Maine’s on the offensive Williams leads field of talented returnees

ORONO – You won’t see the bull’s-eye on the back of University of Maine junior tailback Marcus Williams’ football jersey. But it will certainly be there as opposing defenses key on him.

And that’s just fine by Williams, who was the Atlantic-10’s leading rusher last fall with 1,406 yards on 263 carries.

“That’s no big deal to me,” said Williams, who was a second team All-Atlantic 10 selection last fall and is a second team preseason all-conference pick and a preseason second team All-American (Sports Network). “Whether guys know about me or don’t know about me, I’m going to go out there and run hard. With the group of guys I have up front blocking for me, I’m not worried about defenses getting more excited to stop Marcus Williams.

“All that’s going to do is open up our passing game. We have some great receivers in Kevin McMahan, Ryan Waller, Christian Pereira. That’s just going to help our quarterbacks. If I can take the pressure off them because I’m getting all this preseason hype, that’s great. That’s just going to help us win more games,” said Williams.

The 5-foot-10, 227-pound Amherst, Mass., native averaged 100.4 yards per game, second best in the conference last fall, and ran for at least 104 yards seven times.

He ran for 124 or more yards five times.

And the bad news for Maine opponents is Williams came to camp in even better shape than he did a year ago.

“I worked a lot harder in the off-season,” said Williams. “I came in to camp a little overweight, a little out of shape last year. This year, my weight is a lot better. I’m in a lot better shape. I didn’t take any days off [from working out]. I didn’t eat stuff that wasn’t healthy. I didn’t do a lot of drinking. I did all the right things, the things the coaches told me to do.”

Maine coach Jack Cosgrove noticed improvements in Williams’ performance in the spring and it has carried over.

“He seemed to be a step quicker in the spring and he improved the way he carried his body through the hole. He had better pad placement,” said Cosgrove. “He seems to be able to use the strength gains he made in the weight room and he has used his eyes and feet together in a better way.”

Two of his biggest fans are two of the men who provide the holes for him: tackles Matt Hammond and Pete Richardson. Both were selected to the All-Atlantic 10 preseason first team.

“You don’t have to be great at your job because he finds the holes and he’s gone. He fires right through the hole and breaks tackles as well as delivering a blow,” said Hammond.

“I love watching the kid run,” said Millinocket’s Richardson. “He makes it enjoyable to block for him.”

The feeling is mutual. Williams said he was able to accomplish his personal and team goals last fall thanks to his offensive line.

“I was able to help the team out in a very positive way but I have to thank my teammates because they did such a great job supporting me and blocking for me, especially the ‘O’ [offensive] line. They’re out there grinding and working every single day and, often, not getting the credit they deserve,” said Williams.

The offensive line will be one of the strengths of the team as there are returning starters at every position.

Richardson and Hammond said having continuity and familiarity on the offensive line is a real plus.

“One big thing is that in most of the plays, you have to rely on somebody else [in the line], like on a double-team. You have to rely on the other person being there and knowing when to come off and what to do. Having our offensive line come back, we already have that connection together,” said Richardson, a second team All-Atlantic 10 pick a year ago.

“It helps out a lot,” concurred Hammond. “You build a bond with each other. You get comfortable with everybody.”

Guards Mike Leconte and Mark Lehner and center Ben Lazarski all started last season as did tight end Dante Fusco. All four are juniors.

“We have some guys who have played a lot of snaps for us up front and, hopefully, they’ll respond and have great years for us,” said Cosgrove, who expects the line and Williams to take some of the pressure off the inexperienced quarterbacks.