Freshman jitters for Williams

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

SEATTLE – When Reggie Williams trotted onto the Husky Stadium field Saturday for the first time, he nearly melted.

It wasn’t the heat from the sun that got to the Washington Huskies’ 18-year-old true freshman receiver, nor was it the material on his new uniform bearing the No. 1.

It was 74,080 crazed fans.

It was knowing his first college football game was against one of the nation’s most storied football teams, the Michigan Wolverines.

And as he jogged out to his split end position seemingly miles away from the UW sideline across the field, he knew the first offensive play of Washington’s season was likely coming his way.

The nerves showed.

He quickly forgot about being a 6-foot-4, 215-pound prep phenom, whose freakish speed and big, soft hands made him one of the most hotly recruited high school players before he chose Washington – over his second choice Michigan – last winter.

For a moment he was just a kid out of Lakes High School in Tacoma.

“At first he had some jitters, but all of us had jitters,” said sophomore quarterback Cody Pickett, who also was starting for the first time. “In the end he went out there and showed us what he can do.”

The kid dropped the first two balls thrown his way. The man rebounded and had one of the greatest days ever by a Washington true freshman when he caught four passes for 134 yards, including a 74-yard reception.

Maybe he wasn’t the reason No. 15 Washington beat No. 11 Michigan 23-18 – the offense was not directly responsible for any of the Huskies’ points – but he proved that his impact would be immediate once the butterflies were purged.

“My legs were a little gooey at the time,” Williams said. “I was thinking, ‘Try not to drop it.’ I was a little nervous and I dropped the ball. After that, it was just football.”

Williams dropped both passes in Washington’s first three offensive plays before Huskies coach Rick Neuheisel got him off the field and told him to take a few deep breaths. He returned for Washington’s next offensive series and made a play few could.

He leaped higher than Michigan cornerback Jeremy LeSueur and hauled in a 20-yard pass from Pickett. LeSueur was hanging all over Williams and was called for pass interference, though the penalty was declined because it’s hard to truly interfere with a guy as big as Williams.

After a couple of catches a few other humans might make, Williams displayed most of his attributes during his final reception. His victim this time was Todd Howard, a 5-foot-10 Michigan corner. Williams jumped up behind Howard, reached over him and caught the ball. He raced down his left sideline leaving only one man with a shot at him.

Strong safety Julius Curry, who terrorized the Huskies with several long punt returns, took a seemingly hopeless dive at Williams. Though he couldn’t make the tackle, Curry somehow managed to pull a shoe off of Williams, which was just enough to slow down last spring’s Class 3A state 100-meter sprint champion. He was caught six yards shy of his first collegiate touchdown.

“I would have been in the end zone,” Williams said. “It kind of hobbled me a little bit, but I should have been in anyway.”

Friday night, Neuheisel had several senior players stand up and talk about their first play. They remembered the queasiness and the way their confidence gave way to nerves and emotions.

“It was uncanny how many of them remembered vividly their first play. It was also uncanny how few of them had that first play go well,” said Neuheisel, whose first play was a handoff to a running back during a UCLA blowout when he was a backup quarterback. “To be in this kind of arena and this kind of game, it kind of takes your breath away. Reggie dropped the first two passes thrown his way. I thought he was dynamic in the second half.”

He also helped keep the Huskies afloat in the first half, when they were without star tight end Jerramy Stevens, who sat out the half as punishment for off-the-field incidents.

“Someone had to pick up the slack in the first half,” Stevens said. “It was Reggie. Our team is good at stepping up when the situation calls for it.”

Teammates who practiced with Williams this summer were not surprised with what they witnessed on Saturday afternoon. They say the young receiver is not just a spectacular athlete. He understands the game. He knows how to shake off a mistake. He knows how to adjust to what defenses throw at him, something that can often take a young player a long time to learn.

And having a physique that makes Randy Moss look like a sniveling wimp doesn’t hurt either.

“He did in the game what he does in practice,” said UW offensive lineman Kyle Benn. “He went out and did exactly what he was supposed to and a little more. He’s a great addition to this team.”