With star quarterback Demond Williams Jr. sidelined with a rib injury, junior Elijah Brown will start for Washington against Purdue on Friday night. It's already been a tough season for the Huskies, but this development won't make it any easier. Washington is still looking for its first win in Big Ten play, and that task just got a little more difficult.
Brown, a former four-star recruit out of California, played the first two seasons of his career at Stanford before transferring to Washington in the offseason. Brown saw a little action at Stanford and started in a couple of games last season, most notably in a win over Cal and a loss to North Carolina. In nine career appearances with the Cardinal, Brown completed 58.3 percent of his passes for 1,103 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions.
Brown has played in mop-up duty a few times in his first season at Washington, resulting in 276 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions on 71.4 percent passing. Washington needs Brown to spark the passing game because that's been the only way the offense has moved the ball this season. The Huskies rank 16th in the Big Ten with 26.2 points per game, and a pitiful run game has a lot to do with that.
Although Williams has been somewhat disappointing in 2026, he's still done enough to make plays and put the ball in the end zone on a number of occasions. In other words, Williams has found a way to make it work here and there. The same can't be said for the running game, which has been anemic.
The Huskies average just 90.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 135th out of 138 teams nationall. They also rank 106th in yards per rush (4.06) and rushing success rate (39.7 percent). That's a bad recipe for a team starting an unproven quarterback on the road in conference play, although there is some hope that Brown has what it takes to lead the offense efficiently.
After Williams got hurt against Iowa last week, Brown relatively well in relief. In fact, he started the second half 14-of-16 while leading two straight touchdown drives against the Hawkeyes defense. "Just trusting in the process," Brown said of his performance against Iowa.
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