ORONO, Maine — Zaire Williams took some licks on Saturday morning.
That’s because the junior transfer was one of only two healthy tailbacks on the University of Maine football roster for the 12th Jeff Cole Spring Scrimmage at Morse Field.
“I got nervous the second series,” said UMaine head coach Joe Harasymiak. “Zaire kind of grabbed his shoulder for a little bit.”
Some bumps and bruises aside, Williams couldn’t be happier to have made his informal debut for the Black Bears.
“It was actually a great opportunity,” said Williams, who joined the program after spending his first three seasons at Temple University of the American Athletic Conference.
“Just being able to get that many reps, it’s going to be a lot of stuff to go back and correct, and stuff to work on for the summer,” he added.
Williams, a 5-foot-11, 210-pounder from Sicklerville, New Jersey, was just happy to have the ball tucked under his arm again. He had only seven carries for 17 yards before a back injury forced him to miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season.
That came on the heels of a freshman campaign during which Williams was Temple’s leading rusher with 101 carries for 533 yards and three touchdowns and 11 receptions for 128 yards.
However, late during the 2015 preseason, Temple moved Williams to linebacker. In October, he left the team.
He hopes UMaine will be a chance to get a fresh start.
“The process of transferring is hard, but I have great teammates and great coaches, and everybody on the staff just welcomed me in here, made me feel at home,” Williams said. “That made me feel comfortable coming out here and competing and performing like I can.”
Williams showed flashes of his capabilities on Saturday, picking up 41 yards on 12 carries and making four catches for 46 yards — all despite operating behind a less-experienced offensive line that was missing a handful of key members because of injuries.
Williams had five runs of at least 7 yards, including two for 9 yards and one that covered 11. He also was a factor in the pass game, catching a 14-yard touchdown pass and another that covered 25 yards.
“Zaire’s going to give us that explosive playmaker that we’ve had with Nigel Beckford at times, but Nigel got injured, so now we kind of have two dynamic guys back there,” Harasymiak said.
Beckford was the Black Bears’ top rusher last season, netting 526 yards on 123 carries with four touchdowns. His only real complement, because of injuries, was quarterback Drew Belcher (88 carries, 314 yards).
Harasymiak said Williams should be a good fit for the mantra of new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
“He’s been using the line, ‘go be special with the ball,’” Harasymiak said. “Whether you’re a wideout, a tight end or a running back, it’s not OK to just get 10 yards.”
Williams is looking forward to the opportunity to run with the football for the first time in three years.
“I’m starting to feel my confidence come back,” he said.
UMaine’s other tailback during the scrimmage was sophomore Jacob Williams of Farmington. The former Mt. Blue High School standout had four carries for 11 yards.
Beckford, sophomore Darian Davis-Ray and sophomore Joe Fitzpatrick of North Yarmouth all sat out Saturday’s actions as the result of injuries.
UMaine opens its 2016 season with road games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. The Black Bears play Connecticut on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, then travel to Toledo for a Sept. 10 contest in Ohio.
“I talked to the guys about this summer, how important that is for us,” Harasymiak said.
“We’re talking about embracing the grind. We’re going to do that,” he added. “We’ve got a long way to go, a lot of things to learn, a lot of things to improve on.”