If Rodrick Williams Jr. accomplishes nothing else in his Minnesota career, he will always have one claim to fame.

"He may be the only guy in college football who takes his lizard for a walk," Gophers running backs coach Pat Poore said.

Williams is the proud owner of a 10-month old, 2-foot-long savannah monitor. He has a leash and a harness for his pet lizard and occasionally takes him for walks outside his off-campus apartment.

As you might imagine, Williams garners some quizzical looks from passers-by on those reptilian rambles. But his teammates mostly just shrug.

"It’s kind of fitting for him," quarterback Mitch Leidner said. "It's not too much of a surprise if you know how goofy he is."

Williams has always marched to his own beat and enjoyed outside interests. But now as a senior, he has become serious about finishing up his football career strong and capitalizing on an important opportunity.

Minnesota must replace star tailback David Cobb, who broke the school single-season rushing record in 2014 with 1,626 yards. Williams has seized the starting role with a locked-in offseason performance. He lost close to 20 pounds, held off some promising young contenders such as Berkley Edwards and Rodney Smith and earned the coaches' trust that he should take the first and likely the most carries in Thursday's marquee opener against No. 2 TCU.

"If I'm going to do something, then this is the year to do it," Williams said. "David is like a brother to me, so I can't wait for the day when, if I break his record, I can call him up and say, 'Yeah, I did it.'"

In Williams' view, he's just reclaiming his old spot. He actually started ahead of Cobb at the start of the 2013 season, but a suspension and a foot injury cleared the way for Cobb to Wally Pipp him for two years. Williams understands that he's mostly to blame for that.

Gophers coaches make players who miss meetings or are late to classes wear brown shirts. Brown was a wardrobe staple for Williams' first couple of years on campus.

"He was quite the knucklehead," Leidner said.

Those days are behind him now, and Williams is ready to show what he can do in a full-time role. He has ripped off big runs already in his career, including a key 19-yard touchdown in the win over Nebraska last year and a 20-yard score on his only carry versus Missouri in the Citrus Bowl. At a listed 5-foot-11 and 229 pounds, he is a load to tackle and the perfect catalyst for Minnesota's thudding style that will try to counter TCU's speed.

"He's back to a weight where he's really nimble and light on his feet, but he's still a really powerful guy," Poore said. "He's kind of like that horse that starts getting white on its shoulders from sweating; that's when it's at its best."

Luckily, Williams' renewed focus hasn't come at the expense of his personality, which his unusual choice in animal companion proves.

Williams said he decided to go for a reptile when he discovered his landlord's no-dogs policy. He wanted to get something that would eventually get as big as a dog, and savannah monitors can grow up to 5 feet in length.

He named the monitor "Kilgharrah," after the dragon in the TV series "Merlin." Williams calls him "Kill" for short. That's no coincidence.

Williams has shown pictures and videos of his pet to its namesake, Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill. After laughing, Kill --the coach, not the pet -- began referring to Williams as "Lizard Boy." It's an appropriate nickname, as Williams used to bring all sorts of amphibians and reptiles into his house while growing up in Lewisville, Texas, much to his parents' chagrin.

Kill -- the pet, not the coach -- lives in a 75-gallon tank in Williams' apartment and eats crickets and mice. His girlfriend's only rule is that Williams not bring roaches into the apartment to feed to Kill -- the pet, not the ... oh, you probably figured that one out.

"When he gets big enough, I'll probably give him his own corner of the house, or build him a cage," Williams said.

Williams also is a car nut, constantly wrenching on his Chevy Cobalt SS when he's away from the football complex. Poore, whose father ran a gas station, said he and Williams have long conversations about exhaust systems, turbo chargers and tires. The energetic running back also owns the title of best dancer on the team.

"He'll stand right by the radio and dance," Leidner said. "Sometimes you'll walk in, and he's standing there and dancing by himself. He’s a different guy."

In many ways, a different Williams could be a very good thing for these Gophers.