Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 26, 1994 TAG: 9412280057
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Obviously, all Ryan Williams needed was one strong kick ... right to his posterior.
Coming off a mediocre 1993 season that left his '94 starting job in jeopardy, Virginia Tech's senior kicker has gotten his kicks in responding to a challenge.
``I had a lot of pressure on me this season,'' Williams said. ``I didn't have a good season last year. I knew I needed to perform better. So, that made it real nice to go out and have a good year.''
A good year? How about a great one.
In what reads as the individual comeback story of the year for Gator Bowl-bound Tech (8-3), Williams hit 17 of 21 field-goal attempts and converted on 27 of 28 extra-point tries.
The powerful 6-foot-4, 255-pounder, the only straight-on kicker in NCAA Division I-A the past three seasons, was a first-team All-Big East Conference selection. He also was one of five finalists for the Lou Groza Award, honoring the nation's top kicker, which was won by Arizona's Steve McLaughlin.
In addition, Williams surpassed longtime friend Chris Kinzer as Tech's all-time leading scorer. Williams has 254 points, 20 more than Tech's 1986 Peach Bowl kicking hero.
``I never thought at the beginning of the year it would be a season to even think about any of that kind of stuff,'' Williams said.
To think, this guy wasn't even guaranteed a job during preseason practice. With Williams' inconsistency a hot topic among Hokies backers, especially after he missed a potential game-winner from 44 yards in a 14-13 loss at West Virginia, Beamer recruited a scholarship kicker - John Thomas - and brought in Morehead State transfer Atle Larsen.
Suddenly, the race was on, Williams said.
``Coach really put the pressure on me this year by bringing all the kickers in,'' Williams said. ``I reckon if you don't have the competition at that position or any other, players become lackadaisical or don't quite do their best. I think that happened to me a little bit.
``When you become too sure about what your job is, you start to cut corners. It made me work harder this summer, because you sure don't want to lose your job before your last year.''
Beamer, who claimed he never completely lost confidence in Williams, said the competition rekindled the fire under his big kicker.
``Ryan just didn't have a great year last year overall, and I think all of us need competition and pressure to keep you sharp,'' Beamer said. ``I think that's what happened with Ryan.
``Suddenly, you're saying to yourself, `If I don't come out here and practice and kick well, you know, someone else is going to be kicking.' Competition is a great motivator.''
It certainly kicked Williams' derriere into gear.
Retaining his job, Williams opened the season by booting a pair of field goals - from 45 and 33 yards - in Tech's 34-7 victory over Arkansas State.
But the next week in Tech's 24-10 victory at Southern Mississippi, Williams suffered a separated left shoulder when he was buried by tacklers after picking up a botched snap.
With Williams on pain-killers in the Hokies' locker room, Larsen came on and booted a late 42-yard field goal that sealed Tech's victory.
The next week, with Williams still sidelined, Larsen drilled 48- and 34-yarders in Tech's 12-7 triumph at Boston College.
``After I hurt my shoulder, I was pretty skeptical about things,'' Williams said.
``I thought, `It may be over.' He [Larsen] had come in and kicked well in both games I missed. He had had two good games, and I was kind of doubting whether I would play again.''
As the days counted down to the next game - West Virginia at home - Williams, ready to kick again, still didn't known where he stood.
``Coach's policy is that you can't lose your position due to an injury,'' Williams said. ``But I asked him before the game if I was going to kick and he said he hadn't made his decision. That really put the pressure on me, because it was the West Virginia game. He told me right before the game started ... on the field during warmups.''
Williams responded to Beamer's call, nailing 39- and 33-yarders in the Hokies' 34-6 romp.
``I went with Ryan because he had kicked well before the injury and he had kicked well back in competition that week,'' Beamer said.
The rest is history. The next game at Syracuse, Williams was 4-for-4, and he hasn't looked back. He finished the regular season 16-of-16 from closer than 40 yards.
Besides crediting his ``great combination'' of holder Jon Shields and snapper Tim Wade, Williams said he owes his success as a senior to having ``competition thrown at him.''
``The competition was big,'' he said. ``It brought pressure to the situation. I had to perform. No way around it, I had to do well.''
Of course, Ryan Williams is used to having his back to the wall. The Suffolk native lost the front half of his right (kicking) foot at age 5 when his brother ran over it with a riding lawn mower. Now that's adversity.
``I reckon that's why I deal with pressure the way I do and why I respond to things the way I do, because there's not too many things that happen like that,'' Williams said.
``Yeah, it was rough when I was younger. I went through a lot. At one time, I thought I was going to have to get my leg amputated due to infection. But, hey, I look at it as I could have lost part or all of my leg and I wouldn't even be here. I consider myself lucky.''
As do the Hokies for having him.
by CNB