The Magic is Back: Why Pooka Williams is the key to Kansas’ season

After being suspended for off the field issues, All-Big 12 First Team running back Pooka Williams will return this Saturday as Kansas football takes on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. 

While the Kansas offense showed flashes of prominence against Indiana State, they couldn’t find the consistency to put up major numbers on the scoreboard.

Now that inconsistency can be attributed to several things: lack of offensive chemistry, poor offensive line play, etc.. But what the offense Kansas fans saw last Saturday is not an indication of what they should expect throughout the season.

Why? Because Pooka Williams, one of the most electrifying skill position players in all of college football, didn’t play in the game.

In 11 games last season, Williams, the New Orleans, Louisiana native, rushed for 1,125 yards on 161 carries, caught 33 passes for 289 yards, and returned 11 kickoffs for 246 yards equaling 9 touchdowns total. He ranked him 6th in the country in all-purpose yards per game.

Thankfully for stakeholders of the Kansas football program, Kansas Coach Les Miles announced that Williams will play “without limitation” this Saturday against Coastal Carolina.

To the Kansas fans who have had their football minds poisoned by watching multiple Charlie Weis and David Beaty coached teams, here’s a basketball analogy that explains Williams’ importance:

Remember the latest Kansas Basketball season when Udoka Azubuike got injured? The offense took a turn for the worst and looked lost without him on the floor. Devon Dotson and Dedric Lawson played great, but without Azubuike, the team’s national championship aspirations quickly dissipated.

The same effect applies to Williams and the Kansas football team. Without him, the team doesn’t stand much of a chance of hitting their ceiling (which is 6 wins and a bowl appearance, in my opinion). But with him, a bowl appearance is within the realm of possibility.

The biggest contrast between basketball and football is basketball can be dominated by one individual while football is a team-oriented game. This directly contradicts the previous paragraph, but that’s the point.

There are very few skill players that solely can make a season-defining impact on a football team. Williams is one of those players.

For only being 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, he’s a rare type of athlete. His skill-set includes elite speed, strength, vision, and agility. He can run between the tackles, out-run anyone on the outside, and thrive in the passing game.

For those who don’t know or possibly forgot:

As seen in seemingly every clip of the highlight video, Williams wasn’t running through wide-open gaps for uncontested touchdowns; he created monster plays on his own.

This is precisely why Williams is a season-defining player. Regardless of how defensive coordinators gameplan against him, Williams will eventually make a game-changing play because of his remarkable athleticism. Defenses are constantly on red-alert while he’s in the game.

In the result of that threat, opposing coaches will stack the box (which means putting 8/11 defensive players close to the line of scrimmage) to limit Williams’ production running the ball. While that may contain Williams, it opens up opportunities for Kansas receivers Andrew Parchment and Daylon Charlot to catch the ball with space on the outside.

However, that requires Kansas quarterback Carter Stanley to consistently get the ball to those receivers. His 20/29 for 241 yards passing performance against Indiana State is an assuring sign in that regard.

The point is, the return of Pooka Williams advances the Jayhawk offense to a respectable and borderline dangerous level.

All indications point to another year of intense Pooka Magic. But even if his statistics decline, he’ll be exciting to watch at the very least.