Months of steady improvement pay off for Hykeem Williams with first FSU TD

Arriving at Florida State in January as the Seminoles' first five-star wide receiver signee since 2015, Hykeem Williams had some pretty big shoes to fill.

It didn't happen immediately but when Williams finally caught his first career touchdown in his sixth career game Saturday vs. Syracuse, it certainly fit the five-star mold.

Late in the Seminoles' runaway win, Williams ran a tunnel screen route, caught the pass from backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker and took advantage of a perfectly blocked play to sprint 44 yards into the end zone untouched, topping out at 20 miles per hour according to CFN's Cam Mellor and utilizing a subtle but very effective deke to make the final defender badly miss.

"Seeing the play and knowing it was coming to me, because I don't get that many touches it was going through my head, 'Make something happen. Catch the ball and be a playmaker,'" Williams said Wednesday. "That's what I did."

The touchdown, which served as the exclamation point on the Seminoles' 41-3 win over the Orange, was a milestone moment months in the making for the freshman wide receiver.

When Williams, the No. 5 wide receiver and No. 26 overall prospect in the 2023 class, picked the Seminoles over Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Miami and Pittsburgh last September, it was the single biggest recruiting win of Mike Norvell's FSU tenure.

When the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Stranahan High product signed with the Seminoles last December, he became the first Rivals five-star recruit to sign with FSU in Norvell's tenure.

In large part because of this, he enrolled in January with remarkably large expectations. But considering Williams didn't play for one of the biggest or best football programs in South Florida — Stranahan finished his senior season with a 4-6 record — Williams had more to learn than many of his fellow true freshmen who were enrolling alongside him in Tallahassee.

"I wouldn't say it was tougher than expected because I knew they worked. It was just coming in and having a mindset that I have to work. That was really it..." Williams said. "I feel my game progressing from spring to now. A big leap. I came in, it was definitely a big transition, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of it."

Even before Williams' first spring practice at FSU began, he learned a hard lesson in the level of conditioning it takes to play at this level of college football.

"When he first got here, he couldn’t even do conditioning," FSU quarterback Jordan Travis said of Williams.

By the end of spring camp, you saw some signs of William adapting to this level of play, getting himself into better shape and stringing together more consecutive good days out on the practice field.

When Williams walked in to begin his first preseason fall camp at FSU, the physical change was noticeable. He had shed nine pounds, down from the 215 he was when he enrolled to 206.

"He's had to go through it," Norvell said of Williams. "One of the benefits (when) he got here in January, whether it's tour of duty, spring practice, he learned quickly the shape that's necessary, some of the commitments and sacrifices of what it takes."

That summer transformation paid immediate dividends for Williams, who translated his more football-ready shape into instant improvement on the practice field. Over the course of FSU's grueling preseason camp, Williams improved on an almost daily basis. He began making plays at a much more consistent level and seemed hell-bent on carving out some sort of role for himself as a true freshman.

"Fall camp, just seeing how many reps I was getting with the first team and second team. I got a lot of reps so it was like, 'Ok, I can actually play this year,'" Williams said. "At first, I was just working but once I saw that, it made me work twice as hard to know that I could actually make an impact on the team this year."

Williams recorded his first career catch in FSU's second game of the season against Southern Miss. In the win over Syracuse, he became the second FSU freshman to reach the end zone this season, joining fellow wide receiver Vandrevius Jacobs.

Even before Williams scored his first career touchdown, he had been praised on multiple occasions by Norvell for his progress and especially for his willingness and aggressiveness as a blocker on run plays. The FSU coach believes that speaks to the character of his freshman wide receiver.

"That's one of the best young men, like the character of him, who he is. His smile, his approach, the joy that he has for teammates," Norvell said of Williams after Saturday's game. "You see that selflessness as a blocker. I was excited because you got to see him with the ball in his hands in open spaces. He took it to a whole new gear, which was exciting for us to see. The last month you've seen some positive strides from him. He's building in his confidence ... Man, he is absolutely ascending."

Fellow wide receiver Keon Coleman, who didn't arrive on FSU's campus as a transfer until the summer, has seen remarkable improvement from Williams since he first met him.

"He's grown very much from when I first came in..." Coleman said. "He's becoming what y'all thought he was going to be coming out of high school. He's going up there making grabs, working routes and releases, doing everything. I saw him run the fastest I've ever seen him run today (vs. Syracuse). He caught it, he made a move, I got up, I was like, 'What?' I was happy for him. It's great to see him get finally get out there and show a little flash of what he can do. I think y'all should look forward to seeing a lot more of him."

Travis added, "Seeing Hykeem score was a really special moment for me and him. Just seeing how far he came ... Seeing the growth of him as a person and a player is really special."

These two were far from the only Seminoles beaming with pride when Williams reached the end zone for the first time. Right behind Williams on the field was FSU slot receiver Ja'Khi Douglas, who appeared even happier than Williams himself was about the touchdown. Watching from the sideline were a number of teammates who had front-row seats to Williams' remarkable improvement and who had to be restrained from going over to celebrate with Williams and earning a penalty.

"It's the best feeling ever to see how happy the team was for me," Williams said. "They could have just sat there and said, 'Touchdown,' but to see me score as a freshman and the energy they brought to me, it's the best thing ever."

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