Demond Williams Jr. back as Washington QB vs. Penn State

The Huskies' beat has spent all week reading the tea leaves, and they all say the same thing.

UW Huskies Wire

@UWHuskiesWire

All Signs Point to Demond Williams Jr. Starting Against Penn State 📸 Dylan Widger, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect t.co/tZpZD5m9r6

Here's how Washington got here. Williams fractured a rib in the first half of the 41-24 loss to Iowa on October 9. Before that he had a 145.7 quarterback rating, 10th in the Big Ten, and then he was on the sideline watching transfer Elijah Brown run the offense.

Brown had a good day at Purdue. At Nebraska Saturday the wheels came off: 19-of-30 for 136 yards, one 50-yard field goal drive, and 7 punts in 8 possessions. So Fisch went to Williams in the 4th quarter, rib and all.

Williams finished 7-of-13 for 99 yards and a touchdown and ran 4 times for 28 yards. The drive that won it came down to 4th-and-18 with 1:42 left. He hit Chris Lawson for 24 yards, then threw a 25-yard touchdown 2 plays later, and Washington beat Nebraska 17-10 to get to 5-3. You don't send that guy back to the bench.

Fisch hasn't fully committed yet, though. His line Monday was "If Demond is feeling good, I don't see why he wouldn't play and start," and he added that the final health call probably won't come until later in the week. He's keeping it quiet on purpose so Penn State has to prep for both quarterbacks.

Roman Tomashoff

@rtomashoff34

Demond Williams Jr. appears set to return to his starting role against Penn State. On today's @LockedOnHuskies, we discuss how that impacts the offense, Washington's player retention strategy, and all the latest from the recruiting trail Tune in and subscribe for more!

LockedOnHuskies also tied his return to Washington's player retention strategy, and that's the bigger picture. In the portal era a QB who can run your offense and win a game like that on 4th-and-18 is the guy every program is trying to keep. Getting Williams back on the field and playing well is part of how you keep him in purple.

Penn State comes to Husky Stadium Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT. Watch the rib first. If Williams plays all 4 quarters without protecting it on every hit, Washington's offense looks like the one that was humming before Iowa. If Fisch is still hedging Friday, that tells you something too.