With the Alabama football team facing the challenge of the Wisconsin Badgers, the program took care of business on Saturday afternoon, achieving victory, 38-14. While the headlines around the program have been about the Alabama football team suffering a loss to Florida State in the opener, the past two games have been different, especially when it comes to star wide receiver Ryan Williams.
The sophomore receiver had a relatively pedestrian opener with five catches for 30 yards, but on Saturday against the Badgers, he would record five receptions for 130 yards to go along with two touchdowns. Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer would speak after the win and say that Williams has been “hungry” to prove himself, according to Blake Byler.
“He's just hungry to get back out there and do what he does,” DeBoer said. “He went back to work, and it was good to see him and Ty connect…Good to see him do his thing. He's crazy explosive with the ball in his hands.”
When Williams spoke to the media, he was asked about his performance, and even with the eye-opening outing, he was still displeased.
“I left one out there,” Williams said, according to 247 Sports. “It was an OK game. We could always play better.”
The play in question was a dropped pass in the end zone during the fourth quarter, showing that Williams has a perfectionist approach to college football.
Alabama football's Ryan Williams on the need to finish strong
As people might have major concerns with the Alabama football team, one that lingered on Saturday, despite the big win, was the inability to finish the game strongly. The Crimson Tide led 28-0 at one point, but the second half saw some mistakes that led to tw touchdowns for Wisconsin.
“Can't get too comfortable in the second half of the game,” Williams said. That's what we've been focusing on all week — not getting comfortable. Freddy Soft jumped on my back at the end of the game.”
While fans might scratch their head at the “Freddy Soft” mention, it's apparently a term by a coach on the team “to personify complacency,” per 247 Sports.
“We started fast today — that just goes to our preparation,” Williams continued. “We got to finish stronger. That's partially my fault. I thought it was contagious based on the rest of the game, and I just told the guys, that's on me, and we got to focus on that going into this week, and there's no laxes.”
At any rate, the Alabama football team left the game with a victory as they look for three straight wins on Sept. 27 against No. 6 Georgia.
