Purdue’s Williams eyes improvement

CHICAGO - Purdue defensive back Frankie Williams initially took credit for a 39-yard interception return against Iowa last fall. Then, Williams watched the video and realized a teammate deserved a public high-five.

Early in the Boilermakers' Big Ten opener at Ross-Ade Stadium, Williams played man coverage on Iowa tight end Ray Hamilton. As Hamilton broke across the field, Purdue linebacker Ja'Whan Bentley's dropback caused Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard to hesitate. That split-second delay forced Beathard to throw flat-footed, enabled Williams to break under Hamilton and the now senior cornerback returned the pass for a touchdown.

Without hesitation, Williams said Bentley's drop in the passing lane was more instrumental to the play than his break on the ball.

'I didn't notice it until this summer watching film,” Williams said. 'If it wasn't for Ja'Whan packing it back and giving me probably the couple of seconds I needed underneath, that play would have never happened.”

Williams played safety that down but he'll move to his primary position of cornerback this fall. He started 11 games last year all over the secondary. Six were at safety, three at nickel and two at cornerback. Despite his 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame, Williams is a hitter and has great instincts. He finished with 74 stops - 51 were solo - and 1.5 tackles for loss. He had a sack, a fumble recovery, seven pass breakups and three interceptions. He was named second-team all-Big Ten as a defensive back after last season.

'Frankie is a key component to our success this year,” Purdue Coach Darrell Hazell said. 'Frankie is going to play one of our corner spots, and it's great to have him.

'He provides the leadership for this football team. He'll be one of our leaders. But his skill set is so high at so many different things. He'll be a kick returner. He'll be a punt returner. But he's also one of those guys you can ask to play man-to-man coverage on the outside and allows you to play eight- and nine-man fronts. So he's going to be a tremendous weapon for us this year.”

Williams appeared as a punt returner for the Boilermakers, returning 11 for 175 yards. He didn't get enough returns to qualify statistically to rank among the Big Ten's top returners, but only Nebraska's De'Mornay Pierson-El averaged more than Williams' 15.9 yards per return.

Like with his interception, Williams deflected all positive attention from himself.

'I could have helped us win some games as a punt returner last year,” he said. 'I misread a couple. I could have definitely helped the team. I let us down; the blocking was there. But we'll correct those things in the fall.”

More than anything, Williams wants his team to improve. In Hazell's first two years, Purdue is 4-20 with only one Big Ten victory (Illinois last season). The Boilermakers played Iowa and Michigan State tough in a pair of two-touchdown defeats, and they lost by only one score to Minnesota and Indiana.

This year, Purdue faces five bowl opponents in the Big Ten West Division, a cross-divisional game against power Michigan State and three bowl teams (Marshall, Virginia Tech, Bowling Green) in non-conference play. Gaining any traction will be challenging, but Williams is confident Purdue can move forward.

'The direction we want to move in is winning, and I think we're moving in that direction now,” Williams said.

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