In a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Washington Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. showed off some impressive highs and some concerning lows.
The highs included an impressive 14-yard touchdown to tight end Baron Naone on fourth-and-2, evading several tacklers, and a late 13-yard scramble for a score, as part of a day when he completed 64 percent of his passes for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns, and added 15 yards on the ground.
On his way to those 239 yards, Williams showed off his arm talent, as he threaded several impressive tight-window throws and got some help from his receivers, including a sprawling one-handed grab by Dezmen Roebuck for 26 yards.
Demond Williams Jr. finds Baron Naone for the @UW_Football TD on 4th down 👀 The
Huskies are knocking on the door! pic.twitter.com/g1XUBPn4bh
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 27, 2026
However, some of his highlight-reel plays were massively overshadowed by the lowlights, which started in the first quarter, when, for the second straight week, an unblocked pass rusher got a free shot on him as he tried to force a throw, which caused the ball to float up into the air and into the arms of linebacker Maverick Baranowski for an interception.
"That's just a play I've made for the first three weeks of the season on the (bootleg), just trying to climb up and hit my player right there," Williams said after the game. "I kind of got hit while I was throwing the ball, just flung up, but I take that 100 percent; I've just got to be smarter in that situation, backed up, first play of the drive, just gotta know to keep the ball in my hands if there's anything risky about it.
On the very next play, the Golden Gophers opened the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown, and the Huskies trailed for the rest of the contest as Williams' struggles with his first Big Ten defense of the 2026 season continued. Not only did he make a similar decision on the first play of Washington's final drive of the third quarter, which turned into an interception for Minnesota cornerback John Nestor, but he also appeared to be uncomfortable in the pocket all day long.
"This is a team that's very hard to move the pocket against just the way they play with very wide rushers," coach Jedd Fisch said on Saturday night. "So everything really needed to stay inside the pocket. And what has to happen is, that's why, you know, we probably had the most negative places, but we try to do sideways. It's one of those teams that everything really, you have to go vertical, and that's hard to do sometimes."
While Washington's offensive line has seen its fair share of struggles early in the season, Williams took responsibility for being dropped for seven sacks in the contest.
"They're a very good defensive line, a very good linebacking corps. I think our o-line held up. I think a lot of the times I was getting sacked or pressured, I was just holding the ball too long," he said. "I just feel like it falls on me, so, for me, it's just to go back to the drawing board, use it as motivation, and try to continue to get better throughout the season."
In the loss, the Huskies' failure to run the ball continued to loom large, which puts more and more on Williams' shoulders. Now, with a road trip to USC next on the docket, the third-year quarterback and the rest of Fisch's offense have a lot to figure out, or things could quickly spiral out of control.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Demond Williams Jr. goes through extreme highs and lows vs. Minnesota
