Kirk Ferentz pleased with Leshon Williams’ value to Iowa’s backfield
Iowa running back Leshon Williams carries the ball during the fourth quarter against Nebraska Friday November 24, 2023 at Memorial Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
LINCOLN, Neb. — Iowa’s junior running back is coming off a stellar performance in the road victory over Nebraska, and continues to impress his head coach.
Kirk Ferentz is in awe of Leshon Williams’ work ethic this fall, and wants him to carry the momentum into the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan. After all, Williams is the Hawkeyes’ leading rusher this year. Not to mention he rushed for 111 yards against the vaunted Blackshirts.
It was the third time this season that Williams went over the century mark in rushing yards. Now he’s peaking at the right time, and Ferentz is finding satisfaction in the value Williams brings to Iowa’s backfield.
“Leshon is another guy that has represented our team, he had one of the worst plays of the season against Michigan State, and since then he’s played great,” Ferentz said. “So I’m really proud of the way he bounced back, just have a lot of confidence in him.”
With 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Huskers, Williams broke loose for a 22-yard run that put the Hawkeyes in field goal range to win the game. It was arguably one of the biggest plays in the contest, and Ferentz knew if the offense kept pounding the ball, Iowa would eventually pop one for a huge gain.
Williams was pleased with his outing, but knows he wouldn’t have accomplished anything without the blocking from the big boys up front throughout the afternoon.
“I got to give credit to the offensive line for giving me a lot of space, and they opened up a lot of holes,” Williams said. “It’s a matter of me having more experience, trusting the play-calling, and really just running downhill.”
The Hawkeyes doubled the Huskers in rushing yards, and led in first downs, plays and time of possession. Williams and his teammates never flinched when the game was tight down the stretch either. That’s because Iowa is used to pulling out grinders. Williams was eager to get the ball in his hands, and felt stronger with every carry, so he was ready to deliver in the clutch.
“We’re built different, we practice hard, and we’re comfortable in these situations,” he said. “We do it to ourselves truthfully, and we left a lot of points out there on the board, so it ain’t like they (Nebraska) did anything to us.”
Williams believes the 13-10 victory in Lincoln was a complete team effort, especially with the defense and kicking game. Now the Hawkeyes are ready to shift gears to the Wolverines. Michigan (12-0) is the No. 2 team in the country, and has dominated on both sides of the ball. Williams understands it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Regardless, the former three-star prospect is glad the Hawkeyes have secured 10 wins for the second time in the past three seasons. Williams knows him and Kaleb Johnson contributed to a lot of Iowa’s success, and he’s trying to keep it pushing after generating double-digit victories.
“Not a lot of teams in our history have done it, so it was a good way to send off our seniors in the regular season,” the Chicago native said. “We got another game coming up, and we’re going to get ready for that, and try to get another win.”
Michigan’s defense is currently No. 6 nationally against the run, so Williams and the rest of the running backs will have their work cut out for them. Offensive Coordinator Brian Ferentz will likely throw the kitchen sink at the Wolverines’ defense, so Hawkeye fans should be expecting the unexpected. Iowa is more than three-touchdown underdogs too, so motivation shouldn’t be an issue for Williams and his teammates.
Iowa has won seven of its’ last eight games overall, including four-straight. The players have confidence because of it. Unfortunately the national polls believe the Hawkeyes’ record is a fluke, and they haven’t moved up much in the rankings.
That’s why Ferentz feels it’s going to be important for Williams and the rest of the backfield to make them all respect Iowa. Patience is going to be ideal with the ground game though, and every run isn’t going to go for positive yardage, just like against the Huskers.
“We knew it was going to be a lot of ugly runs, but then if you stay with it, hopefully you’ll pop a couple too,” the 68-year old coach said.
Williams is just cracking the surface on his potential too. The 5-foot-10, 208-pounder rushed for 145 yards against Western Michigan, and a season-high, 174 and a score at Wisconsin. He’ll need 221 yards over the next two games to reach 1,000 on the year, which is very doable at the level Williams is playing right now.
Regardless, everything is coming full circle for Williams, and Ferentz plans on giving him more carries as the featured back heading to Indianapolis. Anything to help Williams pull off runs like he did against Nebraska, so practice will be intense.
“That was a pivotal play, just because of the range and it being a little windy, so we knew the run game would be like that, and these guys have done a great job.”
