What Williams has been awaiting is for UNC coach Larry Fedora to name a starting quarterback for this season.
Last year, Williams started six games including five after a shoulder injury ended three-year starter Bryn Renner’s career. Williams passed for 1,161 yards and recorded 19 total touchdowns.
Williams also led UNC to its first bowl victory in three years.
Still, Fedora challenged Williams and Mitch Trubisky, who redshirted his freshman season last year, to battle it out for the 2014 starting job.
“When I made the statement that it was wide open, Marquise never batted an eye,” said Fedora at the ACC Kickoff in July. “He really didn’t.”
Fedora has commended Williams’ leadership. This trait is what led the coaching staff to assign true freshman quarterback Caleb Henderson as Williams’ roommate during fall training camp. Outside of practice, Williams has spent time teaching the youngster the playbook.
“If Marquise can teach it, then he knows it,” said quarterbacks coach Keith Heckendorf.
Meanwhile, Williams has been working on his own mechanics. For as long as he can remember, questions have arisen about his ability to pass. Williams’ legs are the most feared weapon in his arsenal. In 2013, Williams led UNC in rushing with 536 yards.
He’s not a passer, some say. But someone thinks otherwise.
“Peyton called me to the side and said, ‘You’re a heck of a thrower. Your arm’s good,’’’ Williams said. “When he gave me that talk, I felt like nobody could tell me anything because it’s Peyton.”
Williams has the trust of his quarterbacks coach, the faith of a future NFL Hall of Famer and the respect of the reigning Heisman trophy winner.
But only he can earn Fedora’s nod for the starting job.
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“It’s in my hands,” Williams said. “I control my destiny.”
MITCH TRUBISKY
Mitch Trubisky has a dream, the whole sequence unfolding in real life exactly as it does in his head.
He’s standing on the North Carolina football field, watching his teammate sprint 80 yards down the field for a touchdown. He’s just thrown him the pass, and the dog pile in the end zone is about to begin.
But for a whole season, the quarterback was forced to the sidelines, a redshirt awaiting the day his dream just might come true.
Now he’s done waiting. With three-year starter Bryn Renner graduated and Trubisky’s redshirt lifted, he’s ready to take over the quarterback duties of Larry Fedora’s squad. But first he must go through Marquise Williams, last year’s starter after Renner went down, if he’s to get the nod.
“These guys get as many reps competing as possible, and we’ll make a decision before the 30th,” Fedora said.
Aug. 30 is UNC’s first game against Liberty.
“We’ll have a plan — what we’re going to do and how we’re going to implement it,” he said. “Those guys will be aware of it. It won’t be like we walk out there on the 30th and I flip a coin and throw one of them out there. We’ll have a plan.”
While Trubisky watched from the sidelines, Williams completed 126 of 217 pass attempts for 1,698 yards and 15 touchdowns. The 6-foot-2 redshirt junior also led UNC in rushing with 536 yards and six touchdowns.
But Trubisky said the one thing that Williams has helped him with the most doesn’t even involve a football.
It’s confidence.
“He’s told me that no matter the competition, you’ve got to believe you could do the job, and that’s what I’ve learned from ‘Quise,” Trubisky said. “He’s got a lot of confidence in himself, he’s got confidence in the guys in the offense, and I think that’s something I could definitely take with me.”
While Trubisky has yet to take a snap at the collegiate level outside of practices and the annual spring game, he was the state of Ohio’s top football player in 2012 with more than 9,000 high school career yards to his name. His senior year alone, he threw 42 touchdowns, leading his team to a 12-2 record and the state semifinals. He’s made his mark as one of the top 10 passers in Ohio history with 9,126 total yards and 92 touchdowns.
Still, he’s studied his craft tirelessly.
“I watched a lot of film, studied a lot of defenses,” he said. “Threw a lot of routes over the summer with receivers, worked on arm strength.”
Now it’s time to put it all into play, and in just a matter of days, Fedora will have to make the decision.
“Whatever role I’m given on this team, I’m going to accept. If I’m the first guy, I expect me and the offense to go down and get the job down. If ‘Quise ends up there, I expect the same thing,” Trubisky said. “Whichever way it goes, we’ve both got to be ready. I know we’re excited.”
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