This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Fort Collins, Colo • Most knew the potential was there.

But everyone was waiting for a definition game from Kerwynn Williams, the game where he sent notice that the running back position was definitively his.

On Saturday night, in a 31-19 win over Colorado State, Williams did just that.

The senior from Utah State ran for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, carrying the Aggie offense on his back to a win. Afterward, Williams would thank almost everyone from his offensive line to the student manager in an attempt to deflect attention from himself.

But that was impossible with how good he was.

"He's a guy that I'm very happy for," USU coach Gary Andersen said. "He's been an unselfish guy for his entire career, and now it's his time to step up. He's ready, he's a leader, and he had a tremendous game for us."

Williams, for one night, filled the sizable void of Robert Turbin in the backfield. For one night, he made the transition from scatback to workhorse.

Whenever the Aggies needed a big run, he was the one to provide it. His receiving total gave him 227 all-purpose yards for the game.

He scored on runs of 26 and 58 yards. Twice, he took shovel passes from Chuckie Keeton and converted on critical third downs. He ran between the tackles. He ran on the edges. And when he got into space, nobody was catching him from behind.

"We wanted to come out and put some points on the board," Williams said. "To some degree, we had been struggling, and we struggled to run the ball last week against Wisconsin. We knew that we had to come out and run the football well. That was really important to us tonight."

Twitter: @tonyaggieville