Dexter Williams Making The Most Of His Opportunities
Notre Dame needed to get momentum back in the third quarter on Saturday night and senior running back Dexter Williams delivered.
The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder made a 97-yard house call to extend the Irish lead to 24-16 with just under 12 minutes to go in the third quarter.
“It was a long run,” laughed Williams. “I was looking at the jumbotron making sure I didn’t get caught. It was a little delayed, but I had to finish the run.
“I just had to stay focused. When coach calls my number, and he’s telling me I need to get the rock, I have to do what I have to do.”
Head coach Brian Kelly was more than excited running down the sideline during the run, but he was also fired up because the run had been a long time coming for Williams as he earned the opportunity after a long offseason.
“Dexter has waited for his opportunity, and he's certainly making the best of it,” Kelly said. “Good blocking up front. He found a seam there inside the kick-out block and obviously has got great speed. He took advantage of a defense that doesn't have a lot of layers to it.
“We talked about it all week. If you could catch a seam, you've got a chance for a big run.”
Williams might have caught the seam, but it was the momentum the Irish captured on the run that was the true difference maker as Lane Stadium went silent for the next few drives. The touchdown was the first of three unanswered touchdowns by Notre Dame to push a one-point lead to 38-16 when Miles Boykin caught his second touchdown of the game with 9:08 left in the fourth quarter.
“We definitely had to take the crowd out of the game,” explained Williams. “We knew Virginia Tech was going to use them. We had to keep playing and not focus on the crowd. We had to continue to play for our brothers. We all came on this flight by ourselves, and we knew it was going to be loud. We had to come in here and quiet them.”
The night wasn’t always easy for the Irish despite jumping out to a 10-0 lead after the first two drives. The Hokies closed the gap to 17-16 at the half, and Williams knew his team needed to a little extra juice to start the second half.
“We had to humble ourselves, and we came out not like ourselves,” stated Williams. “We came back in the locker room and regrouped. We got everyone pumped up because we had a game to win.”
The Florida native set a career-high for rushing yards for the second straight week as Williams rushed 17 times for 178 and three touchdowns. Following the game, Williams was very quick to give credit to his offensive line for making life easy.
“I’m getting a lot more comfortable,” said Williams. “I have an amazing offensive line in front of me. They’re blocking and making creases for big holes. It’s making me comfortable running the ball and the more we work, the more it gets better and better.”