"Penn State is missing a piece of the puzzle," said Williams, who verbally committed to Penn State on Dec. 22. "Maybe it's cocky or whatever, but I think I'm that piece."
Ranked by several recruiting services as the No. 1 high school player in the country, Williams believes he is the big-play wideout who can get open and get yards after the catch -- precisely the weakness that has buried the Nittany Lions the past two seasons.
With a vertical passing game not worthy of opponents' respect, teams have shut down Penn State's running attack with ease, making the offense stagnant. Penn State ranked last in the Big Ten in total offense in 2004.
So in recruiting, Penn State focused on getting athletes. Williams and Monroeville's Justin King -- the No. 9 player in the country, according to the online recruiting service Rivals.com -- became Penn State's top two targets.
Without naming the duo, because doing so is against NCAA rules, Paterno stated how important Williams and King were on his weekly radio show during the season.
"I wouldn't care if we didn't get anybody else but those two kids," Paterno said. It was clear the Lions were looking for a game breaker.
They got one when King committed to Penn State Nov. 16.
And at a Dec. 22 press conference televised live on ESPN News from his high school in Greenbelt, Md., Williams announced he wanted to be the other when he mistakenly said he had decided to attend "the University of Penn State."
"Yeah, I just messed up, man," Williams said with a laugh into his cell phone. The light hum of a car ride could be heard in the background.
It was around 10 a.m. last Thursday, and Williams and his parents were on their way to State College. Williams, who graduated from high school early in December, is enrolled at Penn State for the spring semester, making him eligible to participate in spring football practice.
Today he'll start college life at Penn State -- perhaps trying to figure out how to get to the Forum or decipher the difference between the Blue Loop and the White Loop -- just like any other kid starting his freshman experience.
You know, except for that whole thing of getting pegged by Penn State fans as the program's savior.
Williams, though, doesn't mind the pressure. In fact, it sounds like the main reason he picked Penn State.
"There are two kinds of recruits," Williams said, explaining his choice. "The recruits that want to jump on the bandwagon, and join a bunch of other guys on a team that's winning. And then there are recruits that want to go somewhere and make things change. They're recruits that want to put their names in the history books."
If there's any college freshman capable of turning around a program's fortunes, Williams seems like the guy to do it. Playing quarterback, wide receiver, running back and returning kicks and punts, Williams used his 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed to rack up almost 3,000 total yards at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
Williams said he thinks he will be rooming with King, who also enrolled at Penn State early after graduating high school in December. King, who also runs a 4.3 speed, will play either cornerback or wide receiver for the Lions. That's a lot of high expectations and speed crammed into one dorm room.
But Williams hopes he and King aren't the last two prized recruits to join this Penn State recruiting class.
"Any other recruit I talk to I say the same thing," Williams said. "I say, 'Come to Penn State with me and let's take this sleeping Lion to the national championship.' "
