Williams Made UW Play of the Season But It Wasn't His Top Hit

Safety Cam Williams was the guy who was all bandaged up, with both of his hands wrapped tight after he injured them at different times in Saturday's game against California.

However, it was Bears tailback Damien Moore, who was left on the ground, on his hands and knees, in obvious pain, no longer holding the football and ultimately needing to be helped off.

In overtime, Williams brought the Pac-12 game to an abrupt end when he supplied the hit of the season so far for his University of Washington football team, though four days following the 31-24 Husky victory he still wouldn't describe it as the best tackle of his football career. He had bigger blow-up plays as a high schooler.

"It's in my top 3," he said. "The ball did come out. It was exciting. We won the game, but it wasn't the best hit. I haven't really had a huge hit in college yet that I really would dream of."

Oh, so picky.

Preserving the outcome, Williams was gliding to his left when saw the ball tossed to the Cal running back and he didn't want to overrun things. As the play came to him, he took a hard step to the right and lowered his shoulder into Moore. UW linebacker Jackson Sirmon hit the runner high coming from the side.

The next thing the 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore from Bakersfield, California saw was Ryan Bowman holding up the football and it was time to celebrate.

For Williams, his heroics helped solidify him once more as a focal UW defensive player, as a first-teamer. He's been in and out of the lineup throughout his collegiate career.

Two years ago, Williams played and started immediately as a true freshman, which few people do. He opened the first five games of the 2019 season at strong safety and had his moments, intercepting a pair of passes against USC, before giving way to Asa Turner, also a first-year player.

Before the season was out, he started again in the Apple Cup against WSU and in the Las Vegas Bowl against Boise State, which seemed to set him up for his second time around as a Husky.

Yet a year ago, Williams spent the abbreviated four-game season as a backup player to Turner. He couldn't get comfortable or find his confidence and reclaim what was once his.

This season, he suffered an ankle injury that set him back once more, and he backed up fellow sophomore Julius Irvin at strong safety for two games before finally becoming the No. 1 guy again.

Williams had no qualms whatsoever about playing against Cal after he hurt his hands. You don't really think about them anymore when you see a runner coming at you on the goal line in OT.

"It's a mindset," he said. "I've just got to get the man down, get him down any way I can. If he's down, it's good for us, good for me."

Take it from a guy who never stays down for long, who scarily is seeking even more of a knockout punch.

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