Demond Williams Jr. Confirmed Out For Game vs. Purdue

The Washington Huskies football team will officially be without their starting quarterback for its next game against the Purdue Boilermakers, set for 5 p.m. PT on Friday at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafeyette, Ind.

It was confirmed in a post on "X" from ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel that Elijah Brown will get the start for the Huskies due to fellow third-year and typical starter Demond Williams Jr. being out due to a rib injury. According to Thamel, Willliams could be available as a reserve or a backup depending on how he's feeling in pregame warmups.

The report was confirmation of the likely status for Williams from earlier in the week, when Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said it was unlikely the Chandler, Ariz., native would play against Purdue.

Williams was knocked out of the Huskies' previous game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, which they lost 41-24 on Oct. 9.

Williams suffered his injury on the second-to-last drive of the first half against Iowa, which resulted in Brown entering the game and playing well.

The former Stanford Cardinal quarterback finished the game 28-for-39 with 251 yards and three passing touchdowns and converted on a two-point pass attempt.

Brown was efficient against the Hawkeyes in the quick-passing game and against pressure. He was averaged 2.36 seconds per throw and was 15-for-16 when Iowa blitzed.

Friday will be Brown's first start since Nov. 29, 2025, which was a 49-20 loss for Stanford against then-No. 9 Notre Dame. Brown finished that game 18-for-37 for 204 yards, one touchdown and one interception and was stacked once.

Brown was the only four-year starter at quarterback in Mater Dei High School football history and was a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school. He was a four-star recruit and was ranked as the 247th-best overall player, 16th-best quarterback and 23rd-best player in California according to the 247Sports composite.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound quarterback didn't have a successful stint with the Cardinal, which is still a program attempting to find their stride in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He completed 58.3% of his passes for 1,103 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions across nine games (four starts).

In two appearances this season, which included a stint in garbage time against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sept. 19, Brown's completed 71.4% of his attempts (30-for-42) for 276 yards, four touchdowns and no turnovers.

The Boilermakers will enter the game winners of two consecutive games, including a 41-13 result against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Oct. 10. The Gophers beat UW 27-24 in the two sides' respective meeting Sept. 26.