College Update: Burbank’s Williams shines at Washington State
The following are updates on local athletes involved in college football bowl games.
James Williams (Burbank High, 2015) Washington State football freshman: Frequently told during the recruiting process that heading to pass-happy Washington State would be a mistake, the former Burbank High star had a message for his detractors.
“All I can tell people is, ‘I told you so,’” Williams said Saturday. “They literally thought I would never play and they said, ‘They pass the ball 100 times a game.’ Have you seen us? We’re running the ball 30-40 times a game. I came here to make a difference and I knew I could do it with Jamal [Morrow] and Gerard [Wicks].”
Williams is part of a three-headed rushing attack that includes redshirt juniors Morrow and Wicks. The trio helped the upstart Cougars to an 8-4 mark and a 7-2 record in conference play to finish second in the PAC-12 North Division.
The reward for Williams and the Cougars is a trip out of frigid Pullman, Wash., where temperatures dropped into the single digits on Saturday.
Williams is heading back to Southern California as Washington State was selected to play against Minnesota (8-4) in the Holiday Bowl at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on Tuesday at 4 p.m. The game will air on ESPN.
“I’m ecstatic,” Williams said. “I have my whole family, a lot of teammates from high school and all my high school coaches are going to be there. They haven’t seen me play live since my senior year, so it will be cool to let them see me.”
Williams leads the Cougars in rushing with 98 carries for 573 yards and six touchdowns, while the 5-foot-11, 199-pound back was also the team’s No. 4 receiver with 47 catches for 313 yards and one touchdown.
Williams’ best effort yardage-wise came when he rushed 14 times for 126 yards and one touchdown versus Idaho in a 56-6 win on Sept. 17 in Pullman. Two weeks later, Williams turned in the first of his two multiple-touchdown games when he carried 11 times for 91 yards and two scores and hauled in five receptions for 33 yards in the Cougars’ 51-33 win over visiting Oregon on Oct. 1.
Michael Davis (Glendale High, 2013) Brigham Young University senior: It’s been quite a decorated career for Davis, who will be concluding his senior year with his fourth straight bowl game.
All Davis wants this Christmas, however, is a bowl victory, as BYU is 0-3 during his tenure. That consists of a 31-16 loss to Washington in the Fight Hunger Bowl in 2013, a wild 55-48 overtime defeat to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl in 2014 that was marred by a brawl, and a 35-28 setback to Utah in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl.
Davis leads off the area bowl game action as BYU, an independent program that is 8-4, will participate in the Poinsettia Bowl against Wyoming (8-5) at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Davis has played in all 12 games and made seven starts. The cornerback has 23 tackles with 2 1/2 tackles for a loss and one fumble recovery.
Davis has one interception and it might have been his signature highlight this season as the former Nitros two-way player returned a pick 40 yards and just missed scoring a touchdown in BYU’s impressive 31-14 victory at Michigan State on Oct. 8.
In last season’s Las Vegas Bowl, Davis totaled two tackles, one of which was for a one-yard loss.
Craig Settles Jr. (Hoover High, 2012) Kansas State University senior: The one-time Pasadena City College standout saw increased action this season with the Wildcats.
Settles, a 6-3, 313-pound defensive tackle, played in six games for Kansas State and registered five tackles, one tackle for a loss and one quarterback hurry.
The Wildcats finished fourth in the Big-12 Conference with an 8-4 record and a 6-3 mark in league.
With that performance, Kansas State earned a bid to the Texas Bowl against Texas A&M at NRG Stadium in Houston on Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Kansas State will hope to continue its mastery of Texas schools as the Wildcats are 4-0 this season with wins over Texas Tech, Texas, Baylor and Texas Christian.
Last season, Settles tallied three tackles in the Wildcats’ 45-23 loss to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2.
Robert Awunganyi (Burroughs High, 2015) Colorado State University freshman: Though only a freshman, the former Indians standout saw action with the Rams in 2016.
