Contra Costa Times: Bears linebacker big hit as starter

Williams has put football No. 1 on his priority list, and it shows

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It was only a year ago that Cal linebacker Worrell Williams openly questioned where football ranked on his priority list. There is no question now. "Football is my No. 1 priority," Williams said before practice this week. "When you are a starter, football definitely is your main focus." Although it took him a little time to adjust after coming to Cal as a consensus All-American out of Grant Union High School-Sacramento, Williams is headed in the right direction. Now a sophomore, he has seven tackles through the first three games, with a forced fumble and a broken-up pass. Those numbers might not be impressive, but consider that Williams is starting over 2005 freshmen All Americans Zack Follett and Anthony Felder, along with solid junior Greg Van Hoesen. "I think I am playing well," said Williams, whose half-brother D.J. Williams plays for the Denver Broncos. "With more experience, I think I will get better."

Williams had 26 tackles as a redshirt freshman last season, including four for loss. However, freshman mistakes kept him from logging as many minutes as he might have liked. This season, the 6-foot, 255-pound wrecking ball has been pointed in the right direction most of the time. "I am not thinking about X's and O's as much on Saturdays," he said. "You do all the work during the week and it should come naturally in the game. Now I'm able to let loose and have fun." It helps that he has one of the Pac-10's top linebackers in Desmond Bishop alongside him. Williams said he feels fortunate to have players such as Bishop on one side and Mickey Pimentel on the other. "I'm kind of living a dream," he said.

Smack Zach

Williams said a key to beating Arizona State on Saturday will be to hammer Sun Devils tight end Zach Miller whenever he touches the ball. "Zach is a great athlete," Williams said. "When he gets the ball, you have to put a licking on him because he is not going to go down easy." Miller, a 6-5, 260-pound junior, has caught more passes (108 for 1,173 yards) over the last three seasons than any tight end in major college football. "They definitely want to get him into open space," Williams said. "We definitely have to keep an eye on him." Cal coach Jeff Tedford said Arizona State lines up Miller in the slot and at fullback, as well at tight end in order to work him free. "He gets downfield and catches the ball well," Tedford said.

Whistle blower

Tedford said after watching film of the Portland State game, he didn't feel quite as bad about some of his team's personal fouls. Part of the problem, according to Tedford, is that no one "is in charge of blowing the whistle." With runners such as Bears tailback Marshawn Lynch able to break out of a group of tacklers, officials don't want to kill a play until they are absolutely sure the ball is down. Once the whistle blows, the play is over, even if the ball carrier breaks free. But the reluctance to blow a whistle can lead to late hits if all the players aren't convinced the play is over. Cal center Alex Mack got one personal foul for throwing a block on a Portland State defender who was standing around as Lynch was being tackled.

"Alex was playing snap-to-whistle," Tedford said. "When you are blocking for Marshawn, you can't stop and watch the play. But he did use poor judgment on that play. It was right in front of him and he should have seen the ball was down." Tedford has to walk a tightrope because he wants his players to keep charging forward until the end of the play, but he has been preaching to them that they can't keep getting personal fouls. "We have gotten penalties on some very close calls," he said.

Extra points

In the last 28 Pac-10 games, only USC (27-1) has a better record than Cal (21-7) and ASU (20-8). ... ASU leads the series against Cal 13-12, but the Bears have won four of the past five.