Ryan Williams’ big-play ability defines No. 4 Alabama’s comeback against No. 2 Georgia

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In case anyone needs reminding, Ryan Williams is 17 years old. The conventional expectation is not for people of this age to be responsible for one of the greatest moments in recent SEC football history. However, Williams is anything but a conventional 17-year-old.

Never has that fact, which is quickly becoming apparent across the college football landscape, been more evident than in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against No. 4 Georgia. Seconds after the Bulldogs (3-1) took a 34-33 lead with 2:31 to play, they sucked all the air out of Bryant-Denny Stadium and erased No. 2 Alabama’s 28-0 deficit needed a big piece.

They are no bigger than the ensuing offensive snap, a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jalen Milroe to Williams that sent the stadium into the kind of boisterous celebration that registers on the Richter scale. Milroe, responsible for nearly 500 yards of all-purpose offense himself, found the freshman wideout on the Alabama sideline, and Williams broke free and did the rest.

He made a sensational back-shoulder catch, smashing two Georgia defenders into each other as he raced into the end zone. After a successful two-point conversion, the Crimson Tide (4-0) held on and won 41-34. Everything about the play, even before the yards after contact, worked perfectly: Milroe’s placement of the throw was exactly where it needed to be for Williams to intercept it inbounds and have the opportunity to make a play. With 2:18 on the game clock, the home team had finally regained the lead in the SEC opener.

“There are reasons he’s open,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Understanding timing and concepts…I think what impresses me more is what he does after the catch. It’s not surprising, but it’s definitely impressive.”

Williams had six catches for 177 yards and a touchdown. This line also includes a play in the third quarter in which he passed the ball to himself for a 54-yard completion. His 75-yard score, easily the most iconic play in the short time since the stadium’s playing surface was renamed Saban Field, was slow for him.

“Whenever the ball was in the air (on the game-winner), I felt it go to the back of my shoulder, so I said I have to open up like this,” he said. “I opened up, I caught it and ran, and I thought, ‘Oh, I can’t get tackled!’ So I did a spin motion and it was kind of in slow motion on the (video board) screen.

Milroe and Williams have had a lot of fun this season with the sum of their jersey numbers, four and two respectively. This connection has become so strong that the latter didn’t even have to directly tell the former that he planned to be open. “He knows that four plus two equals six. I know four plus two equals six, so the ball just goes in the air and we have to make sure he does what he does,” Williams said.

The Crimson Tide signal-caller noted Williams’ approach throughout the week of practice leading up to the main event. Milroe knows Williams’ playing ability, but is also impressed by the rookie’s recognition that he’s not a finished product and his willingness to do the things that matter to the team.

“It’s hard to say,” Milroe remarked about which of Williams’ pieces impressed him most. “This man is always playing with the ball,” he added with a laugh.

“I just have so much confidence in him,” Milroe said. He’s going to do something special with the football, and after the catch it’s also what he can do with the football in his hands. He’s just an important resource for us in the future and I’m just super happy to have him as my teammate. One thing about Ryan is that he has the approach of constantly evolving… That showed when he was here.”

Perhaps it’s too much to ask of someone Williams’ age to have the moment that Saturday’s game required, but the result at state was the picture of post-game confidence and he was adamant that if a game would make the difference in the end, it might as well be him playing a role.

“With a play, it doesn’t matter who does it, so I thought, ‘Why not me?’” he said. “Everyone was composed. We just talked to each other and kept each other level-headed because, I mean, sometimes things like that happen. We just tried to win the game, do what we had to do to win.” As for his spin move, he couldn’t explain the instinct behind the maneuver. “I just had the ball and the end zone seemed pretty close, so I had to get there.”

The blistering start to Williams’ collegiate career enters territory that ensures it will be repeated even after just one season. It doesn’t feel quite real to him yet.

“I think it’s usually that it just feels like a dream. And I just keep going. The dream, I like the dream,” he said with a smile.