The 2025 Washington football team has a lot of talent and could become one of the bigger surprise teams in college football this year. The Huskies play Washington State this weekend in the latest addition of the Apple Cup, but then they open Big Ten play against Ohio State next week. If they want to shock the world against Ohio State, it will essentially be due to Demond Williams.
Ohio State is on a bye week before its game. Still, the new defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, was asked what he thought about Williams and what could have caused the Ohio State defense issues. He had high praise for Williams and said he reminded him of Kyler Murray.
“That first-step quickness that he has and his ability to get to top speed, it's explosive. It's fast. He's quick. He gets out of the pocket. And he's got a powerful left arm,” Patricia said. “They've got good players to get the ball to, which will be a massive challenge for us. Even when you think you're watching the tape, you think you've got him bottled up, he can get out. And that reminds me a lot of Kyler Murray.
“It's so fast to that first-step speed. When you can get to your top speed in one step, that makes it very difficult for defensive players, especially guys in the front. A lot of times they're bigger, longer, slower. You're trying to rush, or you're trying to play the run game, because he can obviously run with the ball too a certain way; you think you have him leveraged, and then suddenly he sidesteps it, and then he's out the gate.”
It is worth noting that the Ohio State defense faced a dual-threat quarterback this past week against Parker Navarro, who had just three net rushing yards against the Buckeyes after running for 180 yards in the Bobcats’ first two games. That is something that they can build off against Williams, who is only 5-feet-11 and weighing 190 pounds. However, the quickness is a massive step up and will be an issue for Ohio State.
Demond Williams has 480 passing yards and two touchdowns, with a 69.4% completion percentage, through two games. He has been a difference-maker since he was given the keys last season. This will be a massive game for how the Big Ten standings shake out.
