 "Photo: Bruno Morlan/The Daily Texan")
Malcolm Williams always knew his time would come. The 6-foot-3-inch wide receiver had made his case a year ago, grabbing four catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns in place of the injured Quan Cosby against Texas Tech. He could make every play, every catch. Except for the easy ones.
The sophomore has battled drops as much opposing defensive backs during his time on the 40 Acres, a problem that all of his speed and athletic ability couldn’t compensate for.
So as the Texas offense sputtered to start the season, one of its top playmakers sat quietly on the bench, unable to contribute.
“Malcolm is a great kid. He fights and works hard every day,” said head coach Mack Brown. “He’s been an inconsistent catcher, which is tough at this level because you never know which pass is going to win or lose the game. He’s worked so hard to improve in that area, and I’m excited for him because right now it seems to be working.”
After early-season struggles that saw Williams deflect a rare pass his way into the hands of a Tech defender and drop another against UTEP, he’s worked his way back into the starting lineup.
“It all goes back to working hard,” Williams said. “Having the coaches have enough confidence in me to put me out there. It’s on me to go back to the basics and contribute in other ways, doing whatever I can to the best of my abilities.”
He’s quickly justified that confidence. Williams followed a career-high five catches in a 41-7 win against Missouri with his first receiving touchdown of the year against Oklahoma State in another blowout win. The catch against the Cowboys, where he stretched to grab the ball in the back of the end zone while getting his feet inbounds, came with only nine seconds left in the half.
“It goes a long way to know Colt [McCoy] had enough confidence in me to go to me when he had me and [Jordan] Shipley open,” Williams said.
McCoy showed his confidence in Williams the previous week, too. After Williams dropped a potential touchdown against the Tigers, the quarterback went right back to him on the next play, a 17-yard gain. That set up a touchdown to Shipley a few plays later that gave Texas a 28-7 lead.
“You have to build up confidence in those guys. They need to see your confidence in them,” McCoy said of his young receivers. “You can build them up; you can make them great players. That’s something I’ve really thought about and really tried to help them out. That’s part of being in the leadership role. That’s part of being a better team.”
McCoy said he made a point of going back to a player who had dropped a pass on the next play to get his confidence back.
Over the past two weeks, that confidence has become infectious. The early-season struggles that peaked against Oklahoma, when Texas scored only 16 points but won, have given way to consecutive 41-point outings for the Longhorns.
With Williams and freshman Marquise Goodwin installed as starters at receiver along with senior Shipley, the Texas offense has returned to last year’s highs. And so has Williams.
“Through the personnel changes and guys finding their roles on out team, we’re starting to put together the pieces to the puzzle,” McCoy said. “We’re finding where guys need to be, we’re finding who can make plays, and it’s getting better and better. We’re working really hard, and it’s a good time to be really clicking. It’s a good time to find your offense.”
The University of Central Florida will be the next team to find that out. The Golden Knights are underdogs at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday. But after the Longhorns made their statement games in the national spotlight against more glamorous opponents, the thought of a letdown is alive and well.
Just don’t tell that to McCoy.
“This team is above and beyond that,” McCoy said. “We have great senior leadership. We know what’s at stake.”
WHAT: Central Florida (5-3) at No. 2 Texas (8-0)
WHERE: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
WHEN: Saturday at 11 a.m.
Tickets/On Air: FSN, AM1300
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