How Beejay Williamson has emerged as a leader this season for Louisiana Tech football
Louisiana Tech football resumes play after taking a week off, working on the field and being intentional with practice time.
Coach Sonny Cumbie said Beejay Williamson has been a driver in the team's improvement and has impressed Cumbie with his unwavering work ethic and drive since spring ball.
"Until you get into a game and you see the determination and the competitive spirit of BeeJay Williamson, the fire and the passion that I think he competes with on Saturdays is really inspiring to me as a coach," Cumbie said.
The Bulldogs (1-3) host UTEP (3-3, 1-1 Conference-USA) for their second home game of the season on Saturday ( 6 p.m., ESPN +). La Tech has been doing some soul searching before the first C-USA game of the season and the first for Cumbie.
"We want to get better at some of the fundamental things we do from a defense and offensive standpoint," Cumbie said.
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Junior defensive lineman Deshon Hall Jr. said the defense has been working on being more aggressive and moving the line of scrimmage.
"We've been too happy with just winning opposition rather than creating a new line of scrimmage and making a play on their side of the ball," Hall said. "We've been too content with just making the play when the play comes to us."
Williamson has brought that aggression. Cumbie said he has seen tremendous growth in the junior safety in regard to what he has seen in practice and on practice film and the person he becomes on game days.
The Dallas, Texas, native has been at the top of team statistics. The 6-foot-1, 193-pound defensive back has racked up 27 tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in four games.
Hall said that he has been continuously impressed by Williamson's athletic ability and drive to put his name in the conversation as one of the team's top safeties.
"He has no limit; every game he surprises us," Hall said. "There's no stopping that guy. We don't know what he's going to do, honesty."
This article originally appeared on Monroe News-Star: How La Tech football's Beejay Williamson has grown into a leader
