LEXINGTON¿—Coshik Williams is ready to build on his finish last year.
The Kentucky senior running back took over as the team’s primary rusher seven games into the season and made an impact at the end to his junior campaign.
The senior running back started the last five games and finished as the team’s leading rusher with 486 yards and three touchdowns. Williams rushed for a career-high 148 yards against Jacksonville State, and added 111, complete with a pair of touchdowns, against Ole Miss. Williams scored the decisive touchdown and collected 68 yards in the Wildcats’ 10-7 victory over Tennessee, snapping a 26-game losing streak to the Volunteers.
“It helped with my experience and (increased) my knowledge of the game,” he said. “It was the first time I had really gotten my feet wet and I feel like I can build on that, learn and watch film from those couple of games.”
Like most of the rest of his teammates, Williams spent most of his time in the film room in preparation for the upcoming season.
“I watched a lot of film,” he said. “I worked out 10 times harder than I did last year, because I know what it takes to play in the Southeastern Conference. I tried to work out as hard as I could, and watched as much film as I could.”
Although most of his career at Kentucky has been hindered by various nagging injuries, Williams insists that he’s healthy again and ready to regain the top spot on the depth chart.
“I’m 100 percent now,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of recovery and that took time, but I’m ready to go. My body feels good. I feel like I’m back in high school now. I’ve gained weight and I feel strong. Along with the other running backs, we’re all ready to go.”
Williams knows once fall camp gets into full swing, regaining his starting job will be a challenge from the team’s stable of running backs.
“It’s always tough and there’s always going to be competition, especially at running back,” he said. “That’s a good skill (position) and we have a group of guys who are talented. There’s going to be a lot of competition.”
Williams insists he’s ready to compete against his teammates during fall workouts.
“I feel like I can be the top tailback,” he said. “You have to just know everything. You have to know your assignments, make your blocks and do what it takes in order to be the top running back.”
Williams also hopes the Wildcats can build on the team’s win over Tennessee and “accomplish a lot of good things.”
“We don’t pay that much attention to he said or she said information, we just know what’s going on with our team, how hard we work in the summer and what we’re doing every day (to get better),” he said. “With the expectations and everything, at the end of the day, we’re going to determine what our record is going to be.”
In his first three years with the team, Kentucky competed in the postseason, but missed out a year ago. Williams wants to end his career with another bowl berth and would like nothing better than a chance to compete for a conference title.
“We would loved to have went to a bowl game last year and that would have helped us out,” he said. “But, we ended the season pretty good last year — we beat Tennessee. That was a big accomplishment for us, but we want to go to a bowl game (again) most definitely and the SEC championship game. That’s our goal for this year.”
The Kentucky senior running back took over as the team’s primary rusher seven games into the season and made an impact at the end to his junior campaign.
The senior running back started the last five games and finished as the team’s leading rusher with 486 yards and three touchdowns. Williams rushed for a career-high 148 yards against Jacksonville State, and added 111, complete with a pair of touchdowns, against Ole Miss. Williams scored the decisive touchdown and collected 68 yards in the Wildcats’ 10-7 victory over Tennessee, snapping a 26-game losing streak to the Volunteers.
“It helped with my experience and (increased) my knowledge of the game,” he said. “It was the first time I had really gotten my feet wet and I feel like I can build on that, learn and watch film from those couple of games.”
Like most of the rest of his teammates, Williams spent most of his time in the film room in preparation for the upcoming season.
“I watched a lot of film,” he said. “I worked out 10 times harder than I did last year, because I know what it takes to play in the Southeastern Conference. I tried to work out as hard as I could, and watched as much film as I could.”
Although most of his career at Kentucky has been hindered by various nagging injuries, Williams insists that he’s healthy again and ready to regain the top spot on the depth chart.
“I’m 100 percent now,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of recovery and that took time, but I’m ready to go. My body feels good. I feel like I’m back in high school now. I’ve gained weight and I feel strong. Along with the other running backs, we’re all ready to go.”
Williams knows once fall camp gets into full swing, regaining his starting job will be a challenge from the team’s stable of running backs.
“It’s always tough and there’s always going to be competition, especially at running back,” he said. “That’s a good skill (position) and we have a group of guys who are talented. There’s going to be a lot of competition.”
Williams insists he’s ready to compete against his teammates during fall workouts.
“I feel like I can be the top tailback,” he said. “You have to just know everything. You have to know your assignments, make your blocks and do what it takes in order to be the top running back.”
Williams also hopes the Wildcats can build on the team’s win over Tennessee and “accomplish a lot of good things.”
“We don’t pay that much attention to he said or she said information, we just know what’s going on with our team, how hard we work in the summer and what we’re doing every day (to get better),” he said. “With the expectations and everything, at the end of the day, we’re going to determine what our record is going to be.”
In his first three years with the team, Kentucky competed in the postseason, but missed out a year ago. Williams wants to end his career with another bowl berth and would like nothing better than a chance to compete for a conference title.
“We would loved to have went to a bowl game last year and that would have helped us out,” he said. “But, we ended the season pretty good last year — we beat Tennessee. That was a big accomplishment for us, but we want to go to a bowl game (again) most definitely and the SEC championship game. That’s our goal for this year.”
