MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Reed Williams said last week he'd like to think his West Virginia teammates were good enough to win Saturday's season opener without him in the lineup.

He'll probably never find out.

The senior from Moorefield, who earlier this month all but accepted he would not play against Villanova and admitted a medical redshirt was a possibility, is likely to start at middle linebacker.

"Yes," Coach Bill Stewart said this morning on the Big East Conference coaches' media teleconference. "Unless something happens between now and Saturday and he's nicked or dinged up."

Williams had surgery in January to fix a torn labrum in his right shoulder and then a second surgery in March to fix the same problem in his left shoulder. He sat out spring practice and was in non-contact drills the first 2 ½ weeks of preseason practice. He didn't begin full-contact drills until last Wednesday.

"He hit and we hit and we did it hard," Stewart said. "Reed Williams has done everything. He's laughing again. He's the Reed of old. The doctors feel good and Reed feels good.

"He seems to be very strong and he's come a long, long way in a fast period of time over the last month. It's been good for him. It's been good for him mentally. He's ready to go."

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Williams led the team in tackles last season and was named the defensive player of the game in a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma. He's already been named a preseason candidate for the Butkus Award.

However, it seemed as though he might miss a few games and perhaps even take a medical redshirt this season.

The normal recovery time for the surgery is six months and Williams had yet to use his arms in a football capacity or rebuild upper body strength earlier in the month. He's made dramatic strides in the past two weeks, though, and seems to have defied even the most optimistic prognosis.

"He's wanting to play real bad and I think he will," Stewart said. "He's doing really well. The doctors and trainers are impressed by how rapidly and how quickly he's progressed. He's right on schedule."

Contact sports writer Mike Casazza at mi...@dailymail.com">mi...@dailymail.com or 304-319-1142. His blog can be found at blogs.dailymail.com/wvu.