Is Ryan Williams hurt? Alabama WR had no catches in win at Missouri

A red-hot Alabama football team went on the road and earned one of its biggest wins of the season, knocking off No. 14 Missouri 27-24 in a matchup of top-15 teams on Saturday, Oct. 11.

The No. 8 Crimson Tide was able to pull off the victory without the help of arguably its most talented player.

Ryan Williams, Alabama’s 18-year-old phenom wide receiver, was held without a catch in a game in which nine of his teammates — even 290-pound offensive lineman Parker Brailsford — had at least one reception.

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The preseason All-American’s relative absence was notable, with second-year Tide coach Kalen DeBoer addressing it after the game and noting that Williams has been dealing with an injury.

“Just something that carried over from last week’s game,” DeBoer said. “It would have been earlier in the game last week, just took a hit. And, you know, so just hobbled. He didn’t get to practice as much this week.”

Williams had appeared on the SEC availability report earlier this week and was listed as probable before being cleared to play against No. 14 Missouri.

“That’s why he was on the report, which makes it a little harder to get him out there, especially when you have the confidence in other guys to go make plays,” DeBoer said. “And so I haven’t got the report exactly how he got through. I know he was out there and did help us. I would expect him to continue to make progress. He’s not that far away.”

This season, Williams has 21 catches for 336 yards and three touchdowns. The previous week, in an Oct. 4 win against Vanderbilt, the sophomore had six receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown.