USC suits Damian Williams after frustration at Arkansas

Time to ease bad memories.

A freshman season gone wrong at Arkansas. The decision to leave. The fans who called him a traitor and a momma's boy.

"It's tough when you hear people say things about you," he said. "Not the most flattering things."

There is a traditional Shaker song about the gift of coming down where you ought to be. Standing on the practice field at USC -- some 1,500 miles from controversy -- Williams can smile because he feels that way.

The sophomore wide receiver is relieved to be past the upheaval of switching schools and having to sit out a year. Through the first weeks of training camp, he has displayed smarts and quickness.

"He's got a savvy about him, like he's a real veteran player," Coach Pete Carroll said. "He understands the game beautifully."

And he returns to the field just when the USC receiving corps needs a spark, a jump-start, something.

While the spotlight has focused on a young offensive line and the quarterback mix -- including another Arkansas transfer, Mitch Mustain -- the receivers must rebound from a 2007 season in which they took a back seat to tight end Fred Davis, accounting for fewer than half of all receptions.

Fans are waiting for the next Mike Williams, the next Dwayne Jarrett or Steve Smith.

"You've had guys like that," Damian Williams said. "You're going to have high expectations."

The pressure doesn't seem to bother him. It might not feel so bad compared to the rocky path that brought him here.

------

Much has been written about what happened at Arkansas, a football season turned soap opera.

"Nobody really knew the whole story," Williams said. "Anytime there is missing information, opinion turns into speculation and speculation turns into rumor."

He reduces the chaos to a simple chronology.

It started with Springdale High, down the road from the Arkansas campus, and an undefeated team in 2005. Mustain committed to the Razorbacks, but then changed his mind. Williams and tight end Ben Cleveland were headed for Florida. Then Arkansas hired their high school coach, Gus Malzahn, to be offensive coordinator and install Springdale's spread offense.

"When coach went there, it was a big deciding factor," Williams recalled.