James Williams: RB · Washington State · #32.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
James Williams
Wins in space out of the backfield. Three seasons in the Washington State backfield to date. On tape: 82 rushing yards and 53 receiving yards against Wyoming, Week 1, 2018.
Play style
Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.
Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape
Steady, not spectacular
Just 21.1% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 12.3% of his carries. 3 carries for 11 yds vs Iowa State; 16 for 82 vs Wyoming.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
46.4% of carries overall (121/261) → 31.4% of Q4-with-lead carries (16/51) — 56.2% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
15 of the team's 23 inside-the-5 carries (65.2%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Washington State | 122 | 563 | 4.6 | 12 | 43 |
| 2017 | Washington State | 92 | 395 | 4.3 | 1 | 27 |
| 2016 | Washington State | 102 | 585 | 5.7 | 6 | 38 |
| Career | 316 | 1,543 | 4.9 | 19 | 43 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Washington State | 83 | 613 | 7.4 | 4 | 41 |
| 2017 | Washington State | 71 | 482 | 6.8 | 3 | 24 |
| 2016 | Washington State | 48 | 342 | 7.1 | 1 | 29 |
| Career | 202 | 1,437 | 7.1 | 8 | 41 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2018 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 41-19@ Wyoming | 16 | 82 | 5.1 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 2 | W 31-0vs San José State | 10 | 36 | 3.6 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 3 | W 59-24vs Eastern Washington | 6 | 19 | 3.2 | 3 | 8 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 4 | L 36-39@ USC | 17 | 54 | 3.2 | 1 | 8 | |
| Wk 5 | W 28-24vs Utah | 5 | 13 | 2.6 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 6 | W 56-37@ Oregon State | 10 | 56 | 5.6 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 8 | W 34-20vs No. 12 Oregon | 9 | 53 | 5.9 | 1 | 24 | |
| Wk 9 | W 41-38@ No. 24 Stanford | 8 | 30 | 3.8 | 2 | 16 | |
| Wk 10 | W 19-13vs California | 5 | 34 | 6.8 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 11 | W 31-7@ Colorado | 17 | 60 | 3.5 | 1 | 11 | |
| Wk 12 | W 69-28vs Arizona | 5 | 50 | 10.0 | 1 | 43 | |
| Wk 13 | L 15-28vs No. 16 Washington | 11 | 65 | 5.9 | 2 | 18 | |
 Bowl | W 28-26vs No. 25 Iowa State | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 0 | 7 | |
| Total | 122 | 563 | 4.6 | 12 | 43 |
Week 13 · 2018
L 15-28
vs Washington
65 rush yds (11 car) · 2 TD · 7 rec · 30 yds
With O. Draguicevich — 42 yards per punt · 5 punts · 3 inside the 20 · G. Minshew — 152 yds · 0 TD · 2 INT · 11 rush yds (7 car)
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
49%117 carriesFumble rate
0.8%1 of 122 carriesStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds4.6 yds/carry on 122 carries · 10% explosive (10+ yds) · 49% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
3 seasons under Mike Leach — 28-11 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2018 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 38.6 | 5.4 | 1.0 |
| Road5g | 56.4 | 4.2 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 38.7 | 3.9 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 48.7 | 6.0 | 1.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mike Leach
Pass share
71.6%
677 pass / 268 run
Plays / game
72.7
13 games
Team sack rate
1.9%
697 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-heavy.
Player standing · 2018
122 carries, 83 catches and 1 pass attempt in 13 games, more touches a game than most FBS running backs who play every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at Washington State, 1,543 rushing yards — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2015–2018
1 coachPlayed every college season under Mike Leach.
