GWU's Jeffrey Williams Leads Nation's Freshmen In Total Tackles
October 08, 2007 | Football
BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb outside linebacker Jeffrey
Williams leads the nation in the Football Championship
Subdivision in total tackles, making 51 stops through his first
five games.
Williams (Frisco City, Ala. / Frisco City HS) made a career-high 12
stops at No. 5 Appalachian State on Saturday, his third game in a
row with at least 10 stops. He added a half tackle for loss and a
PBU in the game. The 6-0, 205-pounder has gotten to the 50-tackle
mark quicker than any true freshman in Gardner-Webb's senior
college history. Williams currently has at least one more tackle
than any other freshman in the nation among Championship
Subdivision members.
Williams leads Gardner-Webb in total tackles, and has added 4.0
tackles for loss, a sack and three pass break ups while starting
the first five games of his college career. Most impressive is that
Williams has collected 33 of his 51 tackles on the road against the
likes of Ohio University (10 stops), Mississippi State (11 hits)
and the fifth-ranked Mountaineers.
Already a leading candidate for the Big South Conference's Freshman
of the Year award, Williams has made at least 10 stops in four of
his first five college games, and ranks second in the Big South
Conference currently with 10.2 stops per game, regardless of class.
That average ranks No. 25 nationally among Division I FCS
players.
Just one season removed from a stellar high school career, Williams
was a consensus All-State selection in 2006 at Frisco City (Ala.)
High. He led the State of Alabama in tackles and finished sixth
nationally in tackles per game – piling up an average of 19.6
hits through 10 games as a senior.
Also a standout academically at Frisco City High, Williams was
recruited by Vanderbilt, and eventually chose Gardner-Webb over
Samford and Furman, among others.
Williams and his Bulldog mates will face another tough test this
weekend, as they travel to face No. 8 Wofford at 1:30 pm ET in
Spartanburg, S.C.
