In-Season Husky QB Change Hasn't Always Gone Well

Elijah Brown, if he starts, will be out to break the mold of UW struggles for a new guy.

Elijah Brown rolls out looking for a receiver in the Iowa game. | Dave Sizer photo

Playing in a college football game is one thing, but being the starter is a totally different vibe, especially if you're the quarterback at the University of Washington, as Elijah Brown most assuredly is about to find out.

As the Stanford transfer and previously Demond Williams Jr.'s back-up prepares for Friday night's game against Purdue, all indications point to Brown taking the field from the outset in West Lafaytette, Indiana, as a midseason replacement in the most important position on the field.

At the UW, a new No. 1 signal-caller coming in midstream hasn't happened often over the past dozen seasons.

Consider that from 2015 to '18, Jake Browning started all except one game at quarterback of the 54 held during his time in Montlake.

His lone miss?

In his sixth game as a freshman, Browning suffered a shoulder injury against Oregon that forced him to miss the following outing against Stanford.

In his place, the Huskies turned to then redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels, who gave it his best shot but suffered through a 31-14 defeat to Stanford in Palo Alto.

While he was sacked once and had no interceptions that day, Carta-Samuels completed just 9 of 21 passes for 118 yards a Chris Petersen's coaching staff no doubt kept the playbook simple.

Yet Carta-Samuels would never start another UW game and transferred to Colorado State for his final season, where he opened at times.

Huskies quarterbacks Jake Browning (3) and K.J. Carta-Samuels (11) warm up before the 2017 Oregon game. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After that, the Huskies would not turn to a new in-season QB starter for nearly three more seasons, with Jacob Eason starting all 13 games in 2019 and Dylan Morris opening all four outings during the COVID-shortened season of 2020.

However, following the in-season firing of coach Jimmy Lake in 2021 and that UW team in total disarray, interim coach Bob Gregory chose to start true freshman Sam Huard over Morris at quarterback in the season-ending Apple Cup against Washington State.

Huard's big moment was painful: in a 40-13 loss, the lefty completed 17 of 31 passes for 190 yards and a score, getting sacked 4 times while throwing an interception.

Gregory said he started Huard to “give us a spark, do something different. Had to do something different. We needed to. I think he showed some flashes. The four turnovers kill you, and we didn’t get any turnovers on defense. They weren’t all his fault, by any means. But I hope Husky nation can see this guy’s got a very bright future in front of him. I think you’re in good hands.”

Huskies quarterbacks Dylan Morris (9) and Sam Huard (7) talk before facing Arizona State in 2021. | USA TODAY Sports

Huard, however, never started another Husky game. Some thought this particular outing sort of stymied his career, which took him to Cal Poly, Utah and currently USC.

Michael Penix Jr. next transferred in from Indiana and proceeded to start all 28 games held during his stay in Montlake, which prompted both Morris and Huard to leave the program.

The Huskies next brought in Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, an SEC record-setter, to become the starting quarterback after Penix had led the UW to the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Rogers started the first 11 games, beat Michigan and USC at Husky Stadium, but was replaced by freshman Demond Williams Jr. for the final two outings that season in a youth movement decision.

Oregon Ducks linebacker Teitum Tuioti (44) comes up with one of 10 sacks of Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

In his Husky starting debut at Oregon, Williams proved to be fairly accurate but deeply bruised.

In the 49-21 loss, the young quarterback completed 17 of 20 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown.

He threw no interceptions, but he was sacked a disconcerting 10 times.

So now, after 21 consecutive starts by Williams, the Huskies are poised to start a new quarterback in Brown.

While he had an overly productive relief appearance against Iowa, by completing 28 of 39 passes for 251 yards and 3 TDs in the 41-24 loss, starting at quarterback is a whole different animal.

Brown will be out to break the mold of those previous in-season replacements and help rather than hinder his career path.