How Dee Williams' Punt Return For TD Ended Texas A&M Aggies SEC Championship Chatter

Dee Williams' 39-yard punt return for a touchdown all but proved the Aggies still remain a middle-tier team in the SEC.

Jimbo Fisher had little reason to worry about his special teams taking the field at the start of the third quarter. After all, Texas A&M had been prolific in that juncture ever since Miami's Brashard Smith returned a kick 98 yards for the score in a Week 2 loss. 

Fisher was right to punt, too. A&M was backed up to the 1-yard line, and despite leading by three, any chance for a potential turnover on downs would easily give No. 19 Tennessee either the tie or the lead. 

But sometimes history has a way of repeating itself. The Aggies lost against the Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami scored an offensive touchdown through the air, another on special teams and settled for two field goals. 

Of course, Miami found the end zone four more times behind the arm of Tyler Van Dyke, but Tennessee needed just two scores and a pair of field goals to extend A&M’s true road game losing streak to eight games in a 20-13 win at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. 

Joe Milton connected with Jacob Warren for a 7-yard touchdown at the end of the first quarter, but it was Dee Williams' 39-yard punt return for a touchdown that stole the show and secured the win. 

“When you’re punting, if you’re punting from the one, that’s only a 10-yard gap and you’re normally 14 or 15," Fisher said postgame. "So that’s the first thing, getting enough room to punt it and then try and get a first down.”

The Aggies (4-3, 2-2 SEC) tried to run it up the gun twice before Max Johnson just missed tight end Jake Johnson on third down. All-SEC punter Nik Constantinou delivered a blast, but the ball didn't hang long enough for A&M to work downfield and make a play.  

Williams had blockers, but he also had ample yards separating him and the nearest defender. By the time the Aggies were in reach, Williams was off to the races, or end zone. 

“We gotta coach them better,” Fisher said postgame. “And execute better.”

Williams' scamper to the end zone was the defining moment in front of over 100,000 screaming fans dressed head to toe in checkered Orange and White material. The Aggies could keep Johnson upright, often watching the quarterback take shots while uncorking a pass. 

A&M allowed 11 pressures and two sacks, though Johnson had more than two instances where he had to pick himself up off the grass. 

“I’m all good,” Johnson said postgame. “My body is good to go and I’m not complaining.”

Tennessee defensive back Dee Williams (3) runs the ball during a football game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023 / USA Today- Sports

The Aggies' inability to create an offensive identity did Fisher little favors in game-planning. Johnson finished 16 of 34 for 223 yards and two interceptions. He only connected on one pass over 25 yards, coming to Noah Thomas in the second quarter. 

Bobby Petrino's up-tempo offense was supposed to be the talk of College Station. Instead, it remained in neutral most of the afternoon and coughed up a season-low 227 yards. 

“You’ve got to remember you played a front that has made as many negative plays as we did," Fisher said of Tennessee's front seven. "They’ve got front guys that are going to get drafted and play and it was a good game.”

Defensively, A&M was playing with one hand bruised and the other bandaged. Star linebacker Edgerrin Cooper left with an undisclosed injury at the end of the first half. Defensive lineman and Tennessee native Walter Nolen was carted off with a lower-body injury in the final six minutes. Even depth pieces like Albert Reigs needed crutches after suffering a leg injury in the second quarter. 

Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) trusted its run duo of Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright to keep the offense rolling. Wright averaged 7.3 yards per carry and broke free for three runs of over 20 yards. Small finished with 42 yards, and the Volunteers finished 7-of-15 on third down. 

“It’s a team sport,” defensive end Fadil Diggs said. “You can’t just point at one side or one person, because it’s a team sport. We’ve got to all keep our heads and we all was in it together.”

A&M enters its bye week with a chance to regroup. It would take colossal implosion across the SEC West and a newfound spark for the Aggies to make it to Atlanta for a shot at the SEC title. One conference loss to Alabama might have been enough to keep morale high. 

But much like their conference hopes, all those dreams ended as Williams crossed the goal line to pick up the game-leading touchdown.