information directors, and past Ray Guy Award winners. Among the statistics used to identify the winner is net punting average, number of times a punt is downed or kicked out of bounds inside the opponents 20-yard line, total yardage punted, average returned yardage, and percentage of punts not returned. The winner must display team leadership, self-discipline, and have a positive impact on the team’s success.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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