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thetresnmen last year. Center George Johnson leads St. John’s, the perennial pride of New York City teams.QUARTERBACK WILLIAMS - Grumbling State quarterback Doug Williams drops back on an optionastIvyDoug Williams:play a gains Norfolk State in a Nov. 12 game. (AP Wirephoto)Grambling QB Is Genuine Heisman CandidateBy BOB GREENE AP Sports WriterWhen you think of Grambling State University -you think of the huge linemen — agile, mobile and hostile — that Coach Eddie Robinson has sent on to professional stardom.So it comes as somewhat of a surprise that the latest star in Robinson’s galaxy is a quarterback named Doug Williams, who is merely the all-time national leader in pass yardage and touchdown passes.The 6-foot-f, 214-pound senior has been Grambling’s starting signal-caller since the fifth game of his freshman year. With the Tigers playing their first season as a major school this year, Williams has led the nation all season in total offense, averaging 289.7 yards a game and 8.5 yards per ptay, and in touchdown passes with 31.The Zachary, La., native has thrown for 2,660 yards this season, best in the nation, and recently established the NCAA career records for most TD passes and most passing yards.“What has made my job easier is receivers such as Carlos Pen-nywell, Mike Moore and Robert Woods,” Williams said. “Nine times out of 10 they're going to catch the football.”PennyweJl is a 6-4 senior who tied the Louisiana collegiate record with 12 touchdown receptions in a season. Woods, a 8-9 junior, is a “burner,” having run the lOG-yard dash in9.1 seconds.As a freshman, Williams was throwing to Sammie White, now with the Minnesota Vikings, and Dwight Scales, a wide receiver with the Los Angeles Rams.Over the years, Grambling has seemingly worked miracles in the red clay country of northwest Louisiana. Now, Williams is trying to follow in the footsteps of his school and do the impossible — hesive Helpst yards and allowed them no closer than the Washington 22-yard line, id Green Bay scored on Chesterjg Marcoi’s field goals of 40, 42, andfe 44 yards.re “Any time you hold a team in the jr National Football League without a:h touchdown, it’s quite an ac-et complishment,” said Washingtonte Coach George Allen, “it was thely kind of game wc could have won byII 10 points or more, or we could havelost it. We can't seem to play In ^nIess lhe game goes right down tob the end.”d And Theismann added: “The key to the game is that we won. d Whether the score is 3-0, 22-21, or16 34-6, you have to win.”wants to win the 1977 Heisman Trophy.“We like to think we can dream the American dream,” says Robinson. “We believe that if there is any Heisman Trophy candidate, he is one. He has the credentials. ’1 “You can tell really deep down inside that Doug wants to win the Heisman, but he doesn’t show Et,” Doug’s younger brother and roommate, Michael Williams, said. “He doesn’t like coach to talk about it and center everything around him.”With his statistics, Williams would be an extremely strong candidate for the Heisman if he were playing at a “major” school. But he performs his magic for Grambling, a predominantly black school located off an Interstate 10 intersection between Shreveport and Monroe, La.Grambling’s explosive team isn’t seen in millions of homes via television on Saturday afternoons as are Ohio Slate, Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Southern California — and exposure is a prime requisite in winning the Heisman Trophy.But the “Doug Williams Show” has been showcased in New York's Yankee Stadium, New Orleans’ Superdome, Houston’s Astrodome, the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.| Honolulu and Tokyo.A record football crowd of 53,668 saw Grambling in the Astrodome last season, 76,188 set a Superdome record to watch the Tigers and a sellout audience of 50,000 turned out in Tokyo when Grambling and Morgan State became the first NCAA members to play a regular-season game outside the Western Hemisphere.Besides getting more exposure than most “sniall-college” players, Williams has a few other things going for him.Grambling has sent loo players Into pro football, including quarterbacks James Harris of the San Diego Chargers and Matthew Reed, who has played in the defunct World Football league and in the Canadian Football League.Robinson, the second-winningest coach in college football — trailing only Alabama’s Bear Bryant — also has sent to the pros Willie Davis, Buck Buchanan, Ernie Ladd, Tank Younger, Frank Lewis, Nehemiah Wilson, Charlie Joiner, James Hunter and others.“Coaching Douglas Williams has been one of the greatest thrills I have experienced in 35 years of coaching,” Robinson said. “He is a wonder.“He can throw any type of pass — long, intermediate and short. And he can run, too, but we don’t allow him to. We have runners to take care of the ground game.“But, he's gol more than just talent. He’s a natural leader: he’sintelligent, he’s a real student of the game.Asked about his chances of winning the prestigious Heisman Trophy, Williams is realistic;“A sm all-college player hasnever won it before. I would think my chances are slim and none.“But I'd love to have.it, not only for myself but for the sake of Grambling ... 1 guess every college football player dreams of it.”Area SportsLawrence ACC RookieMm H N,C‘ lt;AP) For the fourth lime this season acommittee of the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association has namedrwS °- ^reshrnan ^Hback Amos Lawrence as the Atlantic Coast Conference's rookie of the week. ^ 0351Against Duke Duke Saturday, Lawrence rushed for 138 yards on 3d victory SCOfCd lhB °nly touchd()Wn as the Tar Heels chalked up a 16-3nia^euCe’ who was once named the ACC’s offensive player of the week finished his initial ACC campaign as the league’s top rusher per game.Dunn Praises McGeeDURHAM, N,C. (AP) — Duke University’s decision to extend thrnh£°tbS? C0^h Mike McGee ™ay have been Inore withthei his players than the team’s followers, but Blue Devil quarterbackMike Dunn feels everyone will be happy in the long run.McGee s contract expired following the Blue Devils’ in-n Inc* to North Carolina. The toss gave dL aZSf teVflSStS a 33-4(M record for his seven years at Duke. It also left him 6-13-3S2cSh °me fanS “ tal reCOrd *0(dd »However, Duke Athletic Director Tom Butters announced MondavhSwSS* ex,endcd-He decIiiied 10 revealDunn Duke s star junior quarterback who was released from Duke Hospital Monday after being treated for injuries suffered against North Carolina, said virtually all the Duke players hoped for McGee's return‘‘It s hard to say what I was expecting because there had written and sold both ways,- said Dunn. AH fknow is tha^e weS aH hoping Coach McGee would be back for my senioryear.“I think this will help the whole team’s confidence,” he added “We canlLl°t T ■? b“dding ? great «*t season wUhouL worryingabout who will be here and who won’t.’’ worryingClemson Misses “Tree”CLEMSON S.C, (AP) — Clemson basketball Coach Bill Foster nou deParlmenl- fo[d reporters Tuesday his wife said? iookedfunny not to haveT-i Wayne “Tree” Rollins on the t^m this yea?practice/’^6’ “ ** * '°°te fUm®' she to try coming t,Rollins graduated but the others on the team that 9 c„wi * with 22 victories are back, and Foster said hfclrtI n™ reC°rd“We have sold our guys on the idea of giving it all ht.™ * a a ■ «** is ■« « -F“ oailing on his players to take up the rebcundir.n slack
Newspaper Details
Danville Register
Danville, Virginia, US
Wed, Nov 23, 1977
Page 7
Full Page
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Los A.
CA, USA 25 Jan 2024
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