Washington’s quarterback picture is suddenly wide open, and Elijah Brown has put himself right in the middle of it.
After Brown stepped in for an injured Demond Williams Jr. and helped lift the Huskies to a 38-26 win over Purdue on Oct. 16, head coach Jedd Fisch said Monday that Brown “did enough to be considered (as the starter).” Washington is using its bye week to sort out the position before heading to Nebraska on Oct. 31.
Williams, who has been dealing with a rib injury from the Huskies’ 41-24 loss to Iowa on Oct. 9, is cleared to practice this week. His status for the Nebraska game remains uncertain, and if he is available, he and Brown will split first-team reps as Washington works through the decision.
“(Brown) did enough to be considered (as the starter),” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said in a weekly news conference Monday. “And we'll see how Demond does this week physically and medically and we'll make a decision here, probably in a week or so how we want to proceed. But I certainly believe in the six quarters that he's played, (Brown) has certainly earned consideration.”
Brown, a third-year quarterback who transferred from Stanford this offseason, was sharp in his first start in the Pacific Northwest. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 302 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions against Purdue. He also saw action earlier this season in garbage time against Eastern Washington on Sept. 19 and in the second half plus two drives against Iowa.
The Huskies practiced full speed and full contact Monday and Tuesday, with Brown and Williams expected to divide the first-team work.
Williams had held the job before the injury. He had completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,396 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 64 carries for 183 yards and two scores.
Before the rib issue, he had been the apparent starter after returning to the team on a deal rumored to be worth upwards of $4.5 million. He was announced to have signed to return after a season in which he led the Big Ten in total yardage with 3,676 yards, then said he intended to enter the transfer portal soon after.
Two days later, he changed course and came back.
Fisch avoided labeling the situation a “competition,” sticking to the line that every spot on the roster is always up for grabs. Still, the quarterback battle is there whether he wants to call it that or not, provided Williams is cleared for the Nebraska game.
The players, Fisch said, have handled it cleanly.
“I thought on game day, watching the TV copy back, (what stood out) was how engaged (Williams) was with Elijah,” Fisch said. “I never felt, at any point in time, there was any pause or hesitancy in terms of being a fantastic teammate.”
In Other News...
Jedd Fisch Made One Thing Clear About Washington's Bye Week
Washington heads into its bye week at 4-3 after knocking off Purdue 38-26, and Jedd Fisch spent the postgame stretch laying out what comes next. The Huskies will use the break to keep working rather than easing up, with Fisch pointing to a practice plan meant to sharpen a team that has shown enough to stay in the mix but still has some rough edges to smooth out.
Fisch also gave a wide-ranging update on personnel, touching on the progress of Elijah Brown and Demond Williams, along with injuries to Trey Cooley, Ramzak Fruean and DeSean Watts. The bigger takeaway, though, was philosophical: nothing is settled, and competition is still open at every spot, including quarterback, as Washington tries to clean up turnovers and come out of the break more consistent. [Read more 🡒]
Jedd Fisch Sees A Playoff Shift That Could Help Washington
College footballs postseason may be headed for another major overhaul, and Jedd Fisch sounds like a coach who sees opportunity rather than uncertainty. The College Football Playoff committee is reportedly weighing an expansion from 12 teams to 24, with a target start as early as the 2027 season, and the Washington head coach has already signaled that a larger field could be a positive for his program and for the sport as a whole.
The model being discussed would add more automatic access for conference champions while leaving room for additional at-large spots, which would make the playoff feel less like a closed club and more like a season-long race with more teams still alive deep into November. For Washington, that kind of setup could matter in a Big Ten landscape where the margins are thin and the path to the bracket is rarely simple, especially if the sport settles on a format that rewards more programs for staying relevant longer. [Read more 🡒]
Washington Just Got An Encouraging Sign Before Nebraska
Washingtons first Big Ten win came with the kind of short-handed roster that can test the depth chart in a hurry. Injuries and a flu bug had forced the Huskies to piece things together against Purdue, with several players either missing the game or leaving it early, yet the group still found a way to get through it and keep momentum moving into a bigger stretch of the schedule.
Now the encouraging part is what comes next. The Huskies are expected to get healthier in time for Nebraska, with Trey Cooley, Kai McClendon and Ansu Sanoe all on track to return to practice and be in the mix for the next game. For a team that had to grind through the last one with limited options, getting key pieces back this week could make a noticeable difference in both preparation and depth. [Read more 🡒]