Williams Could Have Coming-Out Party against Buckeyes

By just looking at last season's stats, people know a little something about University of Washington running back Jonah Coleman, the 1,000-yard rusher, and wide receiver Denzel Boston, the 63-catch receiver.

However, except for a few fleeting highlight plays on ESPN, the widespread college football audience probably still has no real clue what Demond Williams Jr. is all about.

On Saturday afternoon against Ohio State at Husky Stadium, seemingly everyone will have a chance once and for all to learn about this 5-foot-11, 198-pound pinball wizard and what he can do with a football in his hands.

UW coach Jedd Fisch has talked openly this week about letting the rest of the nation know who his sophomore quarterback is and what he's capable of doing, such as a guy scrambling all over the field and beating teams with his arm and feet.

He's supposedly different shades of Kyler Murray, Russell Wilson and even Doug Flutie in terms of a small guy standing tall in the pocket or sprinting out of it and making things happen.

Demond Williams Jr. energetically has an Apple Cup moment. | Dave Sizer photo

He's shown no fear, no reluctance to back away from putting himself out there for some edge rusher or linebacker to rearrange his insides.

"Demond has played like this his whole life -- that's what we recruited," Fisch said. "We recruited a player that makes plays when plays aren't there right away. He stands in the pocket and makes tough throws. He's not afraid to do that. He makes plays outside of the framework. I'm not going to slow Demond down. Demond is a special, special player."

Demond Williams warms up for the Apple Cup. | Dave Sizer photo

Heading into this Big Ten match-up against an elite, there is no guarantee Williams will beat the top-ranked Buckeyes.

Yet the possibilities alone for him to continue to rush for on average 73.3 yards per game and complete 73.5 percent of his passes must have Ohio State coaches working late into the night and looking for ways to contain him.

If all goes well for the Huskies, this will be Demond Wiliams Jr.'s coming-out party to the entire college football ranks.

Demond Williams Jr. leaves two WSU tacklers reaching but not tackling him. | Dave Sizer photo

Yes, he threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score in the Sun Bowl against Louisville in December and the Big Ten on Monday honored him as co-Offensive Player of the Week for coming up with the same 4/1 scoring performance against Washington State last weekend in Pullman.

"It means a lot, for sure," Williams said of the league reward. "Definitely the hard work [is] paying off and having a good week of preparation in practice leading up to the game and having a pretty dominant game of offense."

Yet a game-changing performance against Ohio State would go a long way to getting the hype machine rolling in a crazy manner for Williams, something that will happen if not this weekend but sometime down the line.

He's likely the fastest quarterback in the nation. He's said to be the swifted signal-caller in UW annals. After his Monday reward, he's one of the best in the Big Ten.

Williams just hasn't been properly introduced to the rest of the college football world and this weekend's game could take care of that.

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