Roydell Williams is Alabama's latest breakout back

Earlier this month, Brian Robinson Jr. compared fellow Alabama running back Roydell Williams to a bowling ball. Over the weekend, Southern Miss, in its white jerseys and helmets, played the part of the pins.

Alabama’s 63-14 victory over Southern Miss will best be remembered by Jameson Williams’ three scores from 80-plus yards or Bryce Young’s five touchdown passes. However, the game might have also served as the coming-out party for another one of the Crimson Tide’s offensive weapons.

Williams became the first Alabama back to eclipse the century mark this season, rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Half of that production came on a 55-yard run as he burst through a wide-open hole on the right side before being brought down at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Williams flashed the hard-nosed style Robinson had described as he bowled over Southern Miss defenders for his first touchdown of the season.

“Roydell’s someone who’s always working hard in the weight room, always working hard in practice, always finishing every rep,” quarterback Bryce Young said. “I think that really shows. You can tell that hard-working attitude he has and that positivity he brings to the team, it really translates on the field.

“He’s someone who I feel has grown a lot as far as being a lot more comfortable in the offense this year, this being his second year. He’s been able to feel everything out. He’s been doing really well in practice. … And now, especially with the success he had last game, to see that is super encouraging.”

Following his breakout game against Southern Miss, Williams now leads Alabama with 6.62 yards per carry. While the performance might have allowed him to introduce himself to the fans inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, Hueytown, Ala., native has been making a name for himself for a while now.

Williams came to Alabama as the No. 7 back and No. 90 overall player in the 2020 class. During his high school days at the Alabama 6A level, he accounted for three straight 1,000-yard seasons, capping his prep career with 5,929 yards and 84 touchdowns on the ground.

Following the game against Southern Miss, Nick Saban was asked what he saw from the 5-foot-10, 208-pound playmaker when recruiting him to Alabama.

“About the same thing you saw tonight,” he responded. “He’s got great speed. He’s a good receiver. He’s got power for his size. We’ve always thought Roydell could be a great asset to our offense as a change-of-pace guy because of the speed that he has. He certainly played well tonight.”

Williams’ emergence comes at a good time for Alabama as Robinson is still recovering from a rib injury he sustained against Florida. While the starter is expected to be available for this week’s game against Ole Miss, the Tide can take ease knowing it has another capable option to turn to in Williams moving forward.

Entering last weekend’s game, Southern Miss boasted the nation’s third-best run defense, limiting opponents to a mere 46 yards per game on the ground. Alabama reached that total with Williams’ long run to end the first quarter as he and the Tide’s backfield piled up a season-high 211 yards on 33 carries against the Golden Eagles.

“It was a little bit big-little what I call,” Saban said of Alabama’s running game. “We made some really explosive runs inside and out and sometimes we had some plays where they gave us issues. We just need to continue to work on blocking movement, and I think that'll be helpful to us.”

Alabama will look to maintain its success on the ground this week as it goes up against an Ole Miss defense that ranks 10th in the SEC and No. 62 nationally, allowing opponents 136 rushing yards per game.

No. 1 Alabama (4-0, 1-0 in the SEC) will host No. 12 Ole Miss (3-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.