Kentucky coach Joker Phillips  announce today that starting tailback CoShik Williams, who is a fifth-year senior, would miss the remainder of the season with a hip injury.

“CoShik Williams is done for the season,” Phillips said. “He had a torn labrum in his hip after getting the MRI back. We will have that repaired as soon as possible. He is out after playing a game (vs. Louisville) and 14 plays (vs. WKU). Again, next man up. That is the attitude that you have to take and those guys have done a good job that have been in there with Jon-Jon (Jonathan George) and Raymond (Sanders). That means now that the young fellow (Dyshawn Mobley) is getting closer to getting more reps. I know the question will be about Justin Taylor, if something should happen to one of those guys and we think we can get him the type of reps that we thing we can get (Patrick) Towles than he will play, otherwise he won’t play.”

Williams, who came to Kentucky as a walk-on, played in 25 games as a Wildcat, including seven starts.  He rushed for 738 yards, averaging 4.3 per carry, with seven touchdowns.  He had a career-high 148 yards last season in the win over Jacksonville State, along with 111 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Ole Miss.  He also scored what proved to the game-winning touchdown in the historic triumph over Tennessee.

As a sophomore, his top game came in the win over Charleston Southern, when he ran for 95 yards and a career-best three TDs.

“I feel heartbroken for him because the guy has worked so hard,” Phillips said. “Everybody knows his story. The guy came here as a non-scholarship guy and worked his tail off to be a starter and is now out for the rest of the season. The reason why he was the starter is because the starter was already out in Josh Clemons. The next guy has to be up.”

By LARRY VAUGHT

Senior Coshik Williams has gone from a walk-on running back that few Kentucky fans knew about to the scheduled starter Sept. 2 when the Wildcats open the season at Louisville.

“I feel good about how our offense is going and feel that we have bonded way better than last year. We are feeling strong, feeling good,” said Williams. “I feel like at any point in time, a running back can be in and doing the same thing the back that’s out can do. We are all fast, we are all strong and we all know what is going on. We can read our blocks good, so when the blitz comes we know we have to pick them up. It feels good to have good depth at running back.”

Williams, who is back at full speed after being limited briefly by a sprained foot, offered these other insights on UK’s season and his play.

Question: Do you like having so much depth at running back to push you?
Williams: “Yes. It’s always good to have a group of guys pushing you. If you don’t, you are just going to knock off after practice or not going to go full speed all the time if you don’t feel that pressure. That just motivates you to go harder, go faster, make your blocks better.”

Question: Why do all the running backs get along so well despite the competition for playing time?
Williams: “Even outside of football, me, Jonathan (George) Ray-Ray (Sanders), (Dyshawn) Mobley and even Justin Taylor, we all have a good friendship. If we go out to a party, we are all going to be together. We are calling each other. If somebody is not waking up to go to practice, one of us is going to be the one to go to the house and pick them up. We all try to be close and have a good friendship.”

Question: With so much hype about Mobley and Taylor, do you feel a bit under appreciated going into the season as the starter and feel like you have to prove yourself again?
Williams: “It’s always going to be like that. I feel like that I have to prove a lot of things. That is why I go so hard and why I don’t want to wear a red jersey (because he’s injured) in practice. I try to get out of that red jersey as quick as I can and try to get back on the field. I don’t like sitting out and not practicing. As quick as I can, I will heal and try to get out there. I know there are a lot of things I have to prove, so I try to work hard and learn all my plays and my responsibilities on the field that I have to do because there are always going to be pressure behind my back.
“But that motivates me. I love having the pressure because it makes me work harder. It makes my job harder, but if the job was easy it would not be a good job. I like working hard because I know the young guys behind me are working. I don’t like sitting around and not working.”

Question: Because you got your chance when others were hurt, does that motivate you not to miss practice now?
Williams: “Somebody could be taking somebody’s position at all times. When guys go down, somebody has to step up. When somebody is in a red jersey, somebody has to step up. That’s why I want to get back quick and be with my team.”