Awunganyi lined up as a defensive back and played in eight games with four tackles and one pass break-up. The 6-foot, 170-pound true freshman also returned one kickoff for four yards.
Awunganyi was part of a Rams squad that is 7-5 and turned in a 5-3 mark in the Mountain West Conference Mountain Division to tie for fourth with Air Force.
The Rams’ prize for their bowl eligible season comes Thursday when Colorado State takes part in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Idaho (8-4) at Albertson’s Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The game will also be on ESPN.
The Rams have won two straight games and are coming off a convincing 63-31 victory over Mountain West Conference Championship-game winner San Diego State in California on Nov. 26.
Travis Talianko (St. Francis High, 2011) University of Colorado senior: It’s been a long, winding road for the Golden Knights product, who had previous stops at San Jose State and College of the Canyons before finding a home in Boulder, Colo.
Talianko tore knee ligaments in the summer of 2015, which caused the economics major to miss his entire junior year and spend a bulk of his senior season rehabbing.
Talianko was in uniform for most of the season and saw action in three games as a reserve and on special teams.
Perhaps Talianko will see additional action when Colorado, which finished No. 10 in the final college football playoff rankings, takes the field at the Alamodome in San Antonio for the Valero Alamo Bowl against No. 12 Oklahoma State (9-3) on Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Colorado finished 10-3 and 8-1 to win the PAC-12 South Division.
Colorado’s 10 wins this year are already the most since the Rick Neueisel-led Buffaloes, then a member of the Big-12, finished 10-2 in 1996.
Trent Irwin (Glendale native) Stanford University sophomore: It’s been a strong sophomore season for the one-time Rosemont Middle School student and Glendale Bears product.
Irwin led his team with 36 receptions for 437 yards and one touchdown as No. 18 Stanford finished 9-3 and 6-3 to take third in the PAC-12 North Division.
The Cardinal earned a trip to the Sun Bowl on Dec. 30 in El Paso, Texas versus North Carolina, which finished 8-4. The game will take place at 11 a.m. and will be televised on CBS.
Irwin played high school football at Hart before joining Stanford in 2015 and shining in 2016 both on and off the field as Irwin was named an All-Academic Pac-12 honorable mention.
Arguably his best effort took place we he hauled in a game-high seven receptions for 81 yards in Stanford’s come-from-behind 22-13 victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Sept. 24.
Kekoa Crawford (St. Francis High, 2014) Michigan freshman: Known as Dylan Crawford previously, the former Golden Knight who transferred to Santa Margarita after two All-Area seasons at St. Francis has seen his fair share of time this season.
Crawford played in all 12 games for Michigan and rushed three times for 15 yards, while he caught four passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Crawford’s touchdown came on a nine-yard pass in Michigan’s 59-3 home victory over Maryland on Nov. 5.
Year No. 2 under head coach Jim Harbaugh has seen Michigan go 10-2 and 7-2 in the Big 10 East Division standings with the Wolverines placing sixth in the final college football playoff rankings.
Michigan will face No. 11 Florida State (9-3) in the Orange Bowl at 5 p.m. The contest will be aired live on ESPN.
John Carroll (St. Francis High, 2014) San Diego State redshirt freshman: Though he did not record a stat this season, the St. Francis alumnus got his taste at the next level in the final four games of the season for the Aztecs.
Carroll played on special teams and took part in key Mountain West conference tilts versus Wyoming (twice) and Colorado State, while he was the first area player to participate in bowl game.
Carroll’s Aztecs scored 34 straight points to demolish Houston, 34-10, in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday afternoon.
The game was particularly special as San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 115 yards and set the all-time NCAA rushing record for a career with 6, 405 yards as he just surpassed Wisconsin legend Ron Dayne (6,397).
It was an overall special season for the Aztecs, who finished 11-3 to win the Mountain West Conference West Division championship. San Diego State defeated Mountain Division champion Wyoming, 27-24, in the conference championship game in Laramie, Wyo. on Dec. 3.
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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com
Twitter: @campadresports
