Before the Washington Huskies' season began, a quarterback controversy was probably one of the last things on Jedd Fisch's mind. He was returning his second-year starter, Demond Williams Jr., who, according to the head coach, looked the best he's ever looked entering his third year on Montlake. Fast forward to October, the starting signal caller has had a sluggish first half of the season, including missing a 38-26 win over Purdue with a rib injury, and suddenly there is a real debate surrounding the position.
After coming up limp towards the end of the first half against Iowa, Williams was replaced by Stanford transfer Elijah Brown, who went on to get the starting nod on the road against Purdue. In just a game and a half at the helm of the offense,
the junior has combined for over 500 yards passing, 6 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. While turnovers were certainly an issue on Friday in West Lafayette, the Washington offense has suddenly come alive, putting up 38 points against the Boilermakers, marking the most points scored by the Huskies in Big Ten play this season.
With UW entering its bye week, expectations are that Williams will be ready to start in Week Nine, when Fisch's team heads to Lincoln to take on Nebraska on Halloween. However, based on his successor's recent play, a pivotal decision remains about who will start moving forward.
Fisch was asked about the controversy following the 38-26 victory last Friday.
"We're going to enjoy tonight," he said. "I'm going to take off tomorrow, and I'm going to give everybody tomorrow off, and then on Sunday at noon we're going to get back at it, and we will evaluate everything. 4-3, our goal is to be better than that, and we're going to continue to work through it and see what we can do in these next five games."
The classic coach speak didn't come as much of a surprise, as rarely does a head coach award a player a starting job just moments after picking up an emotional road victory. Fortunately for Fisch, he'll have two weeks to make up his mind about who will start inside Memorial Stadium.
While Brown has certainly redirected the capabilities of Washington's offense, the decision of who should start goes much deeper than "what have you done for me lately." When Fisch left Arizona to come to Seattle, Williams almost immediately flipped his commitment to the Huskies. Since then, the offensive-minded coach has tailored his program to the needs of his quarterback, including finding the resources to keep him on campus following his brief attempt to enter the transfer portal.
Will Fisch keep his trust in his longtime starter despite an obvious regression, or does he invest in the player who has turned his offense completely around? Only time will tell.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: QB Controversy Looms Ahead Of Washington Football's Bye Week
