Boston College senior tailback Andre Williams went into the weekend as the nation's No. 2 rusher. It wouldn't be a surprise if he exited the weekend as the nation's leader.
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Williams (6-foot-0, 227 pounds) rambled for 295 yards and two TDs on 30 carries to lift BC past upset-minded New Mexico State 48-34. Williams' two scores came in the final five minutes of the game and helped BC break away from a 34-34 tie.
Saturday's performance set a career high and was his third 200-yard outing of the season; his previous high was 264 yards against Army on Oct. 5. Williams now has rushed for 966 yards and 10 TDs in the past five games.
He has reached the 100-yard plateau seven times this season, and Saturday was his fourth game with at least 30 carries.
Williams has 1,471 yards this season; the single-season school record is 1,726 by Mike Cloud in 1998; he was a second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1999 draft and played seven seasons in the NFL.
Williams rushed for 1,562 yards in his first three seasons with the Eagles. He has gone from a fringe NFL prospect to one of the three or four best senior backs in the nation; he doesn't have elite speed, but he is a rugged, physical runner with some shiftiness, and he obviously can handle a heavy workload.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.