Can Cal Cornerback Nohl Williams Pick Off All-America Honors?

His seventh interception of the season in Cal's win at Wake Forest gives him two more than any player in the country

Nohl Williams / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Maybe it’s time for Cal to begin promoting senior cornerback Nohl Williams for All-America honors.

These types of awards typically go to players who either began the season with a big reputation or play for a top-10 caliber team. Williams has neither of those qualifications.

But with his seventh interception of the season on Friday night in Cal’s 46-36 win at Wake Forest, Williams has strengthened his hold on the national lead. His seven picks are two more than anyone else in the country, three clear of the No. 2 interceptor in the ACC.

“It feels good,” Williams said postgame about securing his seventh pick. “But I still gave a touchdown. That didn’t feel too good.”

(Note to Cal: Probably should not include this quote in your All-America campaign material).

Williams also leads the ACC with 12 passes defended (interceptions plus pass breakups), and has 33 tackes. (He also averages 33.2 yards on kickoff returns, including an 80-yarder for a touchdown).

His seven picks elevate him into a six-way tie for No. 3 all-time in a single-season at Cal, a place he shares with post-war Golden Bears icon Jackie Jensen.

Deltha O’Neal set Cal’s single-season record with nine interceptions in 1999 and Daymeion Hughes came close with eight in 2006. Both of those certainly are in play, although Ken Wiedemann’s career mark of 16 (1967-69) remains well out of reach.

Including his two pass thefts a year ago and the five he totaled in three seasons at UNLV, Williams has 14 career interceptions.

At the three-quarter mark of the regular season, here are some other noteworthy statistical rankings involving the Bears: 

— Fernando Mendoza, with back-to-back career-high passing yardage totals, has climbed to No. 4 in the ACC with 2,480 yards. At that pace (275.6 per game), he’s projected to throw for 3,306 yards during the regular season, which would lift him to No. 6 Cal’s single-season chart (behind three seasons by Jared Goff and one each by Davis Webb and Pat Barnes).

Xavier Carlton celebrates one of his sacks at Wake Forest / Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

— Senior edge Xavier Carlton collected two more sacks against Wake and is third in the ACC and tied for seventh nationally with nine QB takedowns. He needs one more to move onto Cal’s single-season top-10 list and, with 18 over the past three seasons, is two shy of climbing onto the Bears’ top-10 career chart. 

— Senior punter Lachlan Wilson, who is third in the ACC and ninth nationally with a 45.9-yard average, is closing on a couple of Cal records. He’s ahead of Bryan Anger’s 2010 single-season punting average of 45.6 yards and his two-year career mark of 45.1 is well ahead of the Bears’ record of 44.0 yards by Scott Tabor (1986-87).

— Despite allowing 36 points in its win at Wake Forest, the Bears continue to lead the ACC in scoring defense (19.3 points per game), more than two points better than the next best. 

— By scoring more than 40 points two games in a row for the first time in coach Justin Wilcox’s eight seasons, the Bears are up to ninth in the ACC at 28.7 points per game.

— After coughing up 28 turnovers a season ago, the Bears have surrendered the ball just six times through nine games. If you’re looking for a reason the offense has improved this season, you can start here.

— The Bears’ defense leads the ACC and all of FBS with 17 interceptions, is tied for third nationally with 22 turnovers created and No. 2 in the country with a plus-16 turnover margin (plus-1.78 per game).

— After adding seven to their season total on Friday night, the Bears have sacked the opposing quarterback 28 times this season. That’s fourth-best in the ACC, tied for 11th nationally and already four more sacks than Cal recorded all last season.

— It’s debatable whether this is a good thing, but Cal leads the ACC in both field goal attempts (27) and makes (19). The Bears’ 70.4-percent conversion rate on those kicks is just 13th among ACC teams, although they are 9 for 9 the past two games.