Down four points on the road late in the fourth quarter to Nebraska, third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. came off the bench to resurrect the Washington Huskies from the depths of defeat.
The Huskies' starter turned backup, and then savior, led the offense on a 12-play, 81-yard scoring drive that second-year wide receiver Chris Lawson capped off with a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown to put the visitors ahead 10-7 with 1:30 left in the game and ultimately secured a 17-10 victory for third-year coach Jedd Fisch against the Cornhuskers.
It marked arguably the most consequential moment of Williams Jr.'s college career to date, from being a locked-in starter to a backup after a rib injury in the second half against Iowa forced him to miss the first
game two weeks ago at Purdue.
From the sidelines, the dynamic UW passer was the consummate teammate for Elijah Brown, who didn't look anywhere near the player who threw for 302 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 38-26 win at Purdue two weeks ago.
"I certainly wasn't expecting to make any change," Fisch said after the game of the decision to switch quarterbacks in the fourth quarter. "I thought Elijah—well first of all he came off six really good quarters and had a really good bye week, and Demond was working his way back from injury and Elijah earned the right to be the starter.
"I'm not sure that he didn't earn the right to continue the fourth quarter, but I felt that we needed a spark. I felt the way they were playing us, what they were doing coverage wise, we needed the ability that Demond has. And that's the ability to be able to make a play with his feet, if it presented it, with all the man coverage we were getting and be able to make maybe a little bit more of that play that wasn't drawn up, per say. But we got the spark we wanted. We got the spark we needed."
Chris. Lawson. @Lawsonera44 pic.twitter.com/X9DCO3bI2g
— Washington Football (@UW_Football) November 1, 2026
When Fisch felt the need to spark the offense with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Williams Jr. came on—a decision that proved correct with his ninth touchdown pass of the season and the 42nd of his UW career—to lead the team to its fifth win in 2026 and mark a potential turning point for an offense that has struggled for the majority of the season.
Williams Jr. shook off a pair of Nebraska sacks, stood in the pocket on fourth-and-18 from just inside Huskers' territory and connected with Lawson for a 24-yard completion two plays prior to the duo coming together again for a crucial late go-ahead touchdown, a testament to the veteran QB being confident in himself to deliver just before he almost took a third sack that would've instead sent UW back to Seattle with its fourth loss of the season.
Throughout the past two weeks, Fisch maintained that, if healthy, he would find a way to involve the Arizona native in the Week 9 matchup. That proved true in the first and second half as Williams Jr. made just one pass attempt, a 9-yard completion to second-year receiver Dezmen Roebuck off a double-pass midway through the second quarter.
Although the drive ended with one of eight Hunter Green punts, it was a positive spark that may have given him the confidence needed to come back later in the game and lead UW to a must-win victory on Halloween, a performance that should return Williams Jr. to his starting role for the remainder of the season.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Demond Williams Jr. Delivers Late to Complete Comeback at Nebraska
