Williams Out to Show No Lingering Effects From Michigan Nightmare

Baseball players suddenly lose their ability to get a hit and then it mysteriously reappears. The finest basketball shooters are subjected to their 0-for-whatever outings and then the ball starts going in again. Even the best golfers get the yips and get over it.

Coming out of this past Saturday's Washington-Michigan football game, it's fair to say Demond Wiliams Jr. hit the roughest stretch of his college career by throwing three interceptions in four second-half series.

A hard-nosed 7-7 game through 43 minutes of play all of sudden becomes a lopsided 24-7 Wolverines victory and the sophomore quarterback was left to question everything he just did, especially regarding that trio of pass thefts.

On the bench, Williams looked stunned, if not crushed, by the turn of events. Teammates wandered past, stopping to show support. It was almost like there was a death in the family rather than an interruption in high performance.

Demond Williams Jr. (2) looks for a receiver in the second half at Michigan. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

In four years as a high school starting quarterback in Arizona and a season and a half at the college level in Montlake, this 5-foot-11, 198-pound signal-caller and a playmaker who everyone has been talking about had never tripped up like this before.

The question is: will Williams bounce back right away, beginning with Saturday's game against Illinois, or will there be lingering repercussions from the Ann Arbor stumble?

"Any player, quarterback or whoever, would be rattled after that," UW offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty said.

To his credit, Williams showed up for a Tuesday interview session with a handful of media members and didn't shy from any of the questions. He could have declined to participate in what obviously would be a discussion about his shortcomings.

Yet he jumped right in and dealt with every last probing inquiry.

"I'm just going back to the drawing board and figure out ways to get better," he said right off.

The thing about Williams is he never wastes any time in whatever he does. He's extremely serious. His answers are always pinpoint and exacting. He doesn't ponder, linger or leave awkward pauses in addressing coaches, teammates or even writers.

"He's a kid that cares so much," Dougherty said. "He's really a concientious kid that really wants to do right. He's got such a big conscience for the ball. I think that was extremely rare for him to have a second half like he did."

Said Williams, "It was definitely different, obviously. I've never had a game like that. Being able to watch it back, and reflect and build off it, was super important."

Michigan edge rusher Derrick Moore (8) sacks Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On the first interception, Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan tracked Williams' eyes and read what was going to happen. A QB mistake.

On the second turnover, Williams threw the ball one way and his sophomore tight end Decker DeGraaf went the other. He had just completed back-to-back 17-yard passes to wide receivers Dezmen Roebuck and Denzel Boston. It was unclear whether Williams or DeGraaf went the wrong way.

On the third miscue, the usually sure-handed Boston juggled the ball and it ended up in a Michigan player's hands. A receiver mistake.

From all indications on Tuesday, everyone involved in the series of Michigan misfortunes has moved on, in particular Williams.

"I think he took a couple of days to kind of learn what happened in the game," Dougherty said. "I feel good where he is right now."

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