Elijah Brown Has Been Stellar Under Pressure For Washington Huskies

The Washington Huskies football team are set to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. 

The Huskies will be coming off a bye that followed a 38-26 win against the Purdue Boilermakers on Oct. 16, which marked UW's first Big Ten win of the season.

It's still unknown whether third-year quarterback Elijah Brown, who threw for three touchdowns in Washington's win against Purdue, or fellow third-year Demond Williams Jr. will start against Nebraska.

Williams began the season as the team's starting quarterback but was knocked out of action with a fractured rib in the team's 41-24 loss against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Oct. 9.

Williams missed the team's game against the Boilermakers, but is currently listed as "probable" on the team's injury report for Saturday.

Over the course of the bye, both Williams and Brown sat with quarterbacks coach J.P. Losman and senior offensive assistant Matt Cavanaugh to go over the pair's film from this year. Included on the film has been a noticeable trait of Brown's that will likely help the team against the Cornhuskers, regardless of who starts.

Nebraska is one of the best defenses in the nation and ranks first in success rate in third and fourth-down starts. The overall defense ranks ninth in the country in overall defense.

The defensive front has been a big part of the Cornhuskers' success on defense. The team is tied for 19th in the country in sacks (19) and tied for 19th in tackles for loss (47).

Brown has excelled in situations where the defense has brought pressure this season. Against Iowa, he was 15-for-16 on pass attempts when the Hawkeyes brought an extra rusher. Against Purdue, Brown was 3-for-5 for 53 yards on six drop backs when facing pressure.

"Having guys that have done it (successfully) certainly helps whether it be Demond or Elijah (who starts)," UW head coach Elijah Brown said in a weekly news conference held via Zoom on Thursday. "It's good to be able to look at how they handle different rush schemes of the opponent and also be able to see how they can handle or what they've done in the past to handle guys similar and similar in play. We're gonna collect all the data, but we feel good about what direction we're going to go for Saturday night."

Regardless of who starts, seeing examples of execution against the blitz will likely help either quarterback be more prepared against Nebraska.