Tennessee’s Dee Williams didn’t play a snap on offense or defense in the Vols’ 20-13 win over Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon.
But the senior made two extremely significant special teams plays when Tennessee badly needed it, flipping the momentum and igniting the sold out Neyland Stadium crowd.
First, with Tennessee punting from midfield, Williams downed Jackson’s Ross punt at the one yard line. The senior’s feet were mere inches from the end zone and what would have been a touchback. Instead, Texas A&M’s offense started backed up in its own end zone.
“For the punt, my eyes was on the returner and he stunted me a little bit thinking he was going to catch it,” Williams said. “But he didn’t so I just heard ‘ball, ball, ball’ from one of my teammates and as soon as I kept my head straight I saw the ball pop up in the air and was like ‘why not make a play on it.’”
Tennessee’s defense capitalized. Two Aggies runs totaled zero yards before they took a delay of game to push them back a foot on third-and-10. Max Johnson’s pass fell incomplete and Texas A&M was forced to punt out of its own end zone.
Instead of bringing the pressure to attempt to block the punt, Tennessee set up the return instead. Williams fielded the ball at Texas A&M’s 39-yard line, broke down the middle of the field, cut to the sideline and beat the Aggies’ punt unit to the checkerboards.
More From RTI: Watch Dee Williams Punt Return For A Touchdown
The punt return for a touchdown gave Tennessee a 14-10 lead. It was the Vols’ first lead of the night. They never relinquished it.
“Huge,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said of the sequences significance. “We do a great job, Coach Ek (Mike Ekeler) with that return unit. Dee does a great job making a play, but you got 10 guys competing their butts off and getting them in the end zone. Man, that’s a huge momentum swing play.”
“It’s amazing,” Williams said of the touchdown. “It’s something that I’ve been working hard for and my preparation all week, for the past two weeks, was very big.”
Williams has been a fantastic punt returner after transferring to Tennessee from East Central Mississippi Community College ahead of the 2022 season. But his commitment to all aspects of special teams while unable to find the field on defense speaks volumes to his maturity and Tennessee’s culture.
“It can get a little bit frustrating but the best thing to do is just to always stay ready because you never know when it’s your time to be out there to make a play that your team needs,” Williams said.
While Williams isn’t going to play an abundance of snaps, his role as Tennessee’s punt returned Is incredibly important. With the Vols’ offense struggling to find consistency, stealing yards or points in the return game is all the more important.
Williams is the best punt returner and Tennessee linebacker Aaron Beasley described the specialist’s skillset best after the game.
“He’s electrifying.”
