SEATTLE \u2014 Getting some strong quarterback play out of Demond Williams Jr. would go a long way as Washington looks to improve upon the 6-7 record it posted in its first Big Ten season. <\/p>\n
Williams, who appeared in 13 games for the Huskies as a freshman and completed over 78% of his passes, drew praise from first-year offensive coordinator Jimmie Dougherty at the beginning of fall practice, not just for his passing abilities, but also his attention to detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemond only had one interception on over 100 attempts,\u201d Dougherty told reporters in July. \u201cIf we can keep that ratio going, we\u2019re going to do a lot of good things in the passing game.\u201d <\/p>\n
During head coach Jedd Fisch\u2019s first year at the helm, Washington did a solid job airing it out even before Williams took over for the final two games of the season. <\/p>\n
The Huskies ranked 32nd among FBS teams in passing yards per game (261.7), but struggled to consistently establish a run game. Washington running backs combined for 128.8 yards per contest, good for 100th in the country, though Jonah Coleman was a steady contributor by rushing for 1,053 yards and 10 touchdowns. <\/p>\n
With Williams and Coleman back in Seattle, as well as wide receiver Denzel Boston, who had 63 catches for 834 receiving yards in 2024, the Huskies have a trio of offensive weapons that can stack up with plenty of others in the conference. But, as Fisch noted, competition will be stiff in a conference that produced four College Football Playoff teams a year ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a really, really good conference with really, really good coaches,\u201d Fisch said. \u201cWe have really good teams. We have a lot of big-name programs that have spent years and years building up rosters, coaching staffs, facilities, fan base, etc., to be able to prepare themselves to play in the Big Ten.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Washington head coach Jedd Fisch stands on the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against UCLA, Nov. 15, 2024, in Seattle. Credit: AP\/Lindsey Wasson<\/p>\n
Shutdown secondary <\/p>\n
The Huskies will be hard-pressed to do much better in the secondary than they did in 2024, when they ranked second in the country with the fewest passing yards allowed per game. Washington returns cornerback Ephesians Prysock and has added fellow 6-foot-4 cornerback Tacario Davis to the mix. <\/p>\n
\u201cObviously having 6-4 corners is something that not a lot of NFL teams can say,\u201d first-year defensive coordinator Ryan Walters said. \u201cSo, it allows you to be aggressive at the line of scrimmage. And, hopefully, those guys can make it hard for those guys on the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slotting in <\/p>\n
While Boston returning for a fourth season bodes well for the Huskies\u2019 passing game, questions persist about who will most frequently line up at slot receiver. Following Washington\u2019s final open practice of fall camp, Fisch sang the praises of freshman Braiden Vines-Bright, as well as Kevin Green Jr., who missed last year due to injury, and Penn State transfer Omari Evans. <\/p>\n
Left guard up for grabs <\/p>\n
From Fisch\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s an ongoing competition between John Mills and Paki Finau to see who will start at left guard for Washington in 2025. Finau, a redshirt freshman, and Mills, a freshman, don\u2019t bring much experience to the table, but both were highly regarded recruits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two guys continue to battle it out,\u201d Fisch said. \u201c…I would expect alternating in some regard. But, really good job by Mills stepping in as a true freshman, and Paki keeps getting better.\u201d <\/p>\n
The schedule<\/p>\n
The Huskies open at home against Colorado State on Aug. 30 and visit rival Washington State on Sept. 20. Washington\u2019s first conference game comes at Husky Stadium against Ohio State on Sept. 27. The Huskies\u2019 longest road trip is Oct. 4 at Maryland. Washington also travels to Michigan on Oct. 18 and Wisconsin on Nov. 8. The Huskies conclude their season at home against rival Oregon on Nov. 29. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEATTLE \u2014 Getting some strong quarterback play out of Demond Williams Jr. would go a long way as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1976,1607,399,398,396,397,99,9815],"class_list":{"0":"post-97633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-college","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-football","13":"tag-ncaafootball","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-wires-bot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}