Section B · Page 22
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, August 16, 1999.
NCAA Football
Tech's Ricky Williams prepares for the spotlight
The Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas — It could be argued that Texas Tech's star back runs in one of the biggest shadows in college football history.
plenty to distinguish a running back
He was the nation's fourth-best rusher last year with an average of 143 yards a game, usually
running back — unless he happens to play in the same conference as a H e i s m a n Trophy winner who is the most prolific Division I running back ever.
Williams: Looking to share name with other Williams
And, worse
yet, who happens to have the same name.
"I was probably asked about Texas' Ricky Williams at least once per interview," said Texas Tech's Ricky Williams said. "And I know that some people still think I'm the guy with the dreadlocks."
He acknowledges the questions and comparisons have rankled him.
"I want to make the other Ricky have to share his name
with me," he said. "It would be nice for him to be mistaken for me someday."
Now that his nemesis is in the NFL, there should be no more confusion. The other Ricky Williams is poised to become the top back in Texas, and possibly the nation. He's even on track to challenge the rushing record Williams set last year.
Entering his junior season, Tech's Williams has 2,476 yards, 214 yards ahead of the Longhorns star at the same point in his career but a long, long way from the record 6,279 career yards. The Red Raider must average 173 yards per game during his final two regular seasons to get there.
Talk of records doesn't seem to interest the Texas Tech star.
"I'll let other people have high expectations about my career, but my expectation is to play my very best game every game," he said. "The rest should fall into place."
Tech coach Spike Dykes said this is a key year for his back.
"The jury is still out on our Ricky Williams," Dykes said. "If you look at the legendary backs that have come out of Texas, his start is comparable to many of theirs and even more impressive than some. But it is just a start."
be made or broken."
"He is a junior and these are the years when his legacy will
More than fame and Williams' Heisman hopes are on the line. Texas Tech's success this season depends on his ability to emerge in his own right.
"He will have to step up and play big if we're going to get off the ground," Dykes said.
But, as quarterback Rob Peters
s a l i d,
" T he
great
ones all
have
a
support-
ing cast.
" W e
have to
do our part to make Ricky successful. "The offensive line has to come through."
Williams has spent the off-season working to live up to the expectations.
He put on 15 pounds — he is now listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds — and took on a weightlifting and back-to-basics training regimen that included running hills while lashed to a car tire.
"I've really tried to work on my power," he said. "This year, I want to be able to run in such a way that even when the other team knows what is going to happen they are unable to stop me."
The Associated Press
Coach Fuller joins upper tier after Vols' championship year
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — He doesn't have the national reputation of the best-known in his profession, the Bowdens, Spurriers, Holtzes and the rest of those guys.
No matter. Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer has the 1998 national championship trophy and they don't.
And the numbers say he earned it.
Fulmer was rewarded with a six-year, $6 million contract just before the Volunteers beat Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl to cap a 13-0 season, moving him into the upper tier of coaches in terms of salary. The national title put him there in terms of success.
Fulmer has the best winning percentage of any active college football coach (67-11, .859). His teams have won at least 10 games in five of his six full seasons, and he reached 50 victories quicker than any coach in Southeastern Conference history.
With the national championship, he matched the total compiled by all his predecessors at Tennessee. The Volunteers won their only other title in 1951 at the end of the fabled career of Gen.
"I'd like to think our program is in the upper echelon of college football. I'm more interested in what's happening today and tomorrow and how our team is going to do this year than I am with what we've accomplished."
Phillip Fulmer Tennessee Volunteer head football coach
Robert R. Neyland.
The university named its stadium after Neyland. They've already named a street after Fulmer, and if he keeps this up much longer, they may have to think of something else to name in his honor.
"I don't really dwell on that a whole bunch," he said. "Maybe someday you put your feet up and say it was a good run, but I'm not ready to do that vet."
