The ground game was the star of the show for the Iowa Hawkeyes in their 34-7 Week 1 win over UAlbany. The Hawkeyes rumbled for 310 yards on the ground and averaged 5.8 yards per carry behind their dominant offensive line.
While a handful of players had their opportunity to tote the rock, it was Xavier Williams who stole the show and took the opportunity to put on a breakout performance and potentially seize more carries in the future.
Leading the way for Iowa with 122 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown, Williams capitalized on his opportunity and was commended by head coach Kirk Ferentz after the game when asked if this was something he had seen before.
“Yes and no. I mean this sincerely. Maybe we’re crazy, but we don’t tackle in practice. Now, sometimes those defensive guys don’t get the memo, and Preston Ries is the No. 1 culprit, but they’re not supposed to tackle our guys, so that’s the one variable with guys that haven’t played. You just don’t know what they’re going to do. But he seemed perfectly fine out there, and McNeil was the same thing. It looked okay. I was a little worried about him getting in there. That is what we’ve seen.
“He’s just steadily kept getting better the last year and week-to-week, and then certainly in bowl prep you really get a good dose of younger guys. And he had a great spring, and just with Kamari and T.J. missing some time in the middle of camp, it got him more work. The idea of being a good player is if you get an opportunity to step in there, do something with it. I think we were all confident he’d step in and play well, but he’s still got to do it, so good start for him,” Ferentz said of Xavier Williams’ showing.
The redshirt freshman did not see any action in 2024, so this showing is a pleasant surprise for the Hawkeyes in discovering yet another talent in the backfield.
Part of the class of 2024, Williams is a product of Lake Central High School in Saint John, Indiana. He was a three-star recruit rated as the No. 77 running back in his class, per 247Sports.
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