Josh Williams was among the top freshmen in Southern Conference football last season. He set a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshman record for sacks and was second-team all-conference.
As a sophomore, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound defensive end quietly has picked up where he left off last November.
“I feel like I’ve come along well,” the soft-spoken Williams said. “I started slow at the beginning of the season, and I’m finally picking it up.”
Speed is the key for Williams, who says, “That’s all you’ve got to do on defense. Play as fast as you can, and good things will happen.”
Fifteen games into his collegiate career, Williams is within sight of UTC’s all-time record for sacks. He needs 4.5 more to tie the record of 14.5 held by Kenny Sanders (1995-98).
Mocs defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey played alongside Sanders at linebacker.
“The biggest thing about Kenny, he was very athletic, very well conditioned, could run all day and made himself a really good linebacker/defensive end,” Lindsey said.
That sounds a lot like Williams, except he made an immediate impact last season with seven sacks. He has three in four games this season.
The Mocs are off Saturday and will play at The Citadel on Oct. 9.
After starting the final nine games in 2009 and the first three this season, Williams wasn’t on the field for UTC’s opening defensive series last Saturday at Western Carolina.
That’s because he was on the sideline throwing up, which was an improvement over the Appalachian State game when he got sick on the field at Finley Stadium.
“I just got nervous,” Williams said, laughing. “It happens a lot. At all our games I get nervous. Usually I’m good, but this time I just couldn’t hold it in.”
Transfer defensive end Chris Donald leads UTC this year with 4.5 sacks, third-most nationally in the FCS, and there is plenty of competition between the two for the team lead.
“He lets me know who’s leading the sacks every day,” Williams said.
Lindsey said Williams still has a lot of room for improvement and a lot of untapped potential.
“Josh has been a pleasant surprise, and we just hope he can keep progressing,” he said. “We’d like to get to a point where people say, ‘Man, he just took over a game.'”
Extra points
Safety Jordan Tippit (ankle) did some hard running during Thursday’s practice and could be available against The Citadel. … The Mocs spent about 30 minutes Wednesday and Thursday preparing for the Bulldogs’ option offense. … The team will practice today, take Saturday off and practice again Sunday.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeat.