At Tennessee
When arriving at his hometown university, Widby initially decided to concentrate on basketball due to his high school injury. Even though he did not attend spring or fall practice with the freshman football team—at the time, freshmen were not allowed to play NCAA varsity sports—the football team kept him on scholarship in hopes he would change his mind. As it turned out, the football coaching staff went to head basketball coach Ray Mears, telling him they needed a punter. Mears had no problem with Widby playing that position, and as Widby himself recalled in 2011, "I always enjoyed punting a football." He also played on the freshman team in another of his high school sports, baseball, hitting nearly .400.
The following year (1964–65), he had won starting positions in both football and basketball. He also hit nearly .300 in what would be his only varsity baseball season, but felt bored by that sport. He then met Tennessee's golf coach, who upon finding out that Widby had also been on Fulton's varsity golf team invited him to try out for the team. Widby would go on to earn a letter in golf in his junior year.
Sportswriter Ron Higgins would say in 2011, "Few athletes in SEC history enjoyed a better senior year in 1966-67 than Ron in both football and basketball." In football, he led the nation in punting average at 43.8 yards, while in basketball, he averaged 22.1 points and 8.7 rebounds while leading the Volunteers to a conference title. He was named a first-team All-American in both sports, and was also the SEC's basketball Player of the Year. He also thought about continuing with golf, but decided against it because it interfered with NFL contract negotiations.
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