Utah football: Running back Joe Williams gains 179 yards as he comes out of retirement

By KURT KRAGTHORPE | The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Oct 15 2016 07:51PM • Last Updated Oct 16 2016 06:26 pm

Utah running back Joe Williams hops into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Oregon State, in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Utah offense » Running back gains 179 yards in return to game action.

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Oregon State wide receiver Timmy Hernandez, left, has a pass tipped away by a Utah defender in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Utah wide receiver Raelon Singleton, right, takes a hit from Oregon State safety Devin Chappell after making a catch in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Utah quarterback Troy Williams (3) tries to pull away from Oregon State's Manase Hungalu, bottom, and Kendall Hill (12) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Utah's Cory Butler-Byrd (16) tries to push past Oregon State's Caleb Saulo (35) and Xavier Crawford (12) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Utah quarterback Troy Williams (3) is tripped up as Oregon State's Kendal Hill (12) and Jonathan Willis (32) close in during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Timothy J. Gonzalez)

Corvallis, Ore. • Utah running back Joe Williams disagreed with the description, but teammate Cory Butler-Byrd was not deterred.

"He looked way more fresh," Butler-Byrd said Saturday, after Williams came out of retirement and ran for 179 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries in the Utes' 19-14 defeat of Oregon State at Reser Stadium.

"I wouldn't say 'fresh,' " Williams said earlier in the postgame interviews. "I had a little fatigue here and there."

That may have been the case in the second half, when Williams was held to 37 yards on 15 carries. Yet the Utes wouldn't have taken a 12-0 halftime lead without Williams, whose return was "a huge blessing for us," said Ute coach Kyle Whittingham.

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Williams said playing again came naturally to him, considering "I've been a running back about 16, 17 years."

Thanks to a flurry of injuries, the Utes dressed three running backs: Williams, who returned to practice Tuesday after 30 days away from football; Butler-Byrd, a receiver who was suspended for the first two games of the season with legal issues and last carried the ball regularly as a freshman in junior college; and Devontae Henry-Cole, who came out of redshirt status and ran once for 2 yards.

Butler-Byrd ran for 54 yards and quarterback Troy Williams added 40 net yards and a touchdown. "Actually, I played running back my whole life," Butler-Byrd said. "It actually felt good."

Even with Utah's second-half offensive struggles, Joe Williams became a remarkable story Saturday as he nearly matched his 34 carries for 187 yards last November against Colorado, after former Ute star Devontae Booker was injured.

Williams, who left the Utes after a Sept. 10 win over BYU, said, "I came back for the team, rather than myself."

Explaining his decision at the time, Williams said, "Knowing how my body's been these last couple of months, where I'm at mentally and physically, I'm not at the point where I can compete at the level I need to for the team and everybody."

Williams' workload going forward is unclear, because freshman Zack Moss should return from injury at some point. But he was there when the Utes needed him against Oregon State.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt