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To shut down AU, shut door on Cadillac

The Tigers' RB leads the SEC in rushing yards at 123 per game.

By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 19, 2002

GAINESVILLE -- Three touchdowns on three carries earned Carnell Williams a high school nickname that is heard weekly on college football highlight shows across America.

Cadillac.

See Williams run. Smooth as a Cadillac.

These days, the Auburn running back is built like the small Cadillac Catera but operates more like the SUV Escalade. Williams, 5 feet 11 and 193 pounds, is the leading rusher in the Southeastern Conference, 123 yards per game.

He has more rushing touchdowns (10) than 47 Division I-A schools, and he's the first Auburn player to score a rushing touchdown in six consecutive games.

He's the workhorse of the offense. His 40 carries in a 37-34 triple-overtime win over Syracuse last month was one shy of his career high against Georgia last season.

"He's a big-time running back and he's been that way for a long time," Florida defensive coordinator John Thompson said. "I saw him when he was in 10th grade. He's just gotten faster and better.

"He's a guy that has great vision. They give him the ball, they try to put some horses out there in front of him and he just picks the seam. He either runs around the corner or he picks the seam and he gets into the secondary in a hurry. He's one of the best backs in the country and he's obviously a key to their offense."

Auburn is alternating quarterbacks Daniel Cobb and Jason Campbell, and a youthful offensive line is struggling. Williams, a sophomore, is the mainstay.

"I knew Coach was going to put the ball in my hands a lot," Williams said. "Teams are saying, 'If you stop Cadillac, you stop Auburn.' I'm sure now ... teams are going to be putting nine (on the line) all the time."

Entering tonight's nationally televised game at Florida, Williams has 738 yards on 137 carries and needs just 148 to reach the 1,500 career mark. He is No. 11 nationally in rushing. But little of that matters to Williams, because like Florida, his Tigers are coming off a big loss: 38-17 to Arkansas last weekend.

"I never imagined both of us would come in with blowout losses," Williams said. "It's going to be a showdown. We really need a win bad."

Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said the Tigers likely will turn to the running game to try to rebound. That presents a huge challenge for a Florida defense that gave up 249 yards on the ground to LSU last weekend.

"He's a great running back and they do a lot of things well," defensive tackle Ian Scott said. "They run their schemes very well and the offensive line creates holes for him. We're going to have to be able to tackle well, and we're going to have to do the fundamentals and execute."

In Auburn's 23-20 upset of the Gators last season, Williams had just eight carries for 25 yards, but he played a key role in the fourth quarter. In the winning drive, he had a 9-yard gain to the Florida 36. Two plays later, he rushed for 7 more to move the ball to the UF 27.

That final carry set up Damon Duval's 44-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, and the Tigers became the first unranked team to defeat a No. 1 team since 1998.

Williams broke his left collarbone in the next to the last regular-season game against Alabama, and lost with him were Auburn's hopes of winning the West.

"It was real frustrating because Alabama, that's the Iron Bowl, that's the biggest game of the year," Williams said. "That's something I looked forward to my whole life. We had a chance to go to the SEC, win the West, and we blew it. So that was a frustrating loss (31-7)."

This will be Williams' first trip to Gainesville and the Swamp. Though Florida is coming off back-to-back conference losses for the first time since 1979, Williams said he expects a dogfight.

"That's something I always wanted to do," he said. "I always pictured myself playing (in the Swamp). I'm really looking forward to it. They're still the Florida Gators. They're not going to fold down and pack up. They need a win. They're going to bust their tails."

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