Williams Acknowledges Poor Play, Growing Critics

The Husky quarterback admits to playing less than optimum in five games.

Demond Williams Jr. leads his UW offense onto the field. | Dave Sizer photo

When Demond Williams Jr. speaks in a football setting, the words come tumbling out rapid-fire, almost in a scripted fashion, never straying far from a basic explanation.

He's a text-book quarterback who offers little emotion or any detail at all when quizzed about something, such as possibly transferring to LSU last winter.

It's as if the extra swift Williams is determined to get to the end of every sentence as fast as he runs for a first down.

This week, however, the topics veered off from what he typically deals with each week in a media setting, such as how would you grade your performance? And do you hear your critics howling at you?

Williams readily accepts the blame for the Huskies opening 0-2 in Big Ten play and 3-2 overall, all of which seems to point to a fall-off in performance for the third-year UW quarterback from Chandler, Arizona.

"Obviously, I don't feel like I'm playing good enough right now and that's on me to go back to the drawing board and try to be the best version of myself for this team," he said. "I understand I need to play clean football, be able to take care of the ball, and if we continue to move the ball and things like that, we'll be in a great spot moving forward."

His worst version most recently has been him fumbling away the football and a five-point Husky lead in a 25-21 loss to USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

While trying to pass in the third quarter with a 21-16 lead, Williams double-pumped the football, took a hit and lost possession, and the Trojans' 6-foot-5, 295-pound Jahkeem Stewart scooped up the ball and ran 48 yards for a go-ahead touchdown that proved to be the winning points.

"In that situation, I've just got to be smarter, being at midfield, being up five points of itself at the time," the Husky quarterback said. "Just got to understand I have to get the ball out of my hand. Don't let a bad play become worse."

Over five games, Williams has seen his production slide a bit from 2025. He's completing 67.5 percent of his passes compared to 69.5 last season. He's running for just 38.2 yards per game compared to 47.

Demond Williams Jr. turns up in a tunnel of light as he joins his UW teammates in the shadows. | Dave Sizer photo

After consecutive losses, this coming after he considered transferring out during the winter while agreeing with the UW to play for $4 million this season, Williams has been heavily criticized for his team's shortcomings.

Asked if he had heard the catcalls, the quarterback didn't directly answer the question, but it's clear he has a good idea what's out there.

"People are going to say whatever they want to say regarding games, whether I play good or bad," Williams said. "For me, it's just trying to stay on my two feet right here, 10 toes, and understand who I am as a person and not let whatever people want to say about me determine who I am as a person."