Kirk Herbstreit awards Alabama's Ryan Williams as 2024 Big Player, Big Game performer in annual Herbie Awards for effort vs. Georgia

Ryan Williams is only 17, in case you missed that being repeated ad nauseam after his stellar showing against Georgia earlier this year. And for his efforts, the Alabama freshman wideout was honored.

Williams took home a Herbie Award, handed down by ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, for the best big time performance in a big game, for his burst-on-to-the-stage performance against the Bulldogs. And Herbstreit and Co. still quipped that Williams is 17.

On top of six catches for 177 yards, Williams also caught a key go-ahead touchdown late in the game, among a number of acrobatic catches.

Williams finished his freshman campaign with 45 catches for 857 yards and eight touchdowns.

He was also the subject of some Iron Bowl smack talk.

On Nov. 25, Auburn freshman Demarcus Riddick went off-script. Ahead of Auburn’s showdown against Alabama in the Iron Bowl, Riddick made several bold criticisms about Crimson Tide stars Ryan Williams and Jalen Milroe.

“Ryan Williams is Ryan Williams,” Riddick said. “Yeah he’s electric, all this and that. In my eyes, he ain’t really nobody to me. Ryan Williams is himself. He ain’t no big time player to me.”

Riddick didn’t stop there, doubling down on the trash talk.

“He is a good quarterback,” Riddick said of Jalen Milroe, per BamaCentral‘s Katie Windham. “He’s fast, but I mean, he’s not faster than me. He will not get out of that box this week.”

Riddick’s words came back to bite him when Alabama dominated Auburn 28-14. In the win, Williams tallied three catches for 53 yards. However, the true star of the show was Milroe, who exploded for 104 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.

Additionally, Milroe completed 18-of-his-24 pass attempts for 256 yards. During an appearance on The Next Round on Monday, Alabama offensive lineman Tyler Booker reflected on how Riddick’s comments motivated the Crimson Tide.

“Honestly, we all just laughed at it because we knew that he was going to have to see us eventually,” Booker said. “He did and I think Ryan showed how special he was and Jalen showed how fast he was. So, I think he’s going to have to go through a little bit of media training this offseason.”