Rutgers can’t stop Demond Williams Jr. in ugly loss to Washington

SEATTLE — Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. threw for 402 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Huskies to a 38-19 win against Rutgers on Friday night.

Williams completed 21 of 27 passes and rushed 13 times as he set career highs for passing yards, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

“Demond Williams is a superstar,” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said. “He is special, and we’ve known that for a lot of years now.”

According to the school, Williams became the 16th player in FBS history to throw for at least 400 yards and rush for at least 100 yards in a game, and the first since 2023.

He is also the 12th Washington quarterback to run for 100 yards or more in a game and set the school total offense record with 538 yards.

“That’s kind of crazy,” Williams said.

Williams said the Rutgers defense was keying on running back Jonah Coleman, opening up opportunities for the quarterback to break off big gains.

“I was just taking what the defense was giving me,” Williams said. “You could tell their main focus was on Jonah, so being able to pull some of those zone reads and just get as many yards as I could was definitely pivotal.”

Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis also set career highs with 386 passing yards, 31 completions and 50 attempts.

He threw for two touchdowns. Ian Strong had seven receptions for 124 yards. Antwan Raymond and KJ Duff had the touchdowns catches.

Williams had touchdown passes of 20 and 38 yards to Denzel Boston. His two rushing touchdowns of 11 and 7 yards were the final two scores for the Huskies (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten Conference).

The Scarlet Knights (3-3, 0-3) took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and led 13-10 at halftime before Washington’s offense and Williams took over the game.

“We made too many mistakes in the second half, missed assignments,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “But (Williams) is a dynamic player. A dynamic player as a ball carrier and a quarterback. The quarterbacking part, I can’t tell you, because we cut guys loose in coverage where if you just throw it in the vicinity it’s going to be a catch. But the runs he made, those were special.”

The Huskies scored touchdowns on their first four drives of the second half, a streak only broken on the final possession when they ran out the clock.

“We were starting to pour on them a little bit, especially in the passing game,” Williams said. “We just started off a little shaky. I don’t think there’s any reason for that, we just have to keep focusing on starting faster.”

Boston had 98 receiving yards and the two touchdowns for Washington, and Dezmen Roebuck caught four passes for 108 yards.

Ephesians Prysock sealed the game for Washington with an interception in the end zone with less than two minutes left.

Coming back

This is the second straight game Washington fell behind by double digits before coming back. The previous game against Maryland, the Huskies were down 20-0 in the fourth quarter before winning 24-20.

“We’re trying to avoid those double-digit comebacks, but we have done them a couple times now,” Fisch said. “We just want to avoid them the best we can and see if we can really come out and start fast and finish strong.”

The takeaway

Rutgers had several chances to stay in the game. The Scarlet Knights twice failed to convert on fourth down inside the Washington 10-yard line.

Washington running back Jonah Coleman was held to a season-low 44 yards. Coleman, who rushed for 177 yards in the season opener against Colorado State, has had 70 or fewer yards in each of the past four games. He did have a 1-yard touchdown run.

Up next

Rutgers hosts Oregon, and Washington travels to Michigan on Oct. 18.