How Washington Huskies’ Demond Williams Jr. plans to rebound from Michigan loss
By Andy YamashitaSeattle Times staff reporter
Demond Williams Jr. had never endured a performance like the one he had against No. 25 Michigan. That’s not hyperbole.
Ball security has been a staple of his game since his freshman season at Basha High in Chandler, Ariz. It was evident during his first campaign at Washington, when he threw just one interception in 105 pass attempts. It was even more apparent during his second, when Williams didn’t register a turnover-worthy throw during his first four games as a starter according to Pro Football Focus.
All of which made his three-interception game against Michigan even more uncharacteristic.
“I’ve never had a game like that,” Williams said Tuesday. “Being able to just watch it back and just reflect and being able to build off it was super important.”
Williams, Washington’s prodigious sophomore quarterback, is coming off the most difficult game of his young college football career. He was 20-for-32 passing for 209 yards, no touchdowns and a career-high three interceptions while rushing five times for minus-19 yards against Michigan. Coach Jedd Fisch said Saturday that he didn’t put Williams in a position to succeed against the Wolverines, and clarified that statement Monday.
“We turned it over and we don’t (normally) turn it over,” Fisch said. “That’s what I was referring to. I don’t expect Demond to be in a position where we have the amount of turnovers we had. He’s 19 (years old). It’s my responsibility as the head coach and the guy that runs the offense to make sure we don’t turn it over, so I just felt like, clearly, we had a couple turnovers there that we normally wouldn’t have.”
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Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty noted the Huskies (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) are still happy with Williams’ processing and decision making despite the three interceptions.
One of them, Fisch and Dougherty said, was fluky. Williams’ final interception was a deep pass that went straight through the hands of junior wide receiver Denzel Boston and landed in the lap of Michigan safety Jacob Oden, who was on the ground after being discarded while battling for position with Boston.
But Dougherty added the first interception Williams threw was also a somewhat strange play. The young quarterback was trying to connect with Boston on a slant to the right, but Michigan linebacker Cole Sullivan, tracking UW running back Adam Mohammed in the flat, floated into the window where Williams was trying to thread the pass to Boston.
“The linebacker just kind of tracked his eyes,” Dougherty said, “tracked the running back and just kind of fell into it. It’s not like he threw it into triple coverage or anything like that.”
Williams’ final interception was a simple miscommunication, Fisch and Dougherty said. Williams was expecting sophomore tight end Decker DeGraaf to sit in the middle of the field on a hook route. DeGraaf, Dougherty said, tried to break out of the route toward the right sideline.
“That’s a play we’ve repped — I can’t even tell you how many times,” Dougherty said. “Hundreds of times. That’s what was so jarring about it for him and for everyone involved. It’s one of those things that can happen in sports. You’re just not on the same page. You thought you saw this. The other guy saw something else. Miscommunication occurred and that’s when mistakes can happen.
“Just got to do everything we can to make sure those guys get back on the same page and get reps this week and make sure we go out there and execute on Saturday.”
Miscommunication have been a minor issue for Washington’s passing game this season. Williams nearly threw another interception during the first quarter when he threw a ball several yards behind Boston that went through the hands of Michigan cornerback Jyaire Hill, who might’ve had a clear run to the UW end zone if he’d secured the ball.
Additionally, Williams’ only other interception this season occurred on a similar play against Maryland, when he threw another pass several yards behind Boston and straight to safety Jalen Huskey. Fisch, however, said that play resulted more from Williams sailing the pass after the ball slipped out of his hand rather than a miscommunication while speaking during a news conference Oct. 6.
Dougherty said the coaching staff will certainly use the past game versus Michigan as a learning experience. However, he noted learning to respond to a disappointing performance will be equally important for Williams, who threw just 12 interceptions while attempting 903 passes during his time at Basha and had only one game with multiple interceptions while playing high school football.
The Washington offensive coordinator said Williams took some time to reflect after the game, and added the coaching staff has emphasized staying confident leading into practices this week.
“He’s one of those kids — athletes — where he’s so hard on himself,” Dougherty said. “You really don’t have to say a whole lot to really let him know what happened. He understands. He understands it wasn’t good enough.”
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Williams said watching film of the game has helped him understand where he needs to improve situationally. He added it was also an opportunity to learn how important it is to stay calm and keep a steady mind, even when the results aren’t going his way. An important lesson as he continues to mature during his first season as UW’s starting quarterback.
Support from his teammates, Williams said, was also helpful in learning how to move past his performance against Michigan.
Washington will need Williams back at his best this weekend, when it faces No. 23 Illinois. The Fighting Illini (5-2, 2-2) are coming off a bye week, and are the No. 51 rushing defense in the country, allowing 131 yards rushing per game.
But they’ve been vulnerable through the air, surrendering 240 yards passing per game and ranking 95th nationally. Three opponents — Duke, USC and Purdue — have registered 300 yards passing or more against Illinois this season.
“There’s some things we can obviously clean up as coaches to help him,” Dougherty said. “Here’s why this happened. Here’s what you can do better. Here’s what we’ve got to do moving forward if we get in this position again — in terms of reads and things like that. But from an overall standpoint, you don’t have to say much to a kid like that. He knows it wasn’t good enough, and he’s really excited to get back out there and practice this week and play this weekend.”
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes .com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.
Comments
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Start by not throwing it to the other team
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He needs to play rat ball like Russel did. And he needs some rat ball receivers. The short passing game over the middle will never work for you.
Or Demond needs to be in an air raid type offense with the big splits.
