SACK FACT REWIND
Matt Rhule mentioned during Monday’s news conference having had the defensive line at his house two weeks ago, and “my kids love him, and my dogs love him.”
“Him” is sophomore James Williams, No. 90 on the field.
“He’s just got that heart, and everyone rallies around him,” said Rhule.
Williams drew considerable attention for his performance against Rutgers, finishing with two sacks among five tackles and two quarterback hurries to help seal the 14-7 victory.
The hurries came on the Scarlet Knights’ final two plays, the second with 1:22 remaining.
A year ago, Williams couldn’t have imagined such a performance. In fact, he couldn’t have imagined playing for the Huskers after last season, he said, noting, they should’ve gotten rid of him.
“I just have been through so much since I’ve been here,” Williams said post-game. “I’ve only been here since last July, very late June, and I’ve been through hell and back. I lost family. I lost so much. To be here today, in this moment, is not where I thought I would be.
“If you would have told me that a year ago, I would have never believed you.”
Defensive line coach Terrance Knighten, “T-Knight, is all I have. The d-line is all I have . . . my girlfriend, she’s all I have. That’s my only family,” said Williams.
“I think Terrance has done an excellent job in that room of building a brotherhood and camaraderie, where they all root for each other,” Rhule said.
Williams’ words reinforced that.
Knighten “means everything to me,” said Williams. “He’s taught me so much about life. When my family fell apart, he was there. He picked me up. He put me back together. I was a shattered human being at the end of last year. That was one of the reasons I decided to redshirt.”
He opted not to play in the final two games, against Wisconsin and Iowa.
The two sacks against Rutgers gave him four for the season. Ty Robinson also has four. They have combined for 40 percent of Nebraska’s 20 sacks this season. The Huskers had 32 all of last season.
Williams, who is from Parkville, Missouri, played one season at Iowa Western Community College before transferring to Nebraska.
“There were so many times last year that everybody else around here could have gotten ride of me,” Williams said. “I was a mess-up. I was late to stuff. And he (Knighten) vouched for me. He put me out there. He was the reason I played last year. He vouched for me and taught me so much about life. I say father figure, but he’s really my father. I learned so much about like from him.
“He really helped me through everything. That man means everything to me.”
Williams had two sacks last season.
“He can be whatever he wants to be,” Rhule said. “He was on the scout team last week. This wasn’t like, ‘This is going to be a big James Williams week. Get Riley Van Poppel, Sua (Lefotu) in there, let’s get ready to go.’ He wants to play, so he goes over to the scout team when Terrance sends him over and he gets good reps, good tackles and works.
“And all of a sudden it shows up during the game.”
Williams is a “really, really wonderful young man,” said Rhule.
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You might have noticed, Williams’ post-sack celebration is reflective of that of NBA great LeBron James, which should be no surprise. He’s a “big LeBron fan,” Williams said, an NBA fan in general.
Mike Babcock
