50 greatest college football players this century, ranked

• 3x Conference USA Player of the Year (2003, 2004, 2005)
• First-team All-Conference USA (2003, 2004, 2005)

De’Angelo Williams grew up and played high school football in Wynne, Arkansas, about an hour from Memphis. Although only 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds coming out of high school, he was viewed as the top running back in the state of Arkansas and had offers from Ole Miss, Arkansas and a handful of other mid-level SEC programs when he chose instead to play at University of Memphis.

He played in 10 games as a freshman and rushed for just under 700 yards while averaging 6.6 yards per carry. As a sophomore, weighing closer to 200-pounds than the 185 he’d been in high school, he became the Tigers’ bell cow running back, carrying the ball 243 times in 11 games and rushing for 1,430 yards. He was named Conference USA Player for the first time that season and was just getting started in what would become a prolific college career.

Over the next two seasons in 2004 and 2005, Williams put up back to back 1,900-yard rushing seasons and totaled 42 touchdowns, winning the Conference Player of the Year Award a total of three times. His 6,026 yards on the ground rank sixth all-time in the NCAA record books and 6,749 all-purpose yards are also good for sixth in college football history. He holds the NCAA record for 100-yard rushing games with 34.

The Tigers won 24-13 and won a pair of bowl games during his three seasons as the team’s feature back. Their 2003 New Orleans Bowl appearance was the team’s first bowl bid and first win since 1971.

Key Stat: In addition to the 24 100-yard rushing games, Williams had nine games with over 200 yards on the ground.