MEMPHIS -- The University of Arkansas was in the mix.

So was Iowa and Ole Miss.

Memphis was, too, and running back DeAngelo Williams' decision to attend the Memphis resurrected a dormant program and led it to the postseason (in 2003 and '04) for the first time since the early 1970s.

Tennessee, Memphis' opponent Saturday at Neyland Stadium, didn't make a run at Williams, ranked seventh on the NCAA's career rushing chart.

"I didn't fit their offense," Williams said Monday after coach Tommy West's weekly press luncheon. "You could tell guys that fit their offense, and I wasn't one of those guys.

"They liked the big, bulkier back that can take the pounding, just pound the ball and can get as many yards as possible when he breaks into the open field. I guess I wasn't one of those guys that fit that mold."

Williams, a senior from Wynne, Ark., will enter Saturday's 2 p.m. game not so much trying to prove the Vols made a mistake as trying to prove he can run like a prototypical Tennessee back.

He may have to.

The Vols (3-5) are the nation's fourth-best team against the run (80.9 yards per game). Reversing his field, as he has done for some long gains of 70-plus yards this season, may not be an effective option against a Tennessee defense that hasn't allowed an opposing back to rush for 100 yards.

Williams may have to "pound the ball" inside.

"I can do that," he said. "But I'm not the kind of back they like, someone who's 230 pounds and 5-10 or 5-11. That's just not me. They didn't want the scatback-type back."

Williams, 5-10 and 217 pounds, has been successful as a Conference USA 'scatback.' The league's two-time offensive player of the year, Williams ranks first nationally in rushing with an 184.5 yards-per-game average. He also ranks first nationally in all-purpose yardage at 195 yards per game, almost two yards ahead of USC's Reggie Bush.

He says he's prepared to alter his style in an attempt to be effective Saturday against a defense that features right tackle Jesse Mahelona and left end Parys Haralson, a twosome that has combined for 18 tackles for loss.

"There's a time and a place for everything," Williams said.

A solid outing Saturday -- and next weekend at Southern Miss -- could prove beneficial to Williams next spring.

"I've told him the next couple of weeks is a chance for him to make some money," West said. "I told him you are going up against two really good run defenses.

"They want to see him make some of those 3-, 4- and 5-yard tough runs, too, where you've got to turn it up in there and pound it. It's a great opportunity for him to put some feathers in his cap."

West said Williams's remarkable vision has created highlight-reel moments this season, where he has reversed his field to turn a potential lost-yardage play into a long gain.

"Against some defenses, you can't do that," West said. "This is one of them.

"You're not going to reverse your field and outrun all these guys. You've got to stay up in there, and you've got to believe in things. And you may have to pound some Saturday. You may have to turn it up in there and stay up in there."

Memphis has only played one other school -- Ole Miss -- whose rushing defense ranks in the top 50 nationally. In the season opener against the Rebels, ranked 49th, Williams was held to 85 yards rushing. It represents his only sub-100 performance of the season and the only game he has failed to surpass 100 in the past 13.

"Their defensive line makes few mistakes, and they always pursue to the ball," said Tiger offensive lineman Andrew Handy. "We're just going to have to be sound on our end and make few mistakes, or no mistakes, and keep them off our quarterback and running back."