Head Coach Jedd Fisch Postgame Press Conference: Ohio State

I'm tempted to make this extra TL, DR for spite

As for Demond, let's start with saying that he's got a very special skill set. His accuracy level is what you dream of in a young QB and then you add some solid arm strength to go with it and you're working with great tools. His legs are far more of an asset than negative and enables him to make plays that are the exception to the rule as a QB.

We need to also remember that he's a young QB, has made 6 career starts, and 2 of those starts were against the #1 team in the country where those teams have done a good job of highlighting areas for him to grow and improve in.

Ohio St exposed some items for him as a young QB that he'll need to work on. The good news is few teams on our schedule are going to have the number of future pros on its defense with the ability to execute what Ohio St did … it's important to keep that in mind walking away from this weekend.

I do think that Demond's accuracy (completion %) is a bit of a weakness for him right now in that he's so focused on hitting his receivers between the numbers (which he does at a high frequency) through clean windows and not turning over the ball that it causes him trouble as he's yet to really learn that it's ok to make tighter window throws. For example, think back to Penix and the number of throws he'd make where it was either his receiver making the play or nobody … think low and to the outside. Right now these are throws that Demond doesn't make. He needs to get better making more "dirty" throws where it doesn't necessarily look perfect but gets the ball to where it needs to go … how many throws on a Sunday do you see where the QB is sidearm slinging the ball or whatever finding an angle that doesn't really exist?

Demond's leg talent is obviously special and up until this point in his development he's been able to rely on his legs to get him out of trouble when it comes. Against elite athletes like Ohio St had (particularly at LB) he's finding out that just taking off and running isn't going to bail out bad situations. He's going to have to learn when to take off and run versus when to learn the threat of his legs to create throwing windows by forcing defenders to commit.

These are GOOD problems for a young QB to have and work on via development. I'd much rather have these issues to work with a QB on versus say the challenges of coaching a QB like Jake Haener that can be reckless with the ball and be turnover prone.

UW fans should be really excited at what is possible for Demond. There's a lot of reason to be very optimistic that a CFP berth is on the horizon. A shot at it this year isn't off the table. I've said for a while that I think that 2026 is the year where we're a real contender for the CFP with a chance to do something if we get in. If Demond stays for 2027 the upside is really high.

We need to get out of this rut of thinking every player is a finished product and in particular with young players not understanding that they are going to grow and develop (even Penix continued developing).

We also need to get out of this rut of thinking that the sky is falling after every loss … particularly when it's to a team/program that is on a different level than we are right now. We're ascending but we're not a National Championship contender at this moment like Ohio State is. What matters is that we're progressing towards that level.

There's way too much negativity and PTSD tied to the fans of this program that just assume the worst at all times.