UW secures bowl eligibility, knocks off UCLA

On By Littum

We knew Demond Williams would create a legitimate quarterback controversy at some point. So what happens after Saturday night’s win over UCLA shouldn’t cause much of that.

As supportive, energetic and professional as Will Rogers has been during his lone season at Montlake, it’s time for head coach Jedd Fisch to hand over the keys to the heralded dual-threat quarterback.

Things teetered on the brink of disaster when a UCLA defender went unnoticed by Rogers, causing him to throw a pass that was intercepted. What followed was another big run by Washington’s defense, and Fisch made a change at quarterback. Suddenly, UW’s offense found new life as the Williams-led offense generated points on consecutive drives as Grady Gross hit a 41-yard field goal and later Williams connected with tight end Decker DeGraaf for a one-yard score.

Before the near collapse, Washington had gotten off to an impressive start. Jonah Coleman started the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run. UCLA scored on the ensuing drive to trim UW’s lead to 7-3.

Later in the half, the Huskies sounded the siren again when Rogers connected with Keleki Latu. A score that was again answered by the Bruins when Ethan Garbers threw a one-yard score to trim UW’s lead to 14-10 just before halftime.

In the third quarter, disaster almost struck. Rogers was intercepted, giving UCLA great field position. The result was a Bruins field goal that trimmed UW’s lead to 14-13. On the subsequent drive, Rogers’ death arrived – you know the story from there.

There have been plenty of moans this season about Fisch’s use of Williams. There were times when Fisch could have used him more to spark the offense, but didn’t or sent Williams into the game, disrupting Rogers’ rhythm.

Now all that is in the past.

With bowl eligibility secured, Washington will head into hostile Eugene after the bye with nothing to lose and a shot at pulling off the most significant upset of the college football season. Leading them should and likely will be the talented young quarterback.