KSU’s #5 Dexter Williams II runs with the ball. Allegency Stadium, August 29th, 2025. Photo Credit: KSU Athletics
A long journey in the college football world is about to come full circle for Kennesaw State quarterback Dexter Williams II.
The day was Nov. 19, 2022, and the place was Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.
A reported 56,136 people filled the stands to watch Indiana and Michigan State play, two teams jostling for position at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, on a day when the temperature dipped well below zero.
After flashing some ability against the No. 2-ranked Ohio State the previous week, throwing for two touchdowns and leading the Hoosiers in rushing in a 56-14 loss, Williams II earned his first career college start.
“It was -16 degrees, so we were battling a couple different things out there,” Williams II said. “But all in all I just remember it being a blast.”
Williams II, a former three-star recruit out of Mount De Sales Academy in Macon, Georgia, was recruited to Indiana primarily by someone college football fans will quickly recognize, Kalen DeBoer. The offensive coordinator at the time, and future Washington and Alabama head coach, brought Williams II in to join a quarterback room featuring now expected Atlanta Falcons starter Michael Penix.
The start had been a long time coming for Williams II. As a freshman, the team opted to redshirt him for the 2020 season, while the Hoosiers led a solid 6-2 campaign in a COVID-19 -abbreviated season.
Eager to begin moving up the depth chart in 2021, Williams II was met with a major setback in spring practice. The redshirt freshman suffered an ACL injury, sidelining him for another full season.
Faced with the brutal cold front of a Michigan November, Williams II played the entirety of a double-overtime thriller, throwing the ball just seven times.
On the game’s opening drive, Williams II called his own number and took a quarterback keeper 34 yards to the end zone to put the Hoosiers up early. He ended the day with 16 carries for 86 yards, helping Indiana snap its seven-game losing streak in a 39-31 victory.
“We weren’t going to be bowl eligible at that point, so we just went out there and let it all hang,” Williams II said. “I thoroughly enjoyed those last two games.”
Looking to end the season strong, Williams II got the call to start again the following week against the Hoosiers’ most hated rival, Purdue.
After completing his first pass of the game, disaster struck.
Williams II suffered a non-contact injury to his knee, knocking him out of not only the game, but also the entire following season.
On the sidelines in 2023, Williams II assumed a role closer to that of a graduate assistant rather than a player.
“They kind of treated me like a coach, like a GA for that entire season,” he said. “I learned a lot during that time. We had two young quarterbacks and I kind of got to mentor those guys a little bit.”
Indiana football regressed as Williams II watched from the sideline, posting a 3-9 record in 2023.
Head coach Tom Allen was fired at the end of the season, and after graduating with as many season-ending injuries as starts, Williams II made the decision to move on and enter the transfer portal with at least two more years of eligibility.
“I had been there for four years, and I thought it was time for a new start,” Williams II said. “I don’t regret any second of it. It all led me here.”
Williams II found a landing spot back in his home state, signing with Georgia Southern for the 2024–25 season.
Despite backing up JC French IV for most of his time in Statesboro, Williams had his moments. Most notably, when he helped engineer a 20-point fourth quarter comeback against eventual Sun Belt champion Marshall.
In relief of French IV, Williams II completed 10 of 14 passing attempts for 135 yards, added a rushing touchdown and threw a game-winning 34-yard touchdown pass to Derwin Burgess with a minute to play in a 24-23 GASO win.
“[The Marshall game] was awesome,” Williams II said. “Went in there, just let it all hang loose, man. We were down 23-3 at the time, and you can’t get every point back in one place, so just take it one play at a time and throw the ball ultra-aggressive – [there was] not much to lose at that point in the game.”
With French returning this season, Williams II again looked elsewhere for an opportunity to start. This time the transfer portal led the now sixth-year quarterback to KSU.
After coming within a point of upsetting Wake Forest in last week’s opener, Week 2 takes Williams II back to a familiar place, Bloomington, Indiana, to take on a Hoosiers team fresh off a trip to the College Football Playoff.
Williams II said returning will be special, but emotions will have to take a backseat.
“I’m trying to [keep it] just business as usual,” Williams II said. “Of course, I got people calling me and things like that from up there and even some people from down here that are telling me how excited they are to see the game. But I’m just trying to approach it like I would any other game. Obviously, it’s special because I graduated from [Indiana], spent four years there, kind of grew up there – it kind of made me into the person I am today.”
Facing a lot of familiar faces could play to the signal-caller’s advantage. Williams II said he expects some of his remaining familiarity to be helpful on Saturday.
“I got a good look at these guys every day in practice,” he said. “You know, it’s been two years so obviously they probably have grown in some of the things they may have lacked – hopefully they got a little bit worse at some of the things they are really good at for our sake. But of course, seeing those guys every day, I know a little bit about them – they got a whole bunch of new people, so whoever walks out on that field we’ll be prepared for them.”
Coming out of the visiting locker room won’t actually be a new experience for Williams II, who had to do so for COVID-19-related reasons as a freshman, but this time he expects to walk out with a far different mindset than his 18-year-old self.
“It’s going to be funny,” he said. “I did spend a little time in that locker room during Covid when they had to split up. They put the freshmen in that visiting locker room, so it’ll take me back a bit. Hopefully it’s not too nostalgic, because as a freshman I was still learning a lot at the time – I didn’t walk into that locker room very confident many times. This time I think I’ll come out a lot more confident.”
