Huskies Pull Out Another Comeback Win, But This One Was Easier

With an American League postseason baseball game just five miles away, football appeared to be the last thing on anyone's mind on Friday night in Montlake.

For a while, that included the University of Washington Huskies, who gave up a touchdown just 78 seconds into Friday night's game in a two-thirds full stadium before fully committing themselves to the task at hand and rolling to a 38-19 homecoming win.

While this game began an hour after the Mariners and the Tigers threw their first pitch, it ended well before their baseball brethren wrapped up things in their extra-inning marathon downtown.

Against Rutgers, Demond Williams Jr. proved to be the UW's home-run hitter in so many different ways.

He was at his dual-threat quarterback best on this evening by passing for 402 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushing for another 136 and 2 more scores -- becoming just the 16th signal-caller in NCAA history to turn in a 400/100 yard game.

"Demond Williams is a superstar," UW coach Jedd Fisch said.

Williams' heroics helped bring the Huskies out of first-half doldrums that saw them fall behind 10-0 this time, a week after trailing Maryland 20-0, and require another second-half comeback.

"We're trying not to do that anymore," Fisch quipped.

Yet his team (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) didn't mess around in righting things, scoring on its first four possessions after intermission to avenge last season's loss to Rutgers (3-3, 0-3) on the road.

Williams completed 21 of 27 attempts in putting together his passing stats and run 13 times for his first100-yard game at the UW. Besides the historic NCAA company he keeps, the speedy player became the 12th Husky quarterback to run for 100 or more. He finished with a school-record 538 yards of total offense.

"I didn't know that until after the game," he said seated in front media, "but that's kind of crazy."

Clearly, the high-profile baseball action, which ended with the Mariners winning 3-2 in 15 innings, cut into the UW football atmosphere. Husky players noticed the big gaps of empty seats throughout the stadium.

"They stole all our fans," wide receiver Denzel Boston said. "Thirty thousand of them."

Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. of 42 and 25 in the first half against Rutgers. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The Huskies probably were glad those missing followers didn't see the outset. Rutgers' Antwan Raymond broke a 51-yard run on the second play of the game to let the home team know it needed to pay more attention to the Scarlet Knights.

On the fourth snap, Rutgers' KJ Duff caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Athan Kaliakmanis, beating cornerback Ephesians Prysock, and the Huskies basically couldn't get out of their first inning without taking on water.

The scoreboard clock had barely moved, reading 13:42, and there were opposing points on it.

The Huskies tried to ramp up the energy with Williams zipping around the left end for a 42-yard run on their first play. A 12-yard pass to Boston and a 15-yard run by Jonah Coleman followed, moving them to the Rutgers 24 in just three plays.

Huskies cornerback Ephesians Prysock (7) reacts after a defensive stop against Rutgers. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Yet that drive stalled and Grady Gross missed a 39-yard field goal. In baseball parlance, it was a whiff.

Rutgers came back up the field and put a 35-yard field by Jai Patel on the board, good for a 10-0 lead and conjuring up memories of Maryland. Just nine and a half minutes had been played.

The Huskies' minds were clearly elsewhere . On their next possession, Williams was sacked twice and Luke Dunne shanked a punt, putting the visitors on the UW 32.

Rutgers, however, couldn't take advantage of a gift situation as Patel missed a 45-yard field goal wide left.

On their next possession, the Huskies still weren't plugged in. The center snap went over Wiliams' head, forcing him to catch it on a bounce and unload it.

Rutgers running back Antwan Raymond stiff arms UW safety Makell Esteen on a 51-yard run on the game's second play. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Early in the second quarter, the UW finally settled down and, again reminiscent of Maryland, engineered an instantaeous 3-play, 50-yard drive that ended with Boston high-pointing a 23-yard pass in the end zone and the Huskies trailed just 10-7.

"I'm 6-foot-4," he said. "I'd hope the advantage is there."

As the half came to an end, the teams traded field goals, with Patel connecting on a 37-yarder and Gross hitting one from 36 with zeroes on the clock.

As the Mariners and Tigers went into extra innings downtown, Fisch's guys came out and decided to settle this one right away.

They drove 75 yards in four plays for Coleman's 1-yard score and 12th touchdown of the season, and their first lead at 17-13.

After a defensive stop, the UW went 60 yards in three plays for another touchdown pass to Boston, this one covering 38 yards.

Williams countered a 48-yard TD pass to the Scarlet Knights' Raymond by scoring on a pair of runs from 11 and 7 yards, leaping over a defensive back and into the end zone.

"The same kid, he went for my knee on the first play of the game," Williams said. "So I made sure my knee was clean."

He slid in with a UW victory nearly an hour before the Mariners matched him and his teammates.

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