Yes, that’s a picture of Ty’Son Williams when he was with the South Carolina Gamecocks. Playing for his third team now in the BYU Cougars, he is going for the trifecta of three straight wins against Tennessee football. The last time he was at Neyland was when the Gamecocks beat the Vols in Jarrett Guarantano’s first start 15-9.
Similar to Ty Chandler, Williams is a guy the BYU Cougars have underused so far. To be fair, they were caught in obvious passing downs last week against the Utah Utes. But the 6’0″ 220-pound weapon still managed 45 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, averaging nearly six and a half yards a carry.
Given how badly they were torched on the ground last week, the Vols have to do everything they can to avoid struggling against any rushing attack, and Williams already has experience dealing with them and fans at Neyland Stadium. So what he does throughout the game could end up being very interesting.
What’s clear, though, is that Jeremy Pruitt will have to prepare for Williams. He’s also similar to Chandler in that he can be a threat in the passing game, as he had 152 receiving yards in 2018 with South Carolina. So Williams is a versatile running back who could become deadly, particularly against a struggling UT defensive line and with now a ton of questions at linebacker.