Question: Do you think much about going from an unknown walk-on player to starting tailback?
Williams: “To me, it is just a huge accomplishment for me and my family to come here as a walk-on and work so hard and get so much accomplished. I am blessed to say I got an opportunity to play here at the University of Kentucky and opportunity to be a starting running back. It has been great chance for me to show people what I can do.
“I like it when people say I am too small because that makes me want to go out there and play like Brandon Jacobs (of the New York Giants) and try to run harder than what I am.”

Question: Are you trying to be more of a vocal leader this season?
Williams: “Yes. At practice and before practice, I try to keep our guys motivated. A lot of guys listen to me, especially being a fifth-year senior. I have seen this program go from up to down and I know how everything works. I try to tell those guys what it takes for us to be good and how hard we have to run in practice for us to be fast in games. I try to keep everybody motivated and going when I get an opportunity to talk to everybody.”

Question: Who has enjoyed you being No. 1 on the depth chart more, you or your mom?
Williams: “I think my family is more excited than I am. It still hasn’t really hit me how I came up. I am still kind of in shock, but I am going to keep on working for my family, the team, this university and the faculty and staff. I want to prove to everybody I can be No. 1.”

Question: Would you agree that your mom and sister both had a little swagger just watching you run No. 1 in the scrimmage?
Williams: “They are pretty proud. I am the baby boy and being the only boy to go to college out of family, they get to see me play SEC football and get an opportunity to start. My mom is real excited and happy and she praises me as much as she can when she’s at work. She loves it.”

By Keith Taylor, The Winchester Sun

Coshik Williams is ready to build on his finish last year.  The Kentucky senior running back took over as the team’s primary rusher seven games into the season and made an impact at the end to his junior campaign.

The senior running back started the last five games and finished as the team’s leading rusher with 486 yards and three touchdowns. Williams rushed for a career-high 148 yards against Jacksonville State, and added 111, complete with a pair of touchdowns, against Ole Miss. Williams scored the decisive touchdown and collected 68 yards in the Wildcats’ 10-7 victory over Tennessee, snapping a 26-game losing streak to the Volunteers.

“It helped with my experience and (increased) my knowledge of the game,” he said. “It was the first time I had really gotten my feet wet and I feel like I can build on that, learn and watch film from those couple of games.”

Like most of the rest of his teammates, Williams spent most of his time in the film room in preparation for the upcoming season.

“I watched a lot of film,” he said. “I worked out 10 times harder than I did last year, because I know what it takes to play in the Southeastern Conference. I tried to work out as hard as I could and watched as much film as I could.”

Although most of his career at Kentucky has been hindered by various nagging injuries, Williams insists that he’s healthy again and ready to regain the top spot on the depth chart.

“I’m 100 percent now,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of recovery and that took time, but I’m ready to go. My body feels good. I feel like I’m back in high school now. I’ve gained weight and I feel strong. Along with the other running backs, we’re all ready to go.”

Williams knows once fall camp gets into full swing, regaining his starting job will be a challenge from the team’s stable of running backs.

“It’s always tough and there’s always going to be competition, especially at running back,” he said. “That’s a good skill (position) and we have a group of guys who are talented. There’s going to be a lot of competition.”

Williams insists he’s ready to compete against his teammates during fall workouts.

“I feel like I can be the top tailback,” he said. “You to just know everything. You have to know your assignments, make your blocks and do what it takes in order to be the top running back.”

Williams also hopes the Wildcats can build on the team’s win over Tennessee and “accomplish a lot of good things.”

“We don’t pay that much attention to he said or she said information, we just know what’s going on with our team, how hard we work in the summer and what we’re doing everyday (to get better),” he said. “With the expectations and everything, at the end of the day, we’re going to determine what our record is going to be.”

In his first three years with the team, Kentucky competed in the postseason, but missed out a year ago. Williams wants to end his career with another bowl berth and would like nothing better than a chance to compete for a conference title.

“We would loved to have went to a bowl game last year and that would have helped us out,” he said. “But, we ended the season pretty good last year — we beat Tennessee. That was a big accomplishment for us, but we want to go to a bowl game (again) most definitely and the SEC championship game. That’s our goal for this year.”