Demond Williams Jr.'s QB Coronation: Taking the Reins at Penn State

Coming off an overly satisfying home win over USC, the University of Washington football team headed to the East Coast ever hopeful it could stand in there and put on a good show against Penn State in the 100,000-plus Nittany Lions den.

The Huskies got eaten alive instead.

Where was Russell Crowe and his fellow gladiators when you needed them most?

Rather than simply take their lumps as they did at Iowa and Indiana, the Huskies on this night examined everything happening around them and began the process of changing the starting quarterback hierarchy -- of moving from Will Rogers to Demond Williams Jr.

While it would be unfair to pin the UW's 35-6 loss in State College all on Rogers, because he never stood a chance with his offensive line wilting under pressure, the Huskies decided to look more to the future and get Williams ready to play in 2025.

It was sort of like telling the older executive that he needed to empty his office, take his severance package and retire while someone younger assumed his role. It wasn't fair, but in life the youth movement never is.

Freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr. waits for his teammates to line up at Penn State. | Skylar Lin Visuals

With all of the growing interest currently surrounding Williams following his two late-season starts and a sensational Sun Bowl performance, we're taking a look back at each of his 13 freshman appearances and what happened. This is the 10th installment. This was a Husky crossroad.

In a huge college football setting, Rogers was given his team's five first-half drives to get the Huskies on the scoreboard -- and nothing happened.

On the opening series, he guided the Huskies 13 plays for a Grady Gross field-goal attempt from 45 yards out that hit the right upright and bounced away.

Doink!

For the second UW possession, it lasted just six plays and came apart when Penn State's Abdul Carter blew past Husky right tackle Drew Azzopardi and dropped Rogers for a hard sack and a 7-yard loss.

The third drive went 4-and-out, ending with an interception. The fourth drive went 3-and-out, leading to a punt. By now, nothing worked.

Rogers' day came to a merciless close with a final play, a 4-yard pass to Giles Jackson, to end the half with the Huskies scoreless and trailing by four touchdowns.

Time for a quarterback change.

"It was 28-0 and we really weren't getting anything going after the opening drive," UW coach Jedd Fisch said. "I thought it was an opportunity to give Demond a chance to play a full half of football. He hadn't had that opportunity. I thought that was really important for him."

Demond Williams Jr. and fellow freshman Adam Mohammed walk off the field together at Penn State. | Skylar Lin Visuals

To open the second half, Penn State fumbled the ball away and Williams opened a half for the first time as the Husky quarterback, and in most favorable conditions, with the UW taking over on the Nittany Lions' 34.

On his first play, Williams had a chance to do something truly remarkable but he drew only groans back in Seattle. His adrenaline got in the way as he took the shotgun snap, found fellow freshman Decker DeGraaf wide open at the Penn State 25 and overthrew the tight end -- missing out on a sure touchdown pass. Williams ultimately moved his team to the 6, where the Huskies settled for a field goal.

Up in the press box, the announcer relaying play-by-play descriptions to media members still needed time to get acquainted with this new UW quarterback, repeatedly calling him "Desmond," before figuring it out.

On his second series, Williams directed the UW from his 27 to the Penn State 5, where the Huskies stalled out, the quarterback got sacked at the 7 and his team settled for another field goal early in the fourth quarter.

With inside five minutes remaining in the game, Williams came out for a third and final series. On the third play, he went over the left side and broke a 43-yard run to the Penn State 34, showing off his possibilities. He drew a pass-interference call that put the ball on the 9. He got sacked back to the 20. The Huskies ran out of downs on the 8.

"Coming up the sideline, you could see how fast he was," Fisch said.

The stat line for the Huskies' rookie quarterback: 30 snaps, 10 rushes for a net 38 yards, 6-for-10 passing for 60 yards and 2 field goals.

Rather pointedly, Fisch was asked if Rogers was still his starting quarterback, and the coach answered affirmatively. However, he liked what he saw from the young guy, who had moved the ball on each of his three drives.

"I thought he did really good, but obviously I would have liked him to hit the first pass to Decker," Fisch said. "That would have been a nice little touchdown."

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