Isaiah Williams continues to rewrite Illinois football record book

Four games into the 2023 season, the Illinois football team sits at 2-2 and is eyeing a bowl game.

There is still plenty of work left to do for the Illini to go bowling this season. A win over Florida Atlantic by six points is nothing to write home about, but the way we looked in the final three quarters gave me some confidence moving forward.

A big part of this 23-17 win over the Owls was wide receiver Isaiah Williams. The former quarterback turned pass catcher has been sensational for Illinois since making the change in 2021. He had 525 yards on 47 receptions that first year. Williams followed that campaign up with 82 receptions for 715 yards this past season.

That is a big jump for any player. Nearly doubling the receptions and almost 200 yards more year-over-year is an impressive feat. What could the electric wide receiver do in year three of honing his pass-catching abilities?

Isaiah Williams is on pace to rewrite the Illinois football record book as a junior

Williams has been a main staple in the Illinois offense this season. We have won two games and have been decently close in the other two contests. Having a wide receiver like Williams helps Illinois continue to stay in games.

Williams has at least five catches and 50 yards in each game this season. Through the first four contests, he sits at 24 receptions for 333 yards. If you project that out over a 12-game schedule, he is looking at 72 receptions for 999 yards. That doesn’t include a potential bowl game appearance either.

Last season, Williams made it into the Illinois football record book with his 82 receptions, which ranks No. 4 in single-season receptions in program history. If he could pull in 72 receptions in 2023, Williams would own the No. 4 and No. 7 spots on this list.

With his game on Saturday against Florida Atlantic, Williams moved up in the Illinois career receptions list as well. He entered the season with 132 receptions for his career, and now Williams has 156 receptions, which ranks No. 8 in career receptions. If he ends up catching the projected 72 passes this season, then he’ll finish 2023 with 204 career receptions, which would rank No. 2, right behind David Williams.

Williams wasn’t able to crack the top 10 in Illinois single-season receiving yardage last season, but if he hits the projected 999 yards in 2023, this will put him No. 9 on that list.

The 333 yards Williams has through four games this season gives him 1,582 yards receiving for his career. That is just 32 yards shy of cracking the top 10 in Illinois career receiving yards. If Williams can get to the projected 999 yards receiving this season, he would finish with 2,248 yards for his career after his junior year. That would land him No. 7 on this list as well.

Illinois fans are witnessing one of the greatest wide receivers in program history. Williams does things that have rarely been seen in Champaign. The crazy part is, he is only a junior.