Player of the Game: Rock Williams

Purple & Gold has selected Western Carolina's Rock Williams as the P&G Player of the Game.  

Rock Williams returned to the Catamount starting lineup Saturday against the Citadel Bulldogs and had quite an afternoon for himself and the Cats, which resulted in his selection as the player of the game.

The senior linebacker, in what was his first game of the season against a triple-option team, completed a career-high of 24 tackles, and nearly surpassed his own previous career-best of 19 solo stops, with 17 against the Bulldogs. According to NCAA records, Williams' total of 24 tackles are the most by a player in a game at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level this season to date.

Rock's career-best 17 solo stops, places him as the current holder of the most solo stops in the Football Championship Subdivision level and ties him with LSU's Kevin Minter who also has 17 solo stops at the FBS level in a loss at Florida on Oct. 6.

Williams' outstanding performance also set a Citadel record of sorts, by surpassing the previous high of 22 tackles, the most ever by a Bulldog opponent.

The Howell, Michigan native also forced and recovered a fumble for the Catamounts, setting up a touchdown for Western Carolina, that gave the Cats a 24-17 lead in the third quarter.