Sprinting down the sidelines, sophomore wide receiver Derrick Williams found himself matched up one-on-one against Illinois defensive back Vontae Davis. In an attempt to reach the open field just beyond Davis, Williams juked.

It was speed against speed. Both players have recorded 40-yard dash times less than 4.4 seconds. But this was the Derrick Williams, the No. 1 recruit in 2004 going against a freshman defensive back. It should have been no contest.

But Williams' juke didn't work. Instead, he tripped himself up, and Davis took him to the turf. The play gained 7-yards for Penn State, but more importantly, it was just another average play in what has become a disappointing season for Williams.

Through eight games, Williams has scored just two touchdowns this season, struggling to find ways to exploit opposing defenses. Averaging jut 52.4 offensive yards per game, the wideout that attracted so much attention during an injury-shortened 2005 season has been, at times, unnoticeable.

It's something that's somewhat of an oddity for a player that has drawn attention since he was just a 75-pound kid at a yearly football camp with Eleanor Roosevelt football coach Rick Houchens.

"I remember this little kid with this great big smile that used to throw a little K2 football longer than everybody else," said Houchens, who coached Williams at Eleanor Roosevelt High School outside Washington D.C. "You always had a feeling that he was going to be someone special."

But this year hasn't panned out that way. Williams himself has even admitted that he's not having the type of year he expected, saying that if someone told him after the season-opener against Akron that he'd have just two touchdowns at this point in the season, he'd look at them "weird."

"I'm that kind of guy who wants to make that big play every time I touch the ball," Williams said. "I just go out there and try and make something happen. I think I have that ability. Every time I touch the ball, I want to score."

But Houchens said that might be the problem.

As the season has gone on, Williams has dropped passes and has done things out of character, even attempting to return a punt that was bouncing on the ground. All those mistakes, Houchens said, are indications that Williams is thinking too much about the big play.

"He's trying too hard," he said.

Last week, Houchens placed a call to check in on his former star quarterback. His main message: Relax. Don't try to force anything.

"I told him, 'Go back to square one, man. Remember your roots and relax. Let the game come back to you, then you'll take it to another level," Houchens said.

It wouldn't be fair to say that Williams is having a bad season. After all, he's caught 28 passes for 314 yards while playing within a receiving corps that also includes Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler. When used out of the backfield, he's rushed for 106 yards on 28 carries.

Still, opposing players don't believe that they have seen the best of Williams yet, and that worries them.

"He's done a great job and he's got a lot of room to grow and that's the scary thing," Illinois defensive back Kevin Mitchell said. "He's getting it done right now, but then again, he needs to work on things just like everybody else. I think he's doing OK.

He's a threat and he's someone to prepare for every week, just like everybody else."

Even more so, he's been a threat each week despite the fact that opposing defenses are zeroing in on him.

Houchens said that last year Williams benefited from playing with Robinson, a running quarterback that could make plays. This year, junior Anthony Morelli, a more traditional dropback passer, is under center. When preparing for Penn State, opposing defenses no longer have to worry about a quarterback torching them for 100 yards on the ground.

This fact hasn't gone unnoticed by Williams. He said that when he lines up in the backfield, defenders always have an eye out for a sweep. And when he lines up at wide receiver, double coverage is commonplace.

"I'm trying to do the best that I can," Williams said after catching just three passes for 26 yards against Illinois last week. "Usually when I catch the ball, there's two or three people around me. Playing at the college level right now, when you catch and turn around, and there's three people around you, it ain't too much you can do."

Normally, consistent play wouldn't attract questions. But though Williams has decent numbers this year, reporters continually want to know what's up with Derrick Williams and when he's going to return to last season's form.

"It's gonna be like that, especially when you come in and you have success your first year," Williams said. "Pressure really doesn't get to me. What people say don't get to me. I have to go out there and play my game and just try my best."

Hype has always followed Williams. When he announced on Dec. 22, 2004 that he would play football for the Nittany Lions, a team fresh off a 4-7 season, it was regarded as a recruiting coup for Joe Paterno and a new era for Penn State football.

"Penn State is missing a piece of the puzzle," Williams told The Daily Collegian after he committed to Penn State. "Maybe it's cocky or whatever, but I think I'm that piece."

Houchens said that attitude isn't a sign that Williams is arrogant, but more of a sign of Williams' leadership skills. While at Eleanor Roosevelt, Houchens said that even as a sophomore, Williams displayed better leadership abilities than some seniors did.

"Derrick always has that passion to put the team on his shoulder so to speak and try to carry the weight," he said. "It's not an egotistical thing from him, it's just a burning desire to win and be the best."

But while Williams has been criticized this year in the papers, his biggest critic may be himself. Asked about the team's struggles on punt returns, Williams said, "I blame a lot of it on myself."

"Derrick will always be harder on himself then he will be on anybody else," Houchens said. "I've seen him where he had a good game, but he didn't have a great game. You thought he stunk the place up."

Williams' teammates say he hasn't let any struggles get him down, stressing that the only thing that interests their heralded wideout is winning.

"All he can do is go out and play his game and help this team win and not press too much and try to make a big play all the time because of his expectations," Butler said.

Williams himself has said again and again that Penn State has not seen the best of Derrick Williams yet this season.

"I feel like if something's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Right now, this year, it hasn't been basically the year I've wanted to have. But there's four games left," he said. "I'm just going to go out there and play my hardest whether it's blocking or things like that. That's just me. I go with the flow."

Houchens agrees. After all, Williams' coach-turned-mentor said Williams has spent too much time preparing himself to be more than just an average football player.

Williams' wants to be something special.

"He didn't work his whole life to be another guy," Houchens said. "He's lived his life to be a difference maker."