Dexter Williams – Noteworthy
Senior Dexter Williams has been through countless ups and downs during his four years at Notre Dame. Injury, suspension, an arrest, the emotions of helping his ailing mother – all of it has weighed down Williams at times. He has emerged just the same as the workhorse running back for the third-ranked Fighting Irish, and a key reason Notre Dame has legitimate hopes of making the playoff. In a 42-13 rout of Florida State last week, Williams piled up a career-high 202 yards on just 20 carries, becoming the first running back to surpass 200 rushing yards against the Seminoles since 1982. Nicknamed “Juice” by his teammates, he had scoring runs of 58 and 32 yards.
“I told the offensive line to give me a crease, and I would make a couple of runs for them,” said Williams, who already this season had touchdown runs of 97 and 31 yards against Virginia Tech and 45 yards against Stanford. With four 100-plus yard performances in six games, Williams’ per-game rushing average stands at 128.3 yards, which would rank fifth in the country if he had enough games to be included among the NCAA leaders. His 6.8 yards per carry would be 13th. He leads the Irish with 770 yards and 10 touchdowns, exceeding expectations as Notre Dame (10-0) prepares for Saturday’s game at Yankee Stadium in New York against No. 12 Syracuse (8-2). “His nickname is ‘Juice’ for a reason,” said Irish senior wide receiver Miles Boykin. “His energy is contagious.” – AP College Football