First-year cornerback Jeron Jones provided the spark for the Washington Huskies' first touchdown of the 2026 season on Sunday afternoon against Washington State, making the most of his college debut.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pounder got the start at nickel and didn’t take long to impact the game. Jones sat perfectly on third-and-7 from the Cougars’ 15-yard line, picked off WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick and returned it nine yards to set up UW just outside the red zone.
Five plays later, Demond Williams Jr. scored the team's first touchdown of the afternoon to extend the lead to 10-0 with just over ten minutes remaining in the second quarter.
PICKED‼️ Jeron Jones brings in the deflection to give No. 17 Washington the ball deep in rival territory. Watch
on NBC pic.twitter.com/WyJwl7VAVe
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 6, 2026
Jones, a former four-star recruit out of Mission Viejo High School in Southern California, is the first UW defensive back to record an interception in the first year of their college career in at least two decades.
“He’s got really good ball skills. He’s got a really good feel for the game,” Jedd Fisch said of his first-year defensive back after the game. “He’s kind of that personality that one play doesn’t affect the other. So he has that goldfish memory you look for as a DB. It’s short-term memory. He’s able to go out there—regardless of the call, regardless of the stage. It felt to me that he was going to be ready to roll, and I thought he did that.”
In his debut as a redshirt freshman under the old NCAA rules in 2017, former UW cornerback Byron Murphy notched a pair of interceptions in a 38-14 win at Rutgers. However, Jones doing so as a true first-year defender speaks volumes about what the coaching staff expects out of him in 2026.
Another ex-Husky star, cornerback and Kansas City Chiefs 2015 first-round draft pick Marcus Peters, came close with a 21-yard INT return for a touchdown in his second career game against Portland State in 2012.
Since Jones arrived on campus in January, he’s impressed the Husky coaching staff and his teammates, including fifth-year linebacker Jacob Manu.
“We were doing one-on-ones, and I saw Jeron really sitting on the whole route,” Manu said with a wide grin, describing a play back in spring camp that Jones replicated Sunday afternoon. “I’m like, ‘Oh, who is this? He’s got some potential. And then he kept doing it. I just knew he was going to be something special.”
With Jones and UW off and running with a 10-0 win over WSU, it could be the start of another young, talented defensive back career arc that follows the likes of Trent McDuffie, Murphy, Peters, and others who laid the foundation.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Washington Football Freshman DB Aces College Football Debut
