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SEASON
By Alex Miller
VERNE LUNDQUIST: On first down, big hole, Trayveon Williams...! Knocked out-of-bounds, but not until he gets to the 25-yard line!
GARY DANIELSON: Texas A&M will be a different football team if they can find this type of running game to break these plays in through the middle of defense’s to take pressure off the quarterback to give another weapon to this A&M offense. -CBS
Kevin Chou — The Battalion
Kyle Field erupted as Trayveon Williams strolled down the sideline around the UCLA defense in A&M’s season-opener last year. His explosive run to open the drive following a costly interception in the end zone by Josh Rosen kick-started the Aggies’ go-ahead scoring drive en route to a 31-24 win.
The simple first-and-10 run was also the spark given to the running back to affirm he could be an impact player for A&M as a freshman.
“We ran a simple zone read and the offensive line picked up each and every block, a hat for a hat, and they sprung me for a 42-yard gain,” Williams said. “At that moment, I told myself I could compete at this level.”
CBS commentators Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson were the first to glimpse Williams’ potential. Two weeks later on the Alabama plains, he dashed 89 yards for a fourth quarter touchdown put the Aggies’ win over Auburn on ice. Williams then reached a career-high 217 yards three games later against Tennessee.
The Houston-native played beyond his years during his rookie campaign with eight touchdowns in 2016.
“Trayveon is the first true freshman running back in the history of Texas A&M that rushed for 1,000 yards, and there’s been some pretty damn good running backs at Texas A&M in the course of time,” A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin said at SEC Media Days in July. “He’s an electric player.”
The key to his early success may have been enrolling from high school a semester early, allowing him to settle into the college game.
“When [I] arrived in the spring, [I was] kind of open-eyed, I didn’t know what to expect,” Williams said of enrolling early. “You go through the whole spring and then summer session, learning the guys, learning the camaraderie of the team just gives you that extra aspect of the game.”
Just two months before enrolling early, however, Williams was set on going to TCU.
His five-month commitment to the Horned Frogs began to end
following his official visit to A&M though.
Watching the Aggies take on South Carolina on Halloween 2015 gave Williams the feeling that he wanted to suit up for the maroon
and white.
“I was juggling between TCU and A&M throughout the whole [recruiting process],” Williams said. “When I came on my official visit to A&M… It showed me that this was a program that felt more like at home and after that official visit, I couldn’t turn that down.”
The message from A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin and running backs coach Clarence McKinney also was a major selling point – he would have a chance to start from day one.
“What really caught my eyes was when they told me that we’re going to offer you the same opportunity we’re offering to a senior – the best guy plays,” Williams said. “When I heard that, that’s all I wanted to do, because I love to compete.”
Having spring ball to learn the system and shape into a SEC-caliber player benefited Williams on the field in the fall.
“It gave me extra time to improve on my skills, improve on my pass blocking and learn the scheme of the game. It really just built my confidence and my body,” Williams said. “The guys around me really boosted me up and gave me the tools mentally and physically that I needed.”
Outside of football, Williams is a music connoisseur. From Future to Keith Urban to The Commodores, Williams’s soundtrack has a mix of everything.
“I like country, I love rap, I like jazz, I like R&B – I like it all,” Williams said.
Williams also noted his backfield teammates can get quite competitive in video games, but admitted he is not the best of the bunch at Madden or FIFA.
“Me and the running backs, we compete so much playing video games,” Williams said. “I’m not the best, Kwame Etwi is the best.”
With fellow running back Keith Ford serving as the Aggies’ powerback, complimented by Williams’s shiftiness, the A&M backfield poses an exceptional dynamic duo.
Williams believes using the deep backfield to create a balanced offensive attack will be key to A&M keeping opposing defenses on their heels in 2017.
“1-2 punch, that’s a big deal. Offenses can’t really key on one certain back or one certain thing. It spreads our offense, makes it dual-threat,” Williams said. “It’ll be very key spreading our offense… Defenses can’t key onto one thing.”
Williams has been recognized for showing praise towards his lead blockers who open the holes for him to dash down the field.
“All my success I had my freshman year, I just want to give it to my offensive line,” Williams said. “Without those guys, I would’ve been nothing.”
The men in the trenches appreciate his outspoken support.
“Looking forward to blocking for him,” offensive tackle Koda Martin said. “He loves on the O-Line, appreciates us and lets us know he enjoys running behind us. To be able to block for a guy like that is awesome.”
Taking that balanced attack will be critical in achieving Williams’s goal this season – winning the SEC.
“We want to come onto that national stage,” Williams concluded. “As an offense, we want to be more diverse, we don’t want to be one-dimensional, we want to be two-dimensional so you can’t focus in on us.
Williams breaks a tackle in last season's game against Ole Miss. Williams totaled 73 rushing yards on 17 carries against the Rebels.