Know Your Enemy: A Conversation with the Washington Huskies Dawg Pound

This week I was lucky enough to exchange questions with Mark Shafer from the Dawg Pound about Friday's game between the Huskers and the Boilermakers.

Coach Fisch said today he'd be surprised if starting QB Demond Williams was able to play on Friday. What can you tell us about backup QB Elijah Brown?

Elijah Brown is an experienced backup, having spent the previous 2 seasons at Stanford, throwing for 829 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in 2025 for the Cardinal, leading them to a win over rival California. In the preseason, he was described as an old veteran, without Williams' athletic ability. Against Iowa after Williams' injury, it was a breath of fresh air, as Brown made decisive reads, getting the ball out quickly to his receivers like a point guard on the basketball court. All told, he went 28-39 for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns, which is not bad for a backup. However, it was during a blowout and Iowa was probably playing soft coverages, or they didn't have film on him. But, if he can continue that momentum, maybe a distributor can wake up a previously stuck offense.

Purdue's trading of Ryan Walters to Washington for cash considerations and a player to be named later sure looks like a good deal for Purdue at this moment. What are Washington fans feelings about Walters?

I think that for me personally, I could excuse a bumpy year one as Walters implementing his system to his liking. The Huskies got some key pieces back, like safety Alex McLaughlin, their leading tackler, and the previously electric Zaydrius Rainey-Sale at linebacker. Additionally, young Freshmen like Jeron Jones at corner and Derek Colman-Brusa at defensive tackle were to catapult this unit into the upper echelon in the country. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up near the bottom. Missed tackles, miscommunication and penalties aplenty have marred Walters' second year and made me (and a lot of other Husky fans) sour on him. I get that the Huskies lost to Iowa, but it looked like these Dawgs just rolled over and got willingly stomped on by a Hawkeye team just…doing what they do, and have done for about 40 years. I wanted to like this hire, I really did. But if anything it shows the Huskies lack discipline, and are fundamentally unsound. They can't get any push up front either, as they gave up 263 yards rushing, and sit in the bottom half of the country in sacks with 10. Overall, the Walters Experiment has to this point been a failure, and Devon Witherspoon's not walking through that door, so unfortunately, unless this team turns around fast, they'll continue to be outworked by the more cohesive units in the Big Ten.

This will be Washington's first game not on the West Coast, how much of a factor do you think that will be on Friday?

Fisch is infamous for his road record outside of the Pacific Time Zone (standing at 1-6, the only win coming on a furious 4 th quarter comeback against Maryland in 2025). Every time the Dawgs travel eastward, it's a case of them not being awake to start the game, or not being able to overcome the weather or getting out-physicaled, or sometimes all 3. Granted, the talent level probably wasn't where it should've been, but they got outplayed and out-hustled by Wisconsin last year, who finished 4-8.

As for Friday night, I expect more of the same: relative lethargy to start out, maybe making it a better game in the second half. With a new quarterback, maybe they'll surprise me, but I don't see a path to victory right now.

Brian Bonner Jr. gets the bulk of carries for the Huskies, but hasn't had a touchdown yet this season, with Williams out will he be expected to carry more of the load?

Seeing as how Brown is not the mobile athlete that Williams is, I'd expect to see a steady diet of Brian Bonner, as the running back room is down the top 2 guys (Quaid Carr and Oregon transfer Jayden Limar) because of season ending injuries to both. Bonner is a great athlete, with good burst, but he's a Freshman, and as such, his vision needs work. During the game against USC, Fisch attempted to alleviate that by running a lot of gap runs (as opposed to the zone that he likes to run). Bonner responded with 89 yards in his best performance as a Husky yet. I think if Fisch plays to Bonner's strength, maybe he could get across the goal line in this game?

Looking at the defensive side of the ball, which units are the strengths and which are the weaknesses?

The strengths are definitely the secondary and linebackers. Alex McLaughlin once again leads the team in tackles with 44, with senior linebacker Jacob Manu trailing behind him with 35. McLaughlin also has 2 interceptions and 1 forced fumble. Not to be outdone, Zaydrius Rainey Sale and Xe'ree Alexander have 25 and 22 tackles, respectively. The weaknesses are on the defensive line, and the other corners, as they both haven't lived up to their preseason hype. The Huskies can't get any push up front, and they routinely played out of position against Iowa, giving up over 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards. I don't know what can be done to fix that, save for firing Walters, but something must be done!

Washington slings the ball around to a lot of different guys with 8 having at least one touchdown. Is WR depth the strength of this offense?

I'd say that this room is long on depth, short on experience. Yes, there's a lot of exciting young talent in Dezmen Roebuck (the team's leading pass catcher, with 43 receptions for 387 yards), and Chris Lawson (second behind Roebuck). But on tape, you see it plainly, they can't get a whole lot of separation, and that won't net you a lot of yards, obviously. To that end, Fisch has modified his offense a bit, mixing in more bubble screens to Roebuck, for example. But it hasn't produced the explosive results a lot of UW fans were promised, and maybe that starts with the quarterback. Demond Williams has regressed and now seems less confident, less willing to get the ball out quickly, and that has limited these receivers a bit, I think. With Brown in line to start, maybe that stirs the receivers up and unlocks something in this offense.

What's your prediction for Friday night's game?

There are a lot of factors working against the Huskies: most likely starting QB2, going all the way to Indiana from Washington, facing a team no doubt looking to carry their momentum from a thrashing of Minnesota forward. That, combined with their struggles, leaves me with little hope for a Husky victory. I was surprised at Brown's performance last Friday night, however, so I hope that I can be pleasantly surprised once again, this time with a victory. But in a battle between struggle spots and bright spots, I think the struggle spots are going to win out, and the Huskies will further sink down in the mire of something worse than mediocrity.