Before the season started, if you were going to pick one running back in college football who you thought might lead the nation in rushing, it probably would’ve been someone like Todd Gurley of Georgia, Ka’Deem Carey of Arizona or Lache Seastrunk of Baylor.
It probably would not have been Andre Williams of Boston College.
Nonetheless, through 10 games this season, the senior Eagle is on his way to the best season by a college running back since 2007.
That was the year that Kevin Smith of UCF led the nation in rushing by averaging 183 yards per game while gaining 2,567 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns in 14 games. After rolling over North Carolina State on Saturday for 339 yards and two scores, Williams has 1,810 yards and is averaging 181 yards per game, which is 31 yards better than his nearest competitor, the aforementioned Carey.
William has eclipsed the 200-yard mark four times this season and is averaging 243 yards per game over his last four (and 317 over his last two). Including a potential bowl game, he’s on pace to finish the year with 2,353 yards, which would be the third best rushing total in NCAA history behind Smith and the all-time leader, Barry Sanders, who rushed for 2,628 yards in 1988.
If Williams rushes for at least 190 yards against Maryland on Saturday, he’ll reach the 2,000-yard mark in 11 games, something that doesn’t happen too often in college football. And if he continues his recent tear by averaging 243 yards the rest of the way, he’ll have a chance to pass Smith as the FBS’s second-best single-season rusher of all time.
Not bad for a guy who had just 1,562 career yards entering the season.