Freshman Williams Experienced Success

Shaun Williams would like to say thanks for the memories--some of them, anyway--and he hopes the next three years bring many more.

Crespi High, where he played tailback as a senior last season, seems like a distant memory now that Williams spent most of the 1994 season playing for UCLA.

Not many freshmen know what it’s like playing against USC before a near-capacity crowd in the Rose Bowl--let alone making a big play in the game. But Williams, who turned 18 in October, made a touchdown-saving tackle in the Bruins’ 31-19 upset of the Trojans last week.

Playing safety in UCLA’s nickel package, Williams dragged down Trojan receiver Keyshawn Johnson after a 29-yard gain. Four plays later, USC had to settle for a field goal and a 6-3 lead.

“I was worried about him cutting back, because he had an angle,” Williams said. “He was fast. I had to dive-tackle him. I didn’t realize until afterward that I was the last man. We stopped them after that play.”

Williams made his first college start at free safety at Arizona State the previous week, and broke up a would-be touchdown pass in the end zone in a 59-23 victory.

Also a strong performer on special teams, Williams made 23 tackles, 15 solo. But in a season in which the Bruins finished 5-6, the former Del Rey League Most Valuable Player has had to celebrate his progress quietly.

“It was pretty exciting, having a chance to play,” he said. “I needed the experience. It’s a lot different from high school. And I just want to go out and get better.”

Within days of arriving for his first practices last August, Williams impressed Coach Terry Donahue.

For a time, Donahue pondered a move to tailback for Williams while Sharmon Shah, Skip Hicks and Deron Washington nursed injuries. Williams, who rushed for 1,835 yards at Crespi in 1993, had four carries for a net five yards for the Bruins.

But down the stretch Williams, 6 feet 2, 185 pounds, became a valuable asset in a secondary that featured only one player as tall as 6-0. Coincidentally, UCLA won its final three games after losing six in a row.

“It felt pretty good to win,” Williams said. “The last two games were really exciting. They took away some of the pain.

“It’s kind of depressing that our season’s over. I really don’t think we were a 5-6 team. Hopefully, next season we’ll be going to a bowl.”

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Toughing it out: Arizona offensive tackle Joe Smigiel has earned a reputation for his toughness as much as his technique during his two years as a starter.

During the past week, he’s lived up to that reputation.

While he was preparing for Friday’s showdown against rival Arizona State, with a Freedom Bowl bid on the line for Smigiel’s Wildcats, the senior from Newbury Park endured the wrath of bitter fans and two aching feet.

He had played sparingly since a fourth-quarter mishap against UCLA on Oct. 22 produced a compound injury in his lower left leg: a torn muscle behind his Achilles’ tendon, a sprained ligament at the top of the ankle and a sprained ligament between the tibia and fibula.

The injury was the result of a botched blocking assignment by someone else. Smigiel was pinned at the line while running back Gary Taylor plowed into his legs from behind.

Last week, Smigiel aggravated a joint in his right foot where he had suffered a broken bone last year.

“The biggest thing on the offensive line you’ve got to worry about are your feet,” he said. “They’re begging me to quit right now.”

The affable Smigiel, a regular guest on a Tucson sports talk show hosted by Mike Gabrielson, has pacified dissatisfied callers the past two weeks. Criticism over Arizona’s failure to win the Pacific 10 Conference championship and a Rose Bowl berth is wearing thin on the big lineman.

“This lady called in screaming and yelling, and I made some derogatory comments,” Smigiel said. “How could she know that much about football? I don’t care if they’re bitter. It’s our football team; it’s our season. It takes hard work and talent to win it. It also takes a lot of luck.”

The Wildcats, picked No. 1 by Sports Illustrated in its preseason poll, were 4-0 in Pac-10 play until they ran into Rose Bowl-bound Oregon and saw a 9-0 halftime lead dissolve into a 10-9 loss. Smigiel, injured the week before, watched from the sidelines.

Two weeks ago, Arizona lost, 45-28, at USC. Smigiel played in only three series.

Smigiel hopes to play in the NFL.

“I’m getting looks because I’m 6-5, 290,” he said. “It hasn’t helped that I’m getting hurt. But I’ll be somewhere next year, whether it’s here, Europe or Canada.”

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Around the Country: Utah senior Curtis Marsh (Simi Valley/Moorpark College) ranks second in the Western Athletic Conference in receiving yards per game (78.1). He is third in receptions (61) and is tied for first in touchdown catches (11). . . . San Diego State sophomore kicker Peter Holt (Antelope Valley High), with 136 points, is 10 points from tying Chris O’Brien for second place on the Aztecs’ all-time kick scoring list. . . . Fresno State senior safety Lance Thomas (Crespi) ranks 11th in the WAC in tackles (101). Texas El Paso senior safety Brian Vellmure (Camarillo/Moorpark College) is 16th with 91.