Southern Illinois quarterback D.J. Williams ranks second in the nation this week in total offense with 326 yards per game. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Barry Bottino
Breakfast, as the saying goes, is the most important meal of the day.
On Thursdays in the Southern Illinois football offices, breakfast is an important birthplace of great ideas.
Quarterback D.J. Williams proved that again last week when he proposed a quarterback draw on the first play of the game against Southeast Missouri during a morning meal.
The result? A 75-yard Williams touchdown run to kick off SIU’s 59-31 victory.
“We sat down and ate breakfast again on that Thursday morning. I told Coach Hill, ‘I think this can go to the house,’” Williams said. “The seas parted, the O-line did a great job giving me the hole that I needed, and I did what I had to do after that.”
The strategy, according to SIU head coach Nick Hill, was all Williams.
“That first play was D.J.’s idea. Two weeks in a row,” Hill said. “We give him some opportunities to pick the openers and we collaborate. I had a different one. I liked that play, but not on the first play. He said, ‘Just call it. Trust me.’ So, we put it in there on Thursday. We practiced it Thursday and Friday.”
While preparing for UT Martin the previous week, Williams suggested a deep pass play, which resulted in a 47-yard gain to Jay Jones.
As the Salukis (3-1), ranked No. 11 in this week’s FCS media poll and No. 12 in the coaches’ poll, are in the midst of a bye this week, Williams has been exemplary.
He ranks second in FCS in total offense (326 yards a game) and points responsible for (24 per game), according to NCAA statistics. His 493 total yards against SEMO was the third-best for a quarterback in Southern’s history.
His numbers and big-play ability make Williams a likely candidate to be added to the Walter Payton Award Watch List at midseason. The honor is awarded annually to the top offensive player in FCS.
“I heard somebody describe him as a fine-tuned Porsche. I think he’s more of a (Ford) F250 Super Duty,” Hill said. “He can run for some power, obviously, and then he can throw it at an elite level down the field.”
Williams said the bye week comes at a key time for SIU, which begins Missouri Valley Football Conference play Oct. 4 at home against Indiana State. The league features seven ranked teams in this week’s national media poll.
SIU’s eight MVFC games in a row include trips to North Dakota State, Youngstown State and Illinois State.
“It’s a blessing to have this bye week,” he said. “We can get healed up. We’ve got a long and hard conference schedule. Playing in the Valley is going to require us to play our best every week. So, it’s good to have this right now.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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