Washington Huskies Starting Quarterback Will be Game-Time Decision

SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team will be coming off their bye week to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 5 p.m. PT on Saturday (Halloween) at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

And the Huskies won't announce who their starting quarterback will be until they're already in Lincoln.

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said in a weekly news conference Monday at Alaska Airlines Arena that the team won't decide whether Elijah Brown or Demond Williams Jr. (both third-years) will start at quarterback until game-time.

"We'll go all the way up through probably Wednesday or Thursday," Fisch said Monday. "What time's our press conference (Thursday)? At (1 p.m. PT)? I'll decide at 2:15 on Thursday."

Fisch said at the onset of the news conference that a reason for the team opting to announce the starter on gameday is due to not to give Nebraska a competitive advantage. The team is also working at getting Williams back to full strength.

Williams suffered a fractured rib in the team's 41-24 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes on Oct. 9 on the second-to-last drive before halftime. This led to Brown, who transferred to the team this offseason from the Stanford Cardinal, entering the game before halftime.

Brown earned the start in the team's 38-26 win against the Purdue Boilermakers on Oct. 16. From his point of entering the game against Iowa through his start against Purdue, the former Stanford signal-caller has completed 74.2% of his passes for 553 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.

Across the entire season, which included three pass attempts in garbage time against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Sept. 19, Brown's connected on 73.9% of his throws for 578 yards, seven touchdowns and three picks.

Before his injury, Williams completed 66.7% of his passes for 1,396 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions. He's ran 64 times for 183 yards and two interceptions.

The two quarterbacks have split first-team reps in practice since the game against the Boilermakers. Both signal-callers also sat with quarterbacks coach J.P. Losman and senior offensive assistant Matt Cavanaugh to go over film from earlier this season during the bye.

"I think both guys have been exceptional teammates," Fisch said. "Just watching the T.V. copy again of the game a week ago, you saw how enthusiastic Demond was for Elijah. And, also, how much of a great teammate he was there. I thought throughout the week, any reps that Demond had, Elijah was a great teammate for Demond. So they're continuing to build that bond and putting themselves in a position where both of those guys are making each other better. Rising tides lift all ships."