A quarterback debate is now front and center for Washington.
With Demond Williams Jr. out because of a rib injury, Elijah Brown stepped in and put together the kind of outing that changes the conversation. In the Huskies’ 38-26 road win over Purdue last Friday night, Brown went 21 of 27 for 302 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions, but Washington’s offense still produced its best performance of the season against an FBS opponent.
That was a sharp departure from what the Huskies had been getting with Williams at the controls. In each of Washington’s previous five games against FBS teams, the offense had been held under 25 points.
Brown, a transfer from Stanford, also delivered against a ranked opponent earlier this month. On Oct. 9 in a 41-24 loss to No.
15 Iowa, he completed 28 of 39 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions after Williams left late in the first half with an injury. Before that, Williams had gone 6 of 11 for 69 yards.
Jedd Fisch said Monday that Brown has “earned consideration” for the job, and the bye week gives Washington time to sort out what comes next. The Huskies are 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten, and they return to action Oct. 31 at Nebraska.
“We’ll see how Demond does over this week physically and medically, and then we’ll make a decision here probably in a week or so how we want to proceed,” Fisch said. “But I certainly believe that in the six quarters (Brown has) played, he certainly has earned consideration.”
Brock Huard wasn’t shy about where he stands on the issue. The former UW quarterback said Wednesday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk: “I don’t know how you take Elijah Brown off the field now after he’s given you that through six quarters of play,” Huard said.
Williams’ season has been a rocky one. He briefly entered the transfer portal in January before returning to the Huskies two days later. This fall, the dual-threat quarterback has completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,396 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 183 rushing yards and two scores.
Washington’s results with Williams starting against FBS teams tell the same story: a 2-3 record, 21.8 points per game and 334.6 total yards per game. Brown’s one start looked nothing like that. The Huskies scored touchdowns on five of their first 10 possessions and rolled up 488 total yards.
“The bottom line is Elijah elevated everybody around him,” Huard said. “He elevated everybody around him, … even through some adversity and a couple of mistakes and bad throws that he’d want back.
But it didn’t bother him. He elevated and guys believed in him.
And for me, that’s the bottom line.”
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