Cal's Nohl Williams: `It's A Good Feeling Scoring Touchdowns'

The senior cornerback helped turn the tide against UC Davis with his 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown

Nohl Williams /

Cal senior Nohl Williams scored two touchdowns on fumble returns from his cornerback position last season. On Saturday, he added a big one on special teams, returning a kickoff 80 yards to the end zone in the Bears’ 31-13 win over UC Davis.

“It’s a good feeling scoring touchdowns,” he said Tuesday.

It’s not lost on Williams how he benefitted on the play from the presence of Jaydn Ott in the deep position on the kick return unit.

The Aggies, with former Cal tight ends coach in his debut as head coach, certainly know what Ott can do, and it was no accident the ball went  shorter to Williams on the left sideline — opposite where Ott was lined up.

“Going into the week, I knew that was their game plan, kicking away from Jaydn,” he said. “That was my opportunity right there.”

And if he were making the decision as the opposing special teams coach, would he do anything differently?

“They didn’t have a lot of film on me before. So why not kick it to me?  They don’t know what I can do,” he said. "Now they do. You’ve got to pick your poison now.”

Nohl Williams / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Coming off their win over the Aggies, the Bears step up in competition Saturday when they visit Auburn of the Southeastern Conference.

Ott left the Davis game late in the third quarter after injuring his ankle or foot and did not return. Coach Justin Wilcox labeled Ott as “probable” for the Auburn game, but that doesn’t mean the Bears will have him back on kick returns.

Williams, who came to Cal a year ago as a transfer from UNLV, credited several key blocks as the key to his 80-yard dash to the end zone.

“I just saw daylight and tried to turn on the jets and celebrate with my teammates. It was a great feeling,” he said. “When I got past the last guy, am I really going to score? I just didn’t really know what to do. Do I celebrate? 

“When I got on the sideline that’s when I started slowing things down and started celebrating.”

Williams said he heard from his parents, who were proud of his performance, which also included an interception on defense. His brother and a few friends reached out. But he’s trying not to get carried away by the experience.

“I’m just in between celebrating and not getting a 15-yard penalty,” he said. “I want to get to the end zone first and then we’ll go from there.  It’s kind of like an in-the-moment thing.”

Wilcox and his coaching staff had made special teams an emphasis since last spring, and those groups performed fairly well against the Agges.

Three of Ryan Coe’s six kickoffs were touchbacks and Davis returned the other three for an average of just 13 yards. Coe also was perfect on placekicks, making his only field goal try and all four of his PATs.

Lachlan Wilson averaged 41.7 yards on six punts — about three yards below his 2023 mark — but two of them were downed inside the 20 and only one was returned (for 11 yards).

Williams’ kickoff was a highlight — “a huge play,” Wilcox said — Utah transfer Mikey Matthews showed some promise at punt return, picking up 19 yards on three runbacks.

Williams will devote much of his energy at Auburn shadowing a tall and athletic wide receiver corp that includes Penn State transfer KeAndre Lambert-Stewart and freshmen Cam Coleman and Malcolm Simmons. The threesome combined to catch eight passes for 233 yards (29 yards per reception) and four touchdowns.

“They’re bigger type of guys,” Williams said. “They do take vertical shots. When that ball is in the air I’ve got to be able to play my technique and attack the ball in the air.”

Williams is paired at cornerback this season with Marcus Harris, who previously played at Oregon State and Idaho. Harris had an interception, a pass breakup and a tackle in the Davis game.

“It’s what I expect from him, having an edge, making plays. I always knew he was capable of that,” Williams said. “The sky’s the limit for us, man. I feel like we can be one of the best DB combos in the country.”