YSU WR Williams embraces leadership role

August 11, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

Senior Andrew Williams looks to be a role model for YSU’s younger wide receivers

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State coach Bo Pelini is usually pretty measured when he talks about his players, but he practically gushes about senior wide receiver Andrew Williams.

“He’s an all-around good football player,” Pelini said. “He’s a guy who can really block, he runs good routes, he’s got good hands, he’s tough, he can go over the middle and he can beat you deep.

“You watch the way he practices, it’s pretty impressive. His work ethic leads to him being a good football player.”

That process started when he was a raw freshman out of South Carolina in 2011. He followed the example of Jelani Berassa, who was then entering his third year, and tried to emulate him on and off the field.

“Ever since my freshman year, I looked up to Jelani,” Williams said. “I still look up to Jelani. That’s my dude, man.”

Berassa — who earned “Super Senior” status last fall as a sixth-year player — is now coaching wide receivers at Delaware State and it’s Williams’ turn to mold YSU’s younger wideouts.

“I just try to lead by example,” said Williams, who had a breakout season in 2014 with 54 receptions for 976 yards and six TDs. “The younger guys coming in, I want them to look up to me and not to have bad habits. I want to be a role model to them.”

Williams is firmly entrenched as YSU’s No. 1 receiver and senior Andre Stubbs, who has started 25 games over the last three years, is the No. 2 wideout. Williams, Berassa (32 catches, 564 yards) and Stubbs (28 catches, 365 yards) were YSU’s top three receivers last fall, followed by two running backs (Martin Ruiz and Jody Webb), a tight end (Nate Adams) and, finally, another wide receiver, Christian Bryan.

With Berassa and Bryan (who is working as a volunteer coach at YSU) both gone, and with the Penguins utilizing a lot of three- and four-wideout formations, they’ll need a few of their younger players to step up.

One of those options is sophomore I’tavious Harvin, a lanky, 6-foot-2 burner from Fort Myers, Fla., who played in 10 games last year (mostly on special teams as a kick returner) with two starts at receiver.

“I’m approaching training camp like I need to come out and do better than I did last year,” he said. “I need to step up. As a younger guy, I had that role last year but I didn’t really do too much. This year, I’m trying to get better on the field.”

Although Harvin weighs just 180 pounds — he admitted the biggest adjustment to college football has been the size, “since I’ve always been a smaller kid, skinnier” — he has a lot of physical gifts.

“I’ve seen him play better at the start of camp,” Pelini said. “He was a little bit raw coming in and, like anyone, it’s about the details. It’s about the little things. As as he grows and becomes more confident, I think you’ll see that talent come out.”

Added quarterback Hunter Wells, “With him, it’s nothing physical. It’s all in his head. If he gets that stuff down, he’ll be a great player for us.”