[3] Williams initially leaned towards attending the University of Florida, but re-opened his recruitment after the firing of head coach Ron Zook.

[2] He strongly considered offers from Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee, before announcing live on ESPN that he would attend Penn State.

[2] Penn State was coming off four losing seasons in five years, and head coach Joe Paterno was under increasing pressure to retire.

The Sporting News named Williams to the freshman All-Big Ten Conference team despite having played just seven games in 2005.

He played both running back and wideout in the Outback Bowl, helping Penn State to a 20–10 win against Tennessee.

[5] Williams became the first player under the coaching of Joe Paterno to score a touchdown on a catch, run, and kick return in the same game, when he accomplished the feat against the Illinois Fighting Illini on September 27, 2008.

[6] Williams was named the Big Ten special teams player of the week following the Nittany Lions victory.

The two first met during Arrington's time with the Washington Redskins, when Williams was playing high school football in nearby Greenbelt, Maryland.