ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 26, 1995 TAG: 9512260070
SECTION: BOWL GUIDE PAGE: BG-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
ONE TIP-OFF ON THE football talent possessed by Ricky Williams lies in the three schools to which he took recruiting visits, but didn't attend:
Southern Cal, Notre Dame and Nebraska.
Just how good is Williams? He's starting at fullback as a freshman for Texas. His statistics are very impressive, his nickname more so.
Williams has been dubbed ``Little Earl'' by Longhorns teammates and fans. Earl Campbell only won the Heisman Trophy and became an All-Pro with the Houston Oilers. In a state where they do things big, Campbell is an icon with a football in his arms.
``The only pressure I felt on me this season was to break Earl Campbell's record, once I got close enough to it to have the chance to do it,'' said Williams, who will be facing an opponent from familiar territory when Texas meets Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on Sunday night. ``I'd just like to have gained 10 more yards.''
When Texas assistant coach Steve Bernstein - who recruits his native California - told Williams he could start as a freshman, it wasn't recruiting hyperbole. Williams, a superb athlete from San Diego, became the first ``true'' freshman to start a Texas season opener at running back since Campbell in 1974.
Williams broke Campbell's Longhorns freshman rushing record of 928 yards when he crunched Texas A&M for 163 on 24 carries in Texas' Dec.2 victory in College Station. That win clinched the last Southwest Conference title and a Bowl Alliance berth for the Longhorns and left Williams with 990 yards for the season.
``Ten more would have been really nice,'' said Williams, who runs in a potent backfield with Shon Mitchell, who gained a team-leading 1,099 yards. The duo presents the Hokies' run defense, ranked first nationally, with plenty to tackle.
With quarterback James Brown, tight end Pat Fitzgerald and wide receiver Mike Adams and those two backs, ``it makes it hard for a defense to key on any of us,'' Williams said. ``I think that's really helped me. I'm the freshman, so people didn't pay a lot of attention to me at first. I got started and gained confidence.''
About three weeks before ninth-ranked Texas won its opener at Hawaii, Williams was finishing his first pro baseball season before heading to preseason camp. As an eighth-round draft pick by Philadelphia, Williams hit among the fastest players in the Phils' system, and he had 13 steals in his short stay in the Appalachian League.
His sports hero isn't Campbell, but another Heisman winner, Bo Jackson, who played two sports, too.
``Football is my favorite of the two,'' said Williams, who also wrestled as a heavyweight at San Diego's Patrick Henry High School. ``Right now, it doesn't matter which one I'd like to play down the road. I just want to play both sports as long as I can. I knew I had a chance to play both.
``So far, it's been easier than I thought it would be, at least physically. I've played sports for six straight months, and I'm not tired yet.''
Williams' 163 yards against A&M rank second for a Texas freshman, behind the 182 yards Johnny ``Lam'' Jones gained against Rice in 1976. Williams' eight touchdowns tied another Longhorns freshman mark, and his three 100-yard games (against Virginia, Texas Tech and A&M) rank second only to Campbell's four as a freshman. He also caught 16 passes for 224 yards.
``He gained over 2,000 yards as a senior in high school, and you usually don't see someone his size [6 feet, 220 pounds] with the kind of speed Ricky has,'' Bernstein said. ``He could play our other running back spot, but we weren't real strong at the fullback position. He's such a gifted athlete, he could probably do whatever we asked.''
Williams sounds as if he'd like to play more at tailback in Texas' multiple scheme when fellow first-year Longhorn Mitchell - he's a junior college transfer - isn't in the lineup.
``I lost weight during the season - about 10 pounds from 230 - and now I feel better and I'm running better,'' Williams said. ``I can be a little faster in the future, and I've told them that.''
If he's another Earl, he must be a pearl.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. Texas' Ricky Williams broke theby CNBschool's freshman rushing mark set by Earl Campbell, picking up 990
yards.