Florida gave freshman receiver Justin Williams a hard lesson on special teams Saturday, then watched his teammates make sure it didn’t turn into something bigger.
Williams’ first crack at punt return duty in the Gators’ win over Campbell went sideways. On one second-half punt, he drifted too deep on a sky punt and ended up retreating inside Florida’s 5-yard line before the play became a touchback, something head coach Jon Sumrall called a “learning deal.”
A few minutes later, the moment got more dangerous. With Florida set up near its own 15, Campbell punter Brandon Bowman sent up a high punt that traveled just 39 yards.
Williams tried to make a play on it instead of treating it like the fair-catch situation Florida had built into the call, and he muffed it. Campbell kept the ball.
“We wanted to see the freshman go in, like, with people in the stands, have to go field the punt, you know, and the first one he had was a sky punt situation that he retreated inside our 5-yard line, like he was maybe gonna go field it, and then it ended up being a touchback, he didn't field it, and he shouldn't have even gone inside the five,” Sumrall said. “He was trying to catch a ball and go make a play, and then he got a little off on it, and he'll learn.”
Sumrall said he handled the moment calmly and gave Williams a straightforward message.
“I mean, I didn't lose my mind on him, I just grabbed him and said 'Hey, listen, first off, should be a fair catch. Second off, you have to square the ball up to catch it and complete the catch and don't worry about anything else.' And so, he was trying to make a play.”
The freshman from Gainesville was already fighting for any extra chances in a crowded receiver room, so a mistake like that could have easily buried him for the night. Instead, his teammates stepped in fast.
Junior linebacker Myles Graham, who also came to UF from nearby Buchholz High School, said the sideline made sure Williams didn’t stay stuck on the mistake.
“There's no worse feeling than giving the ball back to the other team. So when that happened, he came to the sideline.
We were picking his head up. We were encouraging him.
And the first thing I said to him: 'The defense got your back', and we did. We ended up stopping them.
We didn't let them score, even though they were in the red zone, so I think that was a big deal,” Graham said. “And you know, as a young guy, I know it's very hard.
But Justin's a very strong individual; he's very strong-minded. So I know he'll move past this and get better.”
Williams got a chance to respond before the night was over, and he made the most of it. On Florida’s final drive, he caught a seven-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. to move the Gators to their 26-yard line. Four plays later, he took a jet sweep for 14 yards and another first down.
“We all tried to encourage him. He came back in the game.
He did really good. He got a catch and then he also had a jet sweep.
It was good to see him back out there and build his confidence up,” quarterback Aaron Philo said. “If you are a young player like that and you make a mistake it's probably to bounce back than if you're an older guy I would say.
Just because you haven't done it a lot. It was good to see him bounce back like he did.”
Williams remains third on the punt-return depth chart, but Saturday gave him a reminder of how quickly special teams can swing from opportunity to trouble - and then back toward redemption.
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