Dee Williams kept his eyes on Ainias Smith. Then he heard a voice behind him.
As Jackson Ross' third quarter punt came spiraling down to the turf at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Williams changed course when a teammate told him Smith, Texas A&M's electric returner, wasn't going to be able to field the ball.
Williams kept running until the ball bounced into his grasp, inches from the goal line.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION
"My eyes were on the returner," Williams said. "He kind of stunted a little bit, making me thing he was going to catch it. I just heard 'ball! ball!' from one of my teammates, I cut my head straight and saw the ball pop up in the air and thought, 'why not make a play on it?'"
In a game Tennessee was trailing by three at that point, Williams' heads up play pinned a struggling Aggies' offense inside it's own 1-yard line. Three plays later, Nik Constantinou was punting from his own end zone.
Appropriately, Williams was on the receiving end and he paid off the sequence he set up with a 39-yard return for a touchdown that gave Tennessee the lead for good in its 20-13 win.
On an afternoon where the Vols' offense had its second lowest output under Josh Heupel, Tennessee leaned on its special teams to ignite some second half momentum. Williams was the spark.
"Man, that's a huge momentum swing play," Heupel said. "Offensively, we had gotten the ball on the plus side of it and hadn't gotten anything out of it there in the last couple of drives. So a huge turning point in the football game."
WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel recaps win over Texas A&M
"We sent a rusher so (Texas A&M) had to get it out quicker," Williams added. "With the flight of the ball coming at me pretty fast, why not take a chance on it?"
Williams' game-breaking ability is on display nearly every time the senior touches the ball.
In his Tennessee debut last season against LSU, Williams returned a punt for 58 yards to set up a scoring drive. He scored his first touchdown on a 72-yard return vs. Vanderbilt.
Williams has had a number of return opportunities that were one or two moves away from being taken back for a score this season. He had one called back for a block in the back that was arguably inconsequential.
His performance against Texas A&M served as a confidence booster and it provided Tennessee with an edge in games where its offense looked pedestrian at times.
"We do a great job, (special teams) Coach (Mike Ekler) with that return unit," Heupel said. "Dee does a great job making a play, you got 10 guys competing their butts off and getting them in the end zone."
WATCH ON VOLREPORT: Tennessee football players recap win over Texas A&M
Williams' contributions may increase outside of special teams. He hinted at seeing time at slot receiver as Tennessee shuffles around the room in the absence of Bru McCoy, who suffered a season-ending injury two weeks ago.
Williams looks the part and as Saturday showed, has the speed to match.
For now, though, Williams will fit any role he's called to. His role as a returner may have saved Tennessee's SEC championship goals.
"The best thing to do is to always stay ready," Williams said. "You never know when its your time to be out there to make that play when the team needs it."
–––––
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.
–––––
