By Hunt Palmer
College football’s new era burned LSU badly this week.
Thousands of players and millions of dollars are flying around unlike anything the sport has ever seen.
Plenty champion the new regulations or lack thereof. Many yearn for the days where transferring was penalized, and 18-year-olds weren’t earning millions before taking a snap.
For those in the latter camp, here’s Josh Williams.
The sixth-year senior didn’t take any money to play for LSU. He paid it. Williams turned down scholarship offers from lower-level schools because he wanted to be a Tiger. So, he paid his way. Then he went to work to earn his job. He didn’t demand it in writing.
In 2019, that was on the scout team. And that effort garnered a scholarship offer for the following season.
In 2020, his role was largely on special teams. He contributed willingly.
He never jumped in the transfer portal to see what was out there for him. He never complained while Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Tyrion Davis-Price, John Emery and a host of other future pros and former five-stars gobbled up the majority of the reps.
He worked.
In 2022, Williams led LSU running backs in rushing. He’d finally climbed the mountain from walk-on to starter. The team named him a captain in three games.
What happened next? A transfer running back came in a won that starting job in 2023. Did Williams leave? No, he just did what was asked. That selfless attitude never went unnoticed. So, when Williams decided to return to LSU for a sixth and final year, the coaching staff rewarded him with the No. 18.
Saturday night LSU found itself trailing 7-0 five snaps in to the game. Mired helplessly in a three-game free fall, the Tigers were a couple of plays from a full-on collapse and an angry, emptying stadium.
Williams stepped forward.
He hauled in a Garrett Nussmeier pass in the right flat and busted a pair of tackles for 14 yards down to the Vanderbilt 20. The next snap he ripped through another tackle and darted into the clear for a 20-yard touchdown to steady a team that felt near the brink.
Both efforts were tough, physical and timely, but not surprising.
Williams doesn’t boast the physical gifts some of his backfield mates have been given. He can’t run the 100 meters like Caden Durham or move laterally like Edwards-Helaire. He wasn’t a five-star recruit like John Emery, and he’s three inches and 25 lbs. short of Kaleb Jackson.
You won’t find him in Mel Kiper’s next mock draft, either.
What he lacks in physical gifts he makes up for with intangibles every collegiate coach now so desperately desires.
Brian Kelly hasn’t had to rerecruit Josh Williams or talk to his agent about a pay raise from the collective. He hasn’t had to consult his attorney about a legal issue off the field or make sure Williams is hitting the carry numbers tied to his NIL agreement.
Saturday night he just had to ask him to produce. And the result was 90 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 12 carries. Williams hauled in four catches for 61 yards, 18 of which came on a nifty little shake and bake of a Vanderbilt defensive back that may need his ankles looked at.
Williams helped lead a meeting Monday. Nussmeier, Will Campbell and Greg Penn were also involved. They wanted LSU’s younger players to lock in.
“He was echoing the feelings of the entire team,” Kelly said. “He could do it from a position of experience. He could do it from a position of, he’s been down this road before and was able to lend that to everyone else in the program. I think it really affected some of the younger players in a positive way….he set the table early on, and then he backed it up tonight which is what you love to see.”
Perhaps Williams duplicates his outing next week against Oklahoma. Or maybe this was his final shining moment in purple and gold. Kelly acknowledged it with the game ball.
Proud of Josh’s performance tonight. Fought on every single play. pic.twitter.com/KCE9CV9aJb
— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) November 24, 2024
Either way, Williams’s career is one folks should remember for some time.
He didn’t always look for the greener pasture or payout.
He wanted to play for LSU. He did. He was a team captain and No. 18. He was a leading rusher and a representation of the program at SEC Media Days. And Saturday he was the focal point of an offense trying to right the ship that had been rudderless for a month.
Win or lose next week, LSU will play in a bowl game near New Year’s without some of the players who helped this team along the way. That’s just the reality of non-playoff bowl games. Players will enter the transfer portal, and some could decide not to play to focus on upcoming NFL Draft.
Just a hunch, but I bet Williams shows up.
