SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team is set to conclude its spring practice schedule with their "Dawgs After Dark" spring game at 6:30 p.m. PT on May 1 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

Six days before Washington concludes the spring practice schedule, the team used its Saturday practice to hold a scrimmage — its second in a week.

There were several noteworthy plays and moments to take away from the game. But, as has been the case most of this spring, the defense won the day.

Here's several notes and observations from Saturday's scrimmage.

The first-team offense began the scrimmage with arguably their most impressive drive of the spring against the first-team defense.

Despite two negative plays in the run game (including one 3-yard tackle for loss by senior linebacker Xe'ree Alexander), junior quarterback Demond Williams Jr. got multiple players involved, including sophomore wide receiver Dezmen Roebuck (37-yard reception) and junior tight end Decker DeGraaf (13-yard catch).

The offense capped off the drive with an 18-yard score from Demond Williams to junior wide receiver Rashid Williams.

That was the only touchdown for either the first- or second-team offense until the starters took the field for their fifth drive of the session. That ended with a seven-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper from Demond Williams.

The defense has been the overall winner of the scrimmages and 11-on-11 sessions this spring.

The offense has progressed and gotten better as the spring has gone on, but the scales are still tipped in favor of the defense.

"Proud of the way the defense competed for the ball," UW coach Jedd Fisch said after practice Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. "Thought the defense played really hard today, made a lot of big plays. Offensively, we got to make more plays. We got to find guys that want to step up and make those plays. This offense is built upon that outside receiver that wants to be elite. So, right now, it's a great challenge to see which of those guys it's gonna be. We got a lot of guys that are gonna compete for that job come training camp, or maybe even next week, and I can't wait to see."

Wide receiver has arguably been the most volatile position for the Huskies this spring.

Washington has a tough task replacing 2025 leading receiver Denzel Boston (who was recently taken in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns).

The Huskies made several additions to the wide receiver room this offseason. They acquired veteran pass-catchers Christian Moss (Kennesaw State) and Bodpegn Miller (Ohio State) via the transfer portal. They also landed commitments from four-star Class of 2026 wide receivers Jordan Clay and Trez Davis.

Roebuck, who was second on the team in receiving yards last year, is locked into his starting role as a slot receiver.

But Washington's starting outside receivers are still up in the air, mostly due to injuries than lack of performance.

Miller, Moss, Clay and sophomore wide receiver Chris Lawson have all missed portions of spring practice.

"That's a great challenge for any quarterback," quarterbacks coach JP Losman said Saturday. "Doesn't really bother us one bit. We could be playing with the 'three's,' we could be playing with the 'one's,' it doesn't matter. Either way, we have to be super accurate. What a great challenge it is for us, no matter what. Just remember, at this time (last year), we didn't have (Boston) or (Roebuck). ... And look how that season ended up. We're gonna have a lot more shiny toys become available, for sure. But this is great, great work for us. ... In our top 10 rules is 'no excuses.' There's none of that."

Rashid Williams and sophomore Justice Williams were the main outside targets Saturday.

Rashid Williams has been one of the lone receivers who's gotten reps with the first team for almost the entire spring and it's likely he would be considered a front-runner for starting reps when the season begins.

-- Redshirt freshman running back Quaid Carr Jr. will get some competition for the starting role once senior portal additions Jayden Limar, Trey Cooley and sophomore Jordan Washington return from injury.

But Carr is making a good case to keep the majority of first-team reps even when those players return healthy.

Carr had first-down plays running and catching the ball Saturday.

-- Sophomore safety Paul Mencke Jr. was one of the top performers in the previous scrimmage April 18. He had a deep pass breakup in that scrimmage on a pass in tented for Justice Williams and didn't allow a pass against him.

On Saturday, Mencke again stepped up and had two tackles for loss coming up from the safety position.

-- Four-star Class of 2026 recruit, safety Gavin Day, has been running with the second-team defense this spring. He had an interception on a pass that was too high for the intended receiver.

-- Four-star Class of '26 edge rusher Ramzak Fruean has mostly been repping with the backup defensive line this spring. During a drive in which the second-team defense was facing the backup offense, Fruean had a solid hit on true freshman quarterback Derek Zammit, who was one of several quarterbacks in a purple shit and cleared to get hit Saturday. Fruean was credited with a 10-yard sack for the hit.

Demond Williams and Elijah Brown were the only signal-callers who weren't live.

"We got to see who can play," Fisch said. "I don't know how you evaluate, at this point, guys who have never really played in a college football game. What would they be like if it's actually not people having to stop when they're near them? Our plan was Demond and Elijah have both played in college football games. The other three guys (haven't). ... We got to see who's gonna be the third and who's gonna be the fourth and who's gonna be the fifth."

-- Fisch said that UW's current injuries, such as the ones to Clay and Moss, aren't serious and those players are expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.

Washington, who exited a practice earlier this spring with a head-and-neck injury, is "day-to-day," per Fisch.

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