Rodarius Williams Named PFF College Defensive Player of the Week
STILLWATER – After a solid performance against West Virginia, Oklahoma State cornerback Rodarius Williams was named the Pro Football Focus College Defensive Player of the Week.
Williams was targeted four times during the game on Saturday and came up with four pass break ups on those four targets. He also recorded one tackle and his performance against the receivers he was going up against helped create nine quarterback hurries and five sacks.
PFF also has Williams as the third-highest ranked corner in the country through the first four weeks of the season. That’s an even more impressive stat considering Oklahoma State’s played in only two games this season.
"I think we're at a great point right now with so much behind us,” said Williams. “A lot of media doubting us and with all the predictions, everybody counted us out. People don't realize they really fuel the defense a lot. We come in, watch film day in and day out. Each guy, anytime they caught a ball, we were right there. It's because of film study. We take that serious."
In the 136 total snaps Williams has played, 126 of those have came while guarding an outside receiver and more than half of those snaps have came on pass plays.
"There is definitely a lot of pressure on our back because we come into games expecting this (small) amount of yards to be thrown on us," Williams expressed. "you're going to challenge us, we're going to accept that challenge each and every game."
Speaking with head coach Mike Gundy this morning during his weekly Zoom call, he gave credit to Williams and the entire defense.
"Well he's playing good. Everybody on defense is playing good,” said Gundy. “We've asked them to give great effort, we're going to play a lot of guys, bring their own party with enthusiasm because we're playing in limited capacity stadiums. At this point they're playing fast. They're coming together as a group and they're playing reckless. They can have success if they practice hard each week. It's the old coach's cliche, but it is what it is. If they bust their butt and practice hard, and come together as a group, run around, they can keep playing well. They start to listen to people tell them how good they are and not practice as well, they'll get 40 (points) hung on them. That's just the way it is."
As a group, the Cowboy defense was stellar on Saturday. They recorded 11 tackles for a loss of 45 yards, including five sacks. They also forced and recovered a fumble for a defensive touchdown, nine quarterback hurries and six pass break ups.
The Cowboys travel to Lawrence, KS this weekend to play Kansas. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
