The normally sunny dispositioned quarterback did not play during the second half of Saturday’s rain-soaked 41-14 win against Delaware, as Coach Larry Fedora benched him for backup Mitch Trubisky.
“As a senior, just some things you have to fix and clean up,” Williams said on why he was benched. “(Fedora) expects more out of me and I gave him more today.”
Fedora cited poor decision-making as the reason Williams was replaced. In UNC’s fast-paced spread attack, the quarterback must efficiently get the ball to the team’s playmakers in space.
“You’re pretty much just the middleman,” said third-string quarterback Caleb Henderson. “You get the ball from the center and give it to your athletes.”
On Saturday, Trubisky did the better job. Williams completed 6 of 12 passes for 65 yards and a rushing touchdown in the first half before giving way to Trubisky, who completed 17 of 20 passes for 312 yards and four touchdowns.
Entering his final season at UNC, expectations were high for Williams and the Tar Heel offense. He was placed on the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which is given to the best player in college football, and talked about as a potential NFL prospect.
But Williams has struggled at times this season. He threw three interceptions in UNC’s season-opening loss to South Carolina and has only eight total touchdowns through four games this season after having 10 through four games in 2014.
“I need to let the game slow down,” he said. “I’m just thinking of things I shouldn’t be worried about, like the rain.”
