Demand on Demond: QB Needs to Keep Himself Out of Harm's Way

As the University of Washington football team returns after a week off, opposing defensive coordinators will note that running back Jonah Coleman knows where the end zone is and that wide receiver Denzel Boston is capable of going the distance at any moment.

However, to beat the Huskies, defensive coordinators from Washington State to Ohio State will quickly determine their focus needs to be on containing Demond Williams Jr., arguably the fastest quarterback in Power 4 football.

They simply can't let him run them ragged. If they do, anything goes in these upcoming games.

While the Huskies fully intend to turn Williams loose, they have to make sure he adheres to the parameters that are part of his responsibilities as this extremely active dual-threat quarterback -- he needs to make plays but take no unnecessary chances and, above all, stay healthy.

"He understands the game of football, that the best ability is availability," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "He's going to have to be available for us, hopefully the entire season, so he has to make the best decision on some either/or plays."

Either/or as in trying to get an extra yard or going down as quick as he can before contact arrives.

In 15 career games with the Huskies, including the past three as the starter, the 5-foot-11, 197-pound Williams has rushed the ball 105 times for 414 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a long run of 43 yards last season at Penn State.

While picking up 68 yards on the ground against Colorado State and 64 more against UC Davis this season, this sophomore signal-caller with his 4.3-second 40 speed has been crunched a few times, leaving people wincing if not holding their breath.

"I just try to get down as much as possible," Williams said of his marching orders. "Try to get out of bounds. Just take care of my body."

Demond Williams Jr. takes a shot after letting go of a pass against Colorado State. | Dave Sizer photo

The Huskies have been in this position before with an elite dual-threat quarterback in Jake Locker and the team paid a price at times for his exquisite skill level and competitiveness.

While he rushed 467 times for a UW-record 2,362 quarterback rushing yards and 30 touchdowns in his career, the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Locker couldn't avoid all of the pratfalls.

As a freshman in 2007, he left a game at Oregon State in an emergency vehicle with a neck injury bound for a local hospital. He later returned to the stadium wearing a neck brace.

A year later, Locker broke his thumb against Stanford and missed eight of 12 games that season for a UW team went winless with and without him.

Demond Williams Jr. puts up a stiff arm as a UC Davis tackler approaches. | Dave Sizer

Fisch acknowledges that contact is unavoidable for every quarterback. It's just a matter of managing it as best he can.

"He's going to take hits, he's not going to be hitless," Fisch said of Williams. "Lamar Jackson takes hits. Kyler Murray takes hits. Justin Hebert takes hits. Josh Allen takes hits. These guys are all running around. They're are all quarterbacks who have the ability to run and pass."

Marques Tuiasosopo was another quarterback for the Huskies who put himself out there as a frequent runner as well as a passer and he emerged from his time in Montlake (1997-2000) relatively unscathed.

Demond Williams Jr., slipping a tackle against UC Davis, rushed 8 times for 64 yards in the 70-10 victory. | Dave Sizer photo

He rushed the ball 361 times for 1,449 yards and 21 touchdowns in his career. He even came up with an NCAA-record 207-yard rushing and 302-yard passing performance in a 35-30 victory over Stanford in 1999.

Tuiasosopo's rushing output remains one of nine in which a UW quarterback has surpassed 100 yards rushing in a game, and one of just two that exceeded 200 yards, with 1974 starter Denny Fitzpatrick piling up 249 yards against Washington State.

Similar to Locker, Tuiasosopo carried a thick frame that measured out at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, providing him with some insulation against the harder hits.

Fisch mentioned how just two college quarterbacks who weighed less than 200 pounds, West Virginia's Pat White and Georgia's Stetson Bennett, have been drafted by NFL teams over the past two decades.

He's made sure that Williams, who's closing in on the 200 weight mark, knows this.

"The most important thing I can emphasis to Demond is you have to continue to get bigger and stronger," the UW coach said. "You have to gain weight. You have to really focus in on building body armor."

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