101 Days of BC Football: Andre Williams, #44

Like teammate Rolandan Finch, junior running back Andre Williams has had quite an eventful first couple years at Boston College.

He burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2010 when Montel Harris went down with a knee injury, taking over the starting role and putting up a huge performance in BC’s season finale in Syracuse. Williams carried the ball 42 times and ran for 185 yards, also scoring the Eagles’ only offensive touchdown in the third quarter. He personally accounted for over half of BC’s offensive yardage that afternoon.

In the following game, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against Nevada, the Eagles were a disaster offensively (what else is new) but Williams again accounted for BC’s only touchdown.

When 2011 rolled around, we were supposed to see the return of Montel Harris, though most folks realized that counting on the (former) Eagle for great things after a season-ending injury was probably a little much. Indeed, Harris didn’t play in the Northwestern season opener and Williams got the start again, and here’s a recurring theme we’ve established: he scored BC’s only two offensive touchdowns. In fact, his first carry of the season was for 69 yards. We didn’t know if Williams would make that start, however, since he was injured in training camp just two weeks before the season opened.

Unfortunately, since then, Williams has had more issues with injuries, which is sadly nothing new for this running back corps in recent years. In the miserable October loss to Wake Forest, Williams left the game with a leg injury after just two rush attempts. He missed the following game in Clemson but returned for Virginia Tech, and had a decent performance against Maryland, where he scored his last rushing touchdown of the season. His rushing average prior to that injury was 4.8 yards per carry; after, it was about 3.5.

Williams did participate in 2012 spring football, putting a 25-yard touchdown on the board in the first scrimmage and scoring again in the second scrimmage; he did not appear in the spring game. He was also not on the spring depth chart.

Williams’ status is a little bit unknown as of right now; one would figure that if he were healthy, he’ll be on the two-deep when training camp rolls around late this summer. He didn’t end the spring there, though, so we’ll have to wait and see. We know this guy can run, so hopefully injuries aren’t derailing what should be a very productive BC career. He has also made it clear to the online community that he’s hard at work trying to get back on the field, and we’ve got no reason to doubt him.