Demond Williams Jr. displays historical performance in win vs Rutgers

Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. put on a show in the Washington Huskies' 38-19 home win over Rutgers -- a victory that improved Washington's record to 5-1 (2-1 Big Ten). Williams was the game's leading passer and rusher, throwing for 402 yards and rushing for 136 yards. He scored four touchdowns, two with his arm and two with his legs, on the night.

It didn't start out pretty for Williams and the Huskies. A quarter into the game, the Huskies were down 10-0 and Williams only had 30 passing yards. But Washington's first drive in the second quarter, only three plays and 1:20 long, highlighted by a 25-yard rush and 23-yard touchdown pass by Williams put UW right back into the game at 10-7.

Coming out of halftime with the first possession in a 13-10 deficit, it was all Williams from there. Washington outscored Rutgers 28-9 in the second half, with a Williams red-zone fumble the only blemish for what was a dominant Huskies offense.

A one-yard Jonah Coleman touchdown run began the second-half scoring for the Huskies, and Williams finished the job from there. A perfectly placed 38-yard touchdown pass to Denzel Boston extended Washington's lead to 24-13, and then Williams tacked on two more rushing touchdowns to seal the deal.

William's performance made history: his 538 total yards of offense set a Washington program record, while he also became just the 16th player in FBS history to total 400+ passing yards and 100+ rushing yards in the same game. To no one's surprise, he was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, the second time he's earned that honor this season.

After Washington's only loss so far this season two weeks ago against No. 1 Ohio State, a game in which Williams was 18-of-22 passing but the Huskies still never scored a touchdown, coach Jedd Fisch noted that he needed to drill it in Williams' mind that it was okay to throw some incompletions. That it was worth it to take a dip in Williams' highly-efficient completion percentage if it meant taking less sacks and getting the ball out quicker.

Well, Williams has seemed to take that bit of coaching very well. In the following game against Maryland, Williams attempted a career-high 41 passes, completing 28 of them while cutting his sack total in half from the week prior against the Buckeyes. Washington also won that came in comeback fashion.

In this most recent game against Rutgers, it appeared that "Diamond Demond" struck the perfect balance of being efficient, but still aggressive. He was 21-of-27 passing, but was sacked only one time -- as every pass was thrown with conviction, and you could just tell he was processing the game much quicker with his decision making.

Now, Williams is up to 1,628 passing yards on the season, to go along with 10 passing touchdowns and only one interception. That gives him a quarterback rating of 180.2, good enough for sixth-best in the nation. His 74.1 completion percentage is second in the nation, only behind Ohio State's Julian Sayin.

On the ground, Williams has added 382 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 5.2 yards per carry, which includes a devastating stat line against Ohio State where he had -28 rushing yards. This means he's been thriving off big plays with his legs, making him one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in college football.

Williams' 2010 total yards is first in the Big Ten and third in the NCAA. If he keeps this pace up, and Washington continues to win games, it's possible Williams will have his name in the hat for several postseason awards.