How Demond Williams Has Fared Entering Big Ten Play

Handing the football to five different running backs and watching seven wide receivers fill out the three starting roles, Demond Williams Jr. probably wonders when his University of Washington football team is finally going to settle in around him.

Meantime, he's weathered all of these continual personnel changes in Montlake and had a fairly effective first three games of the season by simply going about his business at quarterback.

Heading into the weekend and the Huskies' Big Ten opener against Minnesota, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Williams currently ranks third in the nation in total offense at 346.7 yards per game.

He's alternately found his pass-catchers with a 70.6 percent completion rate for 890 yards and tucked the ball under his arm for a team-leading 25 carries for 150 yards.

Overall, his early reviews have been fairly positive.

Demond Williams Jr. joins his UW teammates in a huddle in the Husky Stadium shadows. | Dave Sizer photo

"I think he's playing very well," Husky coach Jedd Fisch said earlier this week. "Where he could have had some real cool stats is if we had executed at the end of the play a few different times."

Williams has had just one real unsettling moment so far -- getting hit in the elbow as he let go of the ball and had it flutter into an Eastern Washington defensive back's arms for an interception.

However, he emerged with a clean bill of health, much to the relief of Fisch, who's always been his biggest proponent.

"I was concerned," the coach said.

Dave Sizer photo — Demond Williams Jr. goes airborne against Utah State. | Dave Sizer

On that play, Williams probably lost a touchdown throw to receiver Chris Lawson and ended up with the pass theft to Eastern near the goal line when his pass protection broke down in the second quarter of the 48-16 victory.

The quarterback raised immediate alarms by bending over in pain and heading directly to the medical tent in the UW bench area.

His elbow caught an Eagles helmet when he let go of the football and it ended up in opposing hands. Otherwise, there was no physical damage, just a funny bone that vibrated more than anything else.

"The one pick was something that we just have to flip a protection there and patch that up," Fisch said. "Chris Lawson ran a great route. We can't have a free-hitter on the quarterback."

With the UW leading just 14-10 at the time, Williams just shook it off and led the Huskies to a 32-point victory and a 3-0 start.

"I think he's playing really well with a lot of room to grow," Fisch said. "He just keeps getting better. I thought this last game, he had his best game."

It was momentarily painful, but Williams proved resilient just the same.

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