Fulmer is an former offensive lineman, a solid, nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy. He's not as funny as Florida State's Bobby Bowden or as quotable as Florida's Steve Spurrier or South Carolina's Lou Holtz, although he's gotten more relaxed with the coaches media duties during the years. What Fulmer does have is an
eye for talent, a relentless work ethic, the belief that what he teaches will work and the ability to convince his players of it.
"I'd like to think our program is in the upper echelon of college football," he said. "I'm more interested in what's happening today and tomorrow and how our team is going to do this year than I am with what we've already accomplished."
Nine players from the 1997 Vols team graduated into the NFL, including the No. 1 overall pick Peyton Manning.
If last year's effort is any indication, Tennessee isn't going away anytime soon.
"My rewards come from the kids, honestly," he said. "I know that sounds corny, but I like to see kids succeed and do well."
Colorado freshman lineman reconsiders after 3 practices
The Associated Press
Freshman offensive lineman Dan Major, citing a loss of interest in the sport, quit the team Wednesday and returned to his
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado's 1999 football recruiting class, already limited because of a coaching change in January, just got smaller.
parents home in Redmond, Wash.
"He said football wasn't fun anymore."
coach Gary Barnett said. "I don't think three freshman practices is a good indication. But we've left the door open for him to come back."
Barnett said the 8-foot-6, 280pound Major, who wavered between Colorado and
Washington before February's signing day, did not ask to be released from his scholarship to transfer.
But if Major has a change of heart about playing and wants to transfer to Washington, that school might have second thoughts about accepting him.
In the wake of tampering charges levied by Colorado against former coach Rick Neuheisel and recruiting violations that resulted in Pacific-10 Conference sanctions against Neuheisel and his new school, Washington placed restrictions on any transfers involving Buffalo athletes to avoid the perception of a recruiting advantage.
"He said football wasn't fun anymore.I don't think three freshman practices is a good indication . But we've left the door open for him to come back."
Colorado's recruiting class, which lost 10 committed prospects after Neuheimer's exit, now stands at 14 scholarship freshmen and two junior college transfers — one of whom, Anwawn Jones, still is waiting to be admitted to school.
Gary Barnett Colorado coach
Meanwhile, Barnett said senior offensive lineman Ryan Johanningmeier, who broke his left wrist in conditioning workouts on July 30, will practice despite wearing a cast. Barnett predicted that Johanningmeier would be out of the cast by the Buffaloes' second game, against San Jose State on Sept. 11.
Alabama football legend dies after lengthy illness
Quarterback led 1934 team to national championship
The Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. — Riley Smith, who played as quarterback to lead Alabama to a national championship in 1934, died August 9 after a lengthy illness. He was 88.
Smith converted from fullback after the 1933 season and played as quarterback for the Crimson Tide the next two seasons, earning All-America honors.
He won the Jacobs Award, given annually to the Southeastern Conference's top blocker, and is still regarded as one of the best blockers in school history.
He came back from an injury to lead the Tide to impressive victories over Georgia and Tennessee as a senior. Against Tennessee, he rushed for one touchdown and passed for one.
As a quarterback on offense, safety on defense, punter and field-goal kicker, Smith was a member of the Nationalai Collegiate Football Hall of Fame, National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.
Smith, who was from Columbus, Miss., was a good friend and teammate of the late Alabama coach Bear Bryant. Bryant also was a member of that 1934 team that won the national championship with a Rose Bowl victory against Stanford.
"Coach Bryant and Daddy would talk weekly when Bear was coaching and winning national titles at Bama, and he would always tell Bear that he wasn't throwing the ball enough," said Riley Boykin Smith, his surviving son who is commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The elder Smith spent three years in the NFL, but his career was cut short by a leg injury.
living the Redskins, he became coach at Washington & Lee. He left coaching for World War II and eventually settled in Mobile, where he worked in real estate. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the chapel of Radney Funeral Home in Mobile. Burial will follow in Pine Crest Cemetery.
In addition to his son, survivors include daughters Occlo Smith Malone of Birmingham and Sandra Smith Norton of Jackson. Miss.; one sister; nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
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