'Duke' shows why he was centerpiece of Tigers' recruiting class

AUBURN – He may be listed as 6-foot-2 and 216 pounds, but D'haquille Williams played wide receiver in Auburn's 45-21 win over Arkansas like he was 6-5.

A junior college transfer and the centerpiece of Auburn's 2014 recruiting class, Williams appeared in his first game with the Tigers on Saturday, and he didn't disappoint.

Williams, who enrolled in January, hauled in nine passes for 154 yards, catching every pass thrown to him. This included an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Johnson in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

"It felt good playing in the SEC, but I want to give the credit to my teammates," he said. "Without the offensive line, receiving corps, my quarterback, and Coach (Gus) Malzahn believing in me, none of this would be possible."

He made an impact immediately Saturday. His first catch in the opening quarter covered 19 yards and set up a touchdown. Later in the period, he had a 62-yard reception, setting up another touchdown.

"The coaches were just like, 'Go out there and play,'" Williams said. "No matter who (the quarterback) threw the ball to, someone was going to catch it. Coach just gave me a chance, and I made the best of it."

He wound up turning in the best receiving performance by an Auburn player since Darvin Adams gained 217 receiving in the 2010 SEC Championship Game against South Carolina.

"Coach wanted to put me in the slot to create match-up problems with a safety or linebacker, and that's going to be hard on them," Williams said. "Honestly, I didn't come into this game thinking I was going to have a big game like this, but I just kept catching the ball and making plays."

Williams signed with the Tigers out of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he was a NJCAA All-American his freshman year in 2012 and an honorable mention All-American the following season.

"The speed of the game was a big difference for me. When Coach Malzahn keeps saying run, run, run, I look left-and-right trying to get to my position, they are ready to snap the ball. In JUCO, we ran a no-huddle, but not like we do here."

His leaping ability provided a problem for undersized defensive backs.

"I think everyone saw today that he has playing-making abilities," Malzahn said. "He attacks the ball, there's no doubt. He can do things with it after he catches the ball too. We had a plan, if they played us a certain way, we'd attack them with him in the middle of the field, and he did a good job executing."

After each reception by Williams, all 87,451 of the capacity crowd shouted, "Duke" in reference to his nickname.

"I never thought I'd hear that, but when I heard it, it just hyped me up even more."