Washington spent most of Saturday night in Lincoln looking like it had run headfirst into a wall. For 56 minutes, Nebraska had the game where it wanted it, the Huskies stuck on three points through three quarters and staring at a loss that would have made bowl eligibility feel a lot farther away.
Then the final moments flipped everything. Washington scored 14 points late and walked out with a 17-10 win, moving to 5-3 overall.
The game turned on a fourth-quarter quarterback change, and on one wild sequence that Washington had no business surviving. Elijah Brown got the start and held the job for most of the night, but the offense never really found a rhythm against Nebraska’s tight man coverage and steady blitz pressure. He finished 19-for-30 for 136 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per attempt, and while he took care of the ball, he also couldn’t create much when the play broke down.
Demond Williams brought the spark. He entered in the fourth quarter and immediately changed the feel of the offense with his legs and his arm.
On third and 15, he scrambled to keep the winning drive alive. Then came the throw on fourth and 18, with pressure closing in and barely any time to operate.
It was the kind of play Washington had been missing all night. Two snaps later, he hit Chris Lawson for the touchdown.
Williams finished 7-for-13 for 99 yards and a score, and he also ran four times for 28 yards, including the longest rush of the day. Jedd Fisch deserves credit for how he handled it: Brown got the full shot to run the offense, and Williams came in when the game demanded a jolt.
No one did more for Washington than Lawson. He was the offense, plain and simple.
His 12 catches for 155 yards accounted for nearly 60 percent of Washington’s 235 passing yards, and his fourth-and-18 grab was the kind of catch that sticks with a team. He somehow twisted his body to secure the ball and stay in bounds against tight coverage, then two plays later spun out of a tackle and dove for the winning touchdown.
The rest of the receiving group combined for 14 catches and 80 yards, and Dezmen Roebuck was targeted often without ever finding a big play.
The line made everything harder than it needed to be. Washington gave up four sacks and nine tackles for loss, and six false starts were a killer, especially with half of them coming from John Mills, the best player on the line.
One penalty turned a manageable third down into a much tougher one and wiped out a drive. Lincoln can be a difficult place to play, but the procedural issues have been there all season.
The run game offered almost nothing. Washington finished with a 1/10 grade on the ground because there just wasn’t much to salvage.
Injuries are no longer a pass for the lack of production. The Huskies simply can’t run the ball against anyone but the weakest defenses.
The defense, though, carried its weight. Washington’s secondary put together its best performance of the season, and Anthony Colandrea was forced into a rough night, going 24-for-44 for 255 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
The Huskies picked him off on Nebraska’s first two possessions, and Emmanuel Karnley stood out with two pass breakups and maybe his best game of the year. Alex McLaughlin was the star on that side, finishing with nine tackles and the pick six that ended the game.
He was physical all night and set the tone.
The pass rush wasn’t overwhelming, but it showed up when it mattered. Washington had two sacks on 45 dropbacks, which isn’t enough to scare anybody, but both came at key moments.
Derek Colman-Brusa’s sack on first and goal from the 5 pushed Nebraska backward and helped force a missed field goal. ZRS was around the ball all night, finishing with ten tackles and a sack.
The approach seemed more about staying disciplined in the rush lanes than chasing Colandrea recklessly out of the pocket.
Nebraska did move the ball some. The Huskers ran 29 times for 132 yards, averaged 4.6 yards per carry, and finished with 387 total yards.
But Washington kept them out of the end zone until late and limited Colandrea as a runner. That was enough.
The Huskies bent, but they didn’t break.
Special teams also played a major role in the outcome. Hunter Green was excellent again, punting eight times with a nearly 50-yard average, a long of 63 and five punts inside the 20.
Nebraska rarely got a short field, and this game may have gone the other way without him. Tyler Robles added a 50-yard field goal.
Lawson also helped seal it by recovering Nebraska’s onside kick attempt, a play that showed both his awareness and his skill. The only blemish was Nebraska averaging more than 11 yards per punt return on four returns.
Fisch’s game management fit the night. He leaned into the messy, low-scoring style instead of pretending the offense was something it wasn’t.
He punted in spots where he might have been more aggressive in the past, including fourth and 1 from Washington’s own 39 and fourth and 5 from Nebraska’s 42. The offense still has obvious problems, especially the false starts and the nonexistent run game, and Washington needed a very low-percentage fourth-and-18 conversion just to survive.
But the staff’s willingness to lean on defense and special teams was a step in the right direction.
Washington is now one win from bowl eligibility. Penn State comes to Seattle next after picking up its first conference win, and then the Huskies head to Michigan State, which is still winless in the Big Ten.
Fisch said Williams is likely to start against the Nittany Lions. If the offense stalls again, Brown could still get another look.
In Other News...
Washington Found A New Difference Maker In Gritty Win At Nebraska
A road win in Lincoln can say a lot about a team, and Washingtons 17-10 victory over Nebraska offered a clear reminder that the Huskies still have ways to win when the offense has to grind. At 5-3, they got enough from a defense that kept making Nebraska uncomfortable and enough timely production from Chris Lawson, who came through with the kind of catches that can swing a tight game away from home.
Lawsons role keeps growing in a passing game that needed someone to steady it, and his performance gave Washington a reliable target in the moments that mattered most. The other side of the story was just as important, with the Huskies defense creating takeaways and turning one of them into a back-breaking score, a momentum shift that helped close out a win they badly needed. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Is Tweaking Its Offense Right Before Illinois
Nebraska is making a few sideline adjustments as it heads into its matchup with Illinois, but Matt Rhule made clear the bigger picture is staying the same. The head coach said the staff will remain intact despite the recent losses, even as he acknowledged the offense has sputtered and needs to be simplified. Rhule also took responsibility for the way things have gone, a sign that the pressure around the unit is being felt well beyond the play sheet.
The wrinkle now is how the Huskers will handle game-day communication and responsibilities from the coaching box. Dana Holgorsen and offensive line coach Geep Wade are shifting upstairs for play-calling duties, while run game coordinator Lonnie Teasley will see his role adjusted as Nebraska tries to clean up its offensive operation. For a team looking to steady itself quickly, the changes are less about a reset than a recalibration, and the next step will be whether that is enough to get the offense moving in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]