Oregon Sacks Williams 10 Times, Boxes Up Huskies 49-21

Freshman QB starts at Autzen but UW can't handle the Ducks.

Huskies quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (2) looks for room to run against Oregon. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

EUGENE, Oregon -- With freshman Demond Williams Jr. drawing his first quarterback start against Oregon, everyone got a good look at the University of Washington football future and it seemed to hold some promise.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, they first had to pay for the past, and that they did, with the No. 1-ranked Ducks showing little mercy in running up the score in a 49-21 victory on Saturday at Autzen Stadium.

The UW's three consecutive three-point victories over Oregon over the previous two seasons became distant memories.

Dusted off this week, Michael Penix Jr.'s passing heroics were returned to the video library.

And any Montlake gloating over the sudden shift north in Northwest rivalry dominance was effectively muted.

From the opening kickoff, the Ducks (12-0 overall, 9-0 Big Ten) were determined to mete out some punishment while continuing on their unbeaten spree through the new conference for everyone in the neighborhood, with their next stop the Big Ten championship game against Penn State.

On a chilly outing in the Willamette Valley, first the sun went down, then the Huskies (6-6, 4-5). Oregon took the opening drive and moved down the field without much defensive intervention at all for a 9-yard touchdown run by Noah Whittington. It took all of seven plays and just over four minutes to get it done. It would be the first of seven Ducks touchdowns.

As hinted at by coach Jedd Fisch leading up to the game, the 5-foot-11, 187-pound Williams drew his first starting quarterback assignment against the nation's top team in the polls. This came at the expense of senior Will Rogers, who had been a 51-game starter at the UW and Mississippi State but was slumping of late.

Williams, it was, for all four quarters. There was no Husky quarterback job share for the first time all season. Rogers never stirred from the sideline.

"It was time," Fisch said, referring to the passing of the quarterback torch from the veteran to the rookie.

Williams completed 17 of 20 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown, and was credited with 22 carries for a net 17 yards, with a long run of 12 yards. Yet he was in for an extra harsh baptism at much of the time, getting sacked 10 times by the Ducks who blitzed nonstop trying to unnerve the teenager.

"I was happy to be out there," Williams said in an interview tent set up outside the stadium. "I fetl I played OK, but I feel I have a lot of stuff to work on."

Namely?

"I think he's going to learn when to get rid of the ball," Fisch said.

Oregon still needed some time to get accustomed to the speedy little guy as he came out and did his best Russell Wilson impersonation early on. He ducked under tackles. He ran away from defenders. He got the offense moving on the opening drive.

Yet he was so unfamiliar to the Autzen gathering initially, the public-address announcer called him "Desmond Williams" a handful of times before getting it right.

Oregon Ducks running back Jordan James (20) runs through the UW defense as safety Kam Fabiculanan comes up to meet him. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

On his first snap, Williams stood in the pocket and tossed a 34-yard completion to wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter, who caught the ball snug up against the right sideline. This seemed to surprise everyone in the stadium. People could see the offensive possibilities, though him having time to throw wouldn't last long on this long night.

Williams moved the Huskies to the Oregon 8, where the drive stalled out and the UW settled for Grady Gross' 26-yard field goal, making it 7-6.

After exchanging punts, the UW got a huge break when cornerback Thaddeus Dixon separated Whittington from the ball with a big hit on a screen pass, and teammate Lance Holtzclaw fell on it at the Oregon 23.

Yet it was an opportunity badly missed. Williams got sacked on third-and-4 at the 17 and the Huskies turned to Gross for another field goal, this one from 31 yards out, to narrow the score to 7-6.

Huskies running back Jonah Coleman (1) celebrates with wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) after scoring a touchdown at Oregon. / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

While breaking in a new starting quarterback, the UW could have used some help from its defense, but received very little help from those guys. They couldn't stop anyone. They had 10 fewer sacks then Oregon, which means they had none.

The Ducks scored on their next three possessions fairly easily to go up 28-6 and threatened to run away with it right there. There was 5:01 left in the opening half.

"We would always like to better and bigger up front and be able make more plays to kind of push the line of scrimmage," Fisch said. "They had way too many yards after contact and I think rushing the ball they were kind of able to do it at their disposal."

Oregon running back Jordan James scored twice on 1-yard runs, the second coming after the Huskies' Jonah Coleman fumbled the ball away at the UW 19, and Oregon quarterback Gabriel Dillon ran into the end zone on 4-yard keeper. James led all rushers with 99 yards on 15 carries.

Williams, however, got another chance to audition his skills before the half ran out. The Arizona native moved the Huskies 75 yards in 11 plays for Coleman's 1-yard TD run up the middle with 51 seconds left. The young QB next threw a 2-point conversion pass to Denzel Boston and the UW trailed 28-14 when everyone headed for the locker room.

This would be as competitive as this game would get. As they did on their road trips back East, the Huskies rolled over in the second half. They had the ball to open the next half and reached the Oregon 39 before the drive floundered in an emphatic manner -- Williams got thrown around like a rag doll and sacked three times in five plays.

Oregon made the UW further pay for this by moving 80-yards for a 9-yard scoring pass from Gabriel to Tez Johnson, with the Huskies' Dixon running into a pick play that left the receiver wide open in the end zone. With 4:08 left in the third quarter, the Ducks led 35-14. Gabriel finished with passing stats of 16-for-23 for 209 yards and 2 TDs.

In the fourth quarter, the Ducks pushed across two more scores on Terrance Ferguson's 16-yard catch and Da'jaun Riggs 1-yard run, before Williams got a closing touchdown for the Huskies. He threw a 28-yard strike to Giles Jackson with 1:43 left in the game, moving his team 75 yards in nine plays.

It was time to get the team busses idling out back. While Oregon is headed for big things, the Huskies just wanted to get home and regroup, hoping their freshman signal-caller wasn't too badly traumatized by what happened in Eugene.

Yet the Demond Williams Jr. quarterback era was launched by the Huskies and there's no turning back. Next up is a bowl game somewhere, but the starter behind center is known.

"Desmond will start the bowl game," Fisch.

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