Alabama junior left tackle Jonah Williams is having a December to remember.
The 6-foot-5, 301-pounder from Folsom, California, began this month by helping the Crimson Tide rally past Georgia for a 35-28 triumph in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Williams then was voted a unanimous All-American at one of football’s most valuable positions and earned his marketing degree in less than three full years on the Tuscaloosa campus.
“It was one of my big goals when I was coming here,” Williams said in a news conference this month. “I wanted to start. I wanted to be an All-American, and I wanted to graduate in three years. It was a plan I set in motion in high school. I graduated from high school early and took several AP (advanced placement) classes to get some credits and get ahead. It’s exciting, and it’s a testament not only to my work but everything the academic staff does.
“We get a leg up with registration priorities, and that’s a big plus.”
Alabama held its second workout in Miami on Tuesday, practicing for two hours in full pads at Barry University. The workout was the ninth of 12 total practices in preparation for Saturday night’s Orange Bowl national semifinal between the No. 1 Crimson Tide (13-0) and No. 4 Oklahoma (12-1).