STARKVILLE — If Aeris Williams was tired, he wasn’t about to show it.
Leading No. 7 Texas A&M by seven points, the Mississippi State football team took over on offense with 10 minutes, 34 seconds remaining. Williams, who already had received the most carries of his career, was called on four more times in the drive. The former West Point High School standout didn’t disappoint, rushing for 19 yards and catching a pass for 8 yards to set MSU up at the 4-yard line.
Williams’ ability to carry defenders at times helped the offense keep its rhythm and allowed quarterback Nick Fitzgerald to cap the drive with a 4-yard touchdown that pushed MSU to a 35-28 upset Saturday afternoon at Davis Wade Stadium.
Williams was one of the standouts on a day he had 24 carries for a career-high 140 yards and a touchdown against the Aggies (7-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), who were ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff’s first rankings earlier this week.
“I was just trying to finish out the game and get this win,” Williams said of his play on the touchdown drive.
The effort helped Williams become the first MSU running back to hit the 100-yard mark since Josh Robinson had 198 yards against Kentucky on Oct. 25, 2014.
Williams had 11 carries for 61 yards in the first half. He had a 2-yard touchdown in the first quarter to put the Bulldogs (4-5, 2-3) ahead 14-0.
The 6-foot-1, 217-pound running back had 13 carries for 79 yards in the second half.
“He’s a phenomenal athlete, and he’s a freak,” Fitzgerald said. “The more he gets hit, the more fired up he gets. The more touches he get, the more he gets going in his mind that the harder he’s going to run.”
Williams entered the game with 52 carries for 206 yards and one touchdown. His previous career high in yards was 82 against BYU on Oct. 14.
Last month, West Point High coach Chris Chambless called Williams a “machine” when referring to how his former player seemed to get into a zone and grew stronger as games progressed.
MSU coach Dan Mullen has been concerned with Williams’ ability to do things outside of running. He said there is more to playing running back than running, including blocking in the run and pass.
“He’s grown up. He’s a guy you’re seeing understand the offense more, make better reads in the run game, understanding the pass game and the protections,” Mullen said. “I’ve seen Aeris continually improve. We were trying to be physical and run the ball physically against them. He was really running that ball hard.”
The Aggies, who entered the game allowing 176.5 yards rushing per game (eighth in the SEC), couldn’t slow down the Bulldogs’ running attack. MSU had 365 yards for its third-straight game with 250 or more yards. The 365 yards is the most the Bulldogs have gained since rushing for 409 against Houston in 2010.
Fitzgerald had 20 carries for a game-high 182 yards and two touchdowns. He gave MSU a 7-0 lead when he faked the handoff to Brandon Holloway, came around the left side of the offensive line, and went 74 yards.
“I was worried a little bit. Coming into the game, we knew No. 1 that we had to be able to run the football,” Mullen said. “They have such skill and pass rush ability off the edge and some great corners on the outside that we didn’t want to this to be a pass-game shootout.”
The Bulldogs were averaging 209.6 yards rushing per game (sixth in the SEC) entering. Williams said the running backs talked last week about needing to run the ball better and being able to break tackles to have big runs.
Williams praised the members of the offensive line and credited them for his performance.
“We just came out with a chip on our shoulder, and we just wanted to get the job done,” senior center Jamaal Clayborn said. “We were the workhorse, and we got the job done.”
Williams called it the best win in his MSU career. He redshirted in 2014 when MSU started 9-0 and was ranked No. 1 for five-straight weeks. He had 206 yards on 40 carries and three touchdowns in 13 games last season.
“He’s a great running back. We have a lot of good running backs, but Aeris has been doing great in practice. He deserved it,” Clayborn said.
Getting stronger as the game goes on is something Williams has been doing since his days at West Point High. Saturday was just a matter of doing was came naturally.
“I always get better and better as the game goes on because I get used to the game and get used to how they’re going to flow over. I was just making plays,” Williams said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.