Nose for the ball, Williams leads Cowboys in tackles
Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2021
- Linebacker Kordell Williams leads McNeese State with a teamhigh 67 tackles and was an integral component in the Cowboys’ 28-20 upset of Incarnate Word last week. McNeese made 10 sacks, forced four turnovers — three interceptions — and limited the Cardinals to a season-low 33 rushing yards. (Rick Hickman / American Press)
There was just enough time for Cameron Ward to pull a rabbit out of his hat Saturday at Cowboy Stadium.
Just enough time for the Incarnate Word quarterback to ruin McNeese State’s homecoming.
Just enough time for the guy who twice in the last eight months had done in the Cowboys to do it one more time.
With the ball at midfield and down by a one possession, Ward took the snap and looked to stick a dagger into the heart of the Cowboys.
As he looked downfield he saw nobody open. Same as he drifted to his left and moved up in the pocket. Then something downfield caught his eye.
But just as he was about to let go of the ball, McNeese linebacker Kordell Williams blasted into him from high on the blind side. Meanwhile, Mason Kinsey attacked the quarterback just above the knees.
The ball fell to the ground and when Masry Mapieu fell on the loose pigskin the Cowboys had their 28-20 victory.
“Just kept after him all day, trying to hit him,” Williams said of facing UIW. “We just kept working.”
Williams sure has.
The junior preseason all-Southland Conference pick has been all over the place this season, leading McNeese’s surging defense. The Cowboys held UIW to its two lowest-scoring games of the season.
Williams has been a key to the swarming defense. On Saturday he helped put a hold on Ward as the Cowboys sacked him 10 times. Williams was assigned to keep the quarterback in check.
“I don’t know if there was a tackle he wasn’t in on,” said McNeese head coach Frank Wilson. “He was all over the field. On the game film he was in every shot.”
Saturday wasn’t even Williams’ best game of the month. On Oct. 2 he made 17 tackles and was named the SLC’s Defensive Player of the Week in a 38-35 loss to league-leading Southeastern Louisiana.
That is the most single-game tackles in all of Division I football this season, which includes the Football Bowl Subdivision.
“Kordell has been tremendous this entire season,” Wilson said. “He is reading the plays and making the right decisions.”
Williams has a team-high 67 total tackles.
