Hampton's audible puts Williams in right place

ROBERT TURBEVILLE
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

The play was simple: split end Boo Williams on a go route. Stopping it wasn't so simple.
With Arkansas leading Southwest Missouri State 24-0 in the third quarter, the Razorbacks broke the huddle and faced third-and-9 at their 21.
Quarterback Robby Hampton was ready to throw a hitch pass to Williams. Then Hampton looked at the coverage.
SMS' free safety had moved up, leaving Williams, 6-4, 230 pounds, who was lined up wide right, covered 1-on-1 by cornerback Donte King, 5-9, 178. George Wilson was lined up left in the slot, Richard Smith was wide left and Cedric Cobbs was the lone back.
"Right then I knew it was Boo Williams 1-on-1," Hampton said. "Give him the go route, throw it up and let him go get it. ... He's a tough guy to cover."
Hampton checked to a go route, meaning Williams was to streak down the right sideline. Hampton never looked at his other receivers. All he had to do was throw it up and let Williams get it.
"And that's what he did," Hampton said. "He made a good play on it."
"It's a normal conversion when you have press coverage," Arkansas receivers coach Fitz Hill said.
Williams got past King, caught the perfectly laid ball at the Arkansas 47-yard line and outran King to the end zone. The touchdown, followed by Matt Swartz's extra point, gave Arkansas a comfortable 31-0 lead with 1:36 left in the third quarter.
The Razorbacks turned that into a 38-0 season-opening victory at War Memorial Stadium.
SMS was still in the game just minutes before Williams' touchdown reception and had a chance to cut Arkansas' lead to 17 on its previous possession, driving 19 yards to the Arkansas 17.
But after giving up 15 yards on a first-down play, Arkansas' defense held, and Brian Long's 34-yard field-goal attempt was wide right.
Arkansas took over on its 20. Cobbs ran for a yard on first down, and Hampton threw incomplete, intended for fullback Adam Dailey, on second down. Then came the play to Williams.
King had good coverage. But he turned his head at the last second to look for the ball, and Williams got the step he needed and never slowed down.
"He's a good receiver," King said. "It was just a matter of him making the play and I didn't. I'm not going to make any excuses."
It was the longest touchdown pass for Arkansas since Clint Stoerner threw an 87-yard TD to Anthony Lucas against SMU in 1998. It was also the longest touchdown pass of Hampton's Razorbacks career and the longest reception Williams has had at Arkansas.
"I knew he was fast, but I didn't know he was as fast as he was on that play," Hill said of Williams. "He looked very good running down the sideline."
And Hampton made the perfect read for a simple play that was hard to stop.
"It was a great check," Arkansas center Josh Melton said. "I'll put our guys against their guys 1-on-1 any time."

This article was published on Sunday, September 3, 2000

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