Inside The Huskies

Fisch Knows His Quarterback Starter for Oregon, But He's Not Sharing

It's still top secret on whether Will Rogers or Demond Williams Jr. opens against the Ducks.

Dan Raley

Huskies coach Jedd Fisch looks on from the sideline during the second quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Huskies coach Jedd Fisch looks on from the sideline during the second quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Jedd Fisch acknowledged he already has decided on a starting quarterback for Saturday's Washington-Oregon football game in Eugene. He's just not talking when it comes to who that will be.

All the Husky coach would do is smile when quizzed at his Monday media briefing about whether he'll go with senior Will Rogers, his 11-game Husky starter, or give freshman Demond Williams Jr. his first game-opening assignment against the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Ducks (11-0 overall, 8-0 Big Ten) at Autzen Stadium.

"I have a good idea how we're going to do that," Fisch said, offering no more clues.

Asked about being a 19.5-point underdog, the coach was a little more forthright about what needs to happen for the Huskies (6-5, 4-4). While no one else thinks these guys can win, Fisch said his his players do.

"We talk about really us and we talk about when we play our best and what does that look like," the UW coach said. "If we can have a 60-minute game where we play our best, we'll let the score speak for itself there at the end. But our guys believe when we do execute offensively, defensively and in the kcikding game, that gives us a chance to compete with everybody and beat teams that are favorites. let's call it."

The Huskies, of course, have lost five times this season, which includes four Big Ten road outings and at a neutral-site Apple Cup to Washington State, and can't play at those levels or things will get out of hand.

Fisch has been to Eugene just once before, bringing his Arizona team to Autzen Stadium in 2021 and going home with a 41-19 loss.

"At the same toke, if we don't play our best, we'll certainly have a huge challenge in front of us," Fisch said. "It's not a team where we just can be OK and win. We know we'll have to play really good."

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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