MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Kansas football team has gotten off to a typical start for the Jayhawks over last 15 years (0-3, 0-2 Big 12), but the WVU coaching staff believes you would be a fool to take KU lightly, especially its backfield.
Pooka Williams burst onto the scene in 2018 as a dynamic freshman and continued to build off that since, named an all-Big 12 player in 2019 and is one of the biggest big-play threats in the conference.
With the Mountaineers coming off a bye week heading into today’s game against the Jayhawks at noon at Milan Puskar Stadium, it’s no surprise Williams has been a point of emphasis.
“Everything,” defensive line coach Jordan Lesley said on what Williams brings to the table. “I’ve been telling the guys for two weeks. He’s just a different type of back. I wouldn’t put him in the power category some of the other guys are, but he doesn’t have to be.”
WVU head coach Neal Brown feels a bit different, claiming Williams’ power is one of the most under-appreciated aspects of his game.
“He’s strong, he’s a lot stronger than people give him credit for,” Brown said. “He’s got really good lower body strength so he’s a difficult tackle.”
Williams’ stats so far this season may not be what many expect, and he has gotten off to a slower start than in years past — he’s totaled 175 yards on 40 carries (4.4 average) and two touchdowns. In the receiving game, Williams hauled in three passes for 24 yards. A lot of this has to do with defense focusing in to try and stop Williams with inexperience at quarterback.
But defenses have to be aware Williams can take the ball for a touchdown anytime he touches it and is one of the biggest offensive threats in the Big 12.
“He has the ability to even get yards when it’s not blocked very well,” Brown said. “You don’t see that very often. It could be a run play called to the left and you do a pretty good job of stuffing it, he might bounce it all the way out to the right and that’s hard to prepare for, you’ve got to make sure you keep edges and you play really good responsibility football.”
Surprisingly, Williams is not Kansas’ leading rusher through three games. Instead, sophomore Velton Gardner can make that claim, coming into the WVU game with 182 yards and two scores.
Both Williams and Gardner are coming off poor performances last week against Oklahoma State where they combined for 63 yards on 25 carries (2.5 yards per attempt).
Dual-threat QB Miles Kendrick will get the start for KU, and while the numbers don’t reflect it, Kendrick can make plays with his legs, but it all comes back to where Williams is on the field.
“You have to know where Pooka is, that’s the plan no matter who’s the quarterback, you have to know where he is and how they plan on using him,” Lesley said. “With a guy like Pooka, you just have to find him and hope you find him before it’s too late.”
As a freshman in 2018, Williams ran for 65 yards on 12 carries against WVU in Morgantown, and last season, ran for 76 yards on 15 carries in Lawrence.
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