Washington Huskies third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. speaks to the media following practice Tuesday at Husky Stadium in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports
SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies football team will have an off-day Wednesday before its first practice in full pads Thursday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
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Even still, the Huskies have noticeably improved and the offense and defense both had highlight plays from day five of practice Tuesday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
Here’s several notes and observations from Tuesday’s practice:
With the departure of last year’s leading receiver, Denzel Boston, Washington is looking toward several returning players, Class of 2026 recruits and transfer portal acquisitions to find the replacement starting “X” in the offense.
Sixth-year wide receiver Christian Moss, who transferred to the Huskies this offseason from Kennesaw State, was one of the players head coach Jedd Fisch mentioned to be competing for a starting job this fall.
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Moss wasn’t able to practice the entire spring due to an injury and is working this fall to build chemistry with third-year quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and the rest of the offense.
It was a mixed day for Moss, who was on the wrong end of a forced fumble from second-year linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and dropped a pass. He bounced back with a receiving touchdown on a fade route on third down in team drills. After getting his feat caught with his defender on another fade route in team drills, Moss made a diving effort in the end zone to come up with the ball and came just shy of securing a second touchdown Tuesday.
“Just a guy that’s a really hard worker,” Williams said after practice Tuesday. “He’s here to work, he’s here to compete and that’s all we really look for in the receiver room. You try and find the guy that wants to be the Alpha. A guy that can replace a Denzel Boston, a guy that wants the ball, he wants the fade opportunities, he wants all the competition that’s there to go for it.”
The offense and defense both had highlight moments in Thursday’s practice.
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For the offense, Moss’ aforementioned touchdown catch, a 13-yard touchdown run from Class of 2026 running back Brian Bonner Jr. and second-year receiver Chris Lawson had a fall-back touchdown grab for over 20 yards.
Second-year receiver Dezmen Roebuck ended main practice with a 25-yard touchdown grab from Williams with a cornerback all over him.
The defense also had their own string of wins. In addition to Rainey-Sale’s aforementioned forced fumble, the defense disrupted a screen pass attempt from Williams, fourth-year safety Alex McLaughlin recorded a tackle for loss, third-year defensive back Rahshawn Clark tackled Roebuck for a third-down stop in team drills and the defense recorded several “sacks.”
“As you talk about the practice, the biggest thing I tell the team all the time is ‘you can have a zero-yard gain, a zero-yard gain, a zero-yard gain, a touchdown, so what?'” Fisch said after practice. “You have three zero-yard gains and a touchdown, that means it’s 7-0. You’re not going to win every play. I love all the ‘the defense won this’ or ‘the offense won this.’ It’s really not that at all. Until you go back and you actually look at how the game was getting played, that makes the decision on who’s winning what drill. But I thought our defense came out and competed extremely hard. I love the way they took care of one another. But we’re a physical, chippy bunch. I love that about our team. I feel like we’re in a great spot with the ways our players are competing.”
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— Quarterbacks coach J.P. Losman said after Tuesday that the backup quarterback job was as “wide open as could be” and second-year signal-caller Dash Beierly made some impressive strides.
Beierly, who’s known for his arm strength but has struggled at times in practice with accuracy and placement, made several picture-perfect throws along the sidelines to Class of 2026 wide receiver Jordan Clay and was responsible for the throw on Lawson’s highlight touchdown grab.
“That’s been a major project with Dash as far as getting his confidence back (is the accuracy),” Losman said after practice. “When a young kid comes in, and (tries) to learn the game, sometimes they just plug-and-play. And sometimes the talent’s there, but there’s a mental block or a confidence issue or just something. And with him, it’s been one of the great stories on our team as far as where somebody was from last year and how far they can chip away. … The talent’s always been there.”
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— Fifth-year defensive tackle Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei returned to the team in Saturday’s practice after being granted a fifth year of college eligibility by a recent court ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in Colorado against the NCAA. Uiagalelei was a 13-game starter with UW last season, but Fisch was noncommittal on whether or not he would regain his starting role this season.
“The best players will play,” Fisch said.
