Washington is bringing one of the Big Ten’s most dangerous quarterbacks to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 3, and USC’s defense is going to have its hands full.
Demond Williams Jr. enters the matchup as a true dual-threat problem. In his first season as Washington’s full-time starter, he threw for 3,065 yards and 25 touchdown passes while also finishing second on the team in rushing with 611 yards and six rushing touchdowns. He completed 69.5-percent of his passes along the way.
His best showcase came in a week 7 win over Rutgers, when he went 21-of-27 for 402 passing yards and two touchdowns and added 13 carries for 136 yards and two more scores on the ground. That performance made him just the second Big Ten player ever to pass for 400 yards and rush for 100 in the same game. His 538 total yards also set a new Washington single-game record.
At 5-foot-11 and 191 pounds, Williams does a lot of damage with his legs in the RPO game. He can pull the ball down, escape the pocket and create off script. He was also a talented sprinter in high school, and even though he isn’t a big quarterback, he has enough arm strength to hit big throws from inside the pocket.
This will be Williams’ third season under Jedd Fisch, and he brings plenty of experience with him. He has appeared in all 26 games of his college career and has 15 starts.
USC is going to see plenty of quality quarterbacks this fall, including Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, Indiana’s Josh Hoover and Maryland’s Malik Washington. But Williams stands out because of how much he can hurt a defense with both his arm and his legs.
Stopping a quarterback like that takes discipline. The front has to stay connected, the rush lanes have to hold, and nobody can freelance. Once the structure breaks down, that’s when Williams can make teams pay.
He’s the kind of quarterback USC had to deal with at times last season, but not at his level. Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles ran nine times for 31 yards in week 4.
Illinois’ Luke Altmyer had five carries for 36 yards the next week. Iowa’s Mark Gronoowski ran eight times for 32 yards in week 12, and UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava finished the regular season with 11 carries for 33 yards.
Southern Cal has to be better against quarterbacks who can run, and this is the kind of test that will show it quickly.
The Trojans also have a new defensive coordinator in Gary Patterson, who arrived in January and has been spending plenty of time in the film room since then. It’s hard to imagine he hasn’t already spent a lot of time studying the challenge Williams presents.
In Other News...
Washington Just Missed On A Recruit Who Could Have Meant More
Washingtons quarterback recruiting picture got a little clearer this week, but not in every way the Huskies might have hoped. Three-star signal caller Caden Jones, a Class of 2027 prospect who also stands out on the basketball court, has made his college choice, and it comes with a family tie that helped shape the decision. Washington had been in the mix for Jones on both fronts, while also building momentum elsewhere in the quarterback room with the commitment of four-star Blake Roskopf.
The part that stings a bit more for Washington is that Jones was never just a football target. As a two-sport athlete, he had also drawn interest from the Huskies mens basketball staff and held an offer from Danny Sprinkle, which made him one of the more intriguing crossover recruits on the board. Losing a player with that kind of versatility matters in a program trying to keep its recruiting base broad, even if Washington has already made a strong move at quarterback in this cycle. [Read more 🡒]
Washington May Have An Early Answer At Left Tackle
Washingtons offensive line picture is starting to take shape, and one of the first answers may already be sitting at left tackle. Kodi Greene, a freshman who arrived with plenty of attention attached to his name, has been working his way into a spot that matters immediately for a Huskies offense trying to settle around returning quarterback Demond Williams Jr. before the season gets rolling.
Greenes spring work gave Washington a reason to believe it might not need a long audition at the position, even with fall camp still offering chances for other linemen to push for time. The bigger question now is how quickly that early momentum carries into the kind of live setting that tells a staff whether a young tackle is merely holding his own or truly ready to protect the edge from day one. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Recruiting Surge Just Reached A Nerve Wracking July Test
Washingtons 2026 recruiting run has already picked up momentum with offensive linemen Tye Kennedy and Gecova Doyal in the fold, and now the focus shifts to how the Huskies keep that pace going through a tricky July stretch. Chris Fetters and Scott Eklund of Dawgman.com have been tracking the next wave of decisions closely, with Washington still working through its board at cornerback and along the offensive line while trying to keep the class moving in the right direction.
DaJohn Yarboroughs upcoming decision looms as the next obvious checkpoint, the kind of announcement that can either keep the momentum rolling or force the staff to adjust quickly. The Huskies are also monitoring a few other names at positions of need, and the bigger question hanging over the class is whether this surge can carry all the way to Signing Day and settle into the kind of number Washington wants to land. [Read more 🡒]