Demond Williams Jr. delivers UW win in ‘homecoming’ as MSU descends into QB injury hell

EAST LANSING — Washington head coach Jedd Fisch wanted the gathered media at his post game press conference to know something: His quarterback was born here. 

The son of former Michigan State defensive back Demond Williams Sr., Demond Williams Jr. was born in mid-Michigan on March 20, 2006, ahead of his father’s senior season playing for the Spartans. 

“So I told him it was a homecoming,” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said post game. 

And the younger Williams made it a happy homecoming, throwing pair touchdown passes in a 21-14 win over Michigan State (3-7, 1-6 B1G) on Saturday night at Spartan Stadium after a night on travel ensnarements for the Huskies amidst the hours-long FAA-ordered ground stop on Friday evening.

It would’ve been an easy night for Williams to do too much on a day where Washington (6-4, 3-4 B1G) readily could’ve been sluggish and off-kilter after arriving at the hotel around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning. 

Instead, the quarterback came through with a 22-of-33 performance for a pair of passing touchdowns and 288 yards through the air while rushing for another 24 yards on seven scrambles and taking just one sack for five yards. 

“Michigan State didn't offer me until, like, super late in my recruiting,” Williams said after leading his team to a win. “So I was looking forward to this game for sure.”

And Williams’ memorable night stood in stark contrast to what turned into a hellish night of quarterback health issues for the Spartans, as starter Alessio Milivojevic left the game late in the first half with an apparent injury to his right hand. He did not return, and was reported to have gotten X-rays around halftime, before being seen on the sideline in the second half with a large winter coat on and his right arm not visible in the sleeve. 

After the game, MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald provided minimal detail on Milivojevic. 

“The only update I have on ‘Les is he couldn’t come back in,” Fitzgerald said, adding the medical staff didn’t clear him and he didn’t have much more information. “He’s a tough SOB.”

In Milivojevic’s stead, MSU turned first to Cam Fancher, who re-aggravated a right knee injury on a brutal play that resulted in an interception for the Huskies in the second half, briefly leaving the game and sending third stringer and true freshman Kayd Coffman into the game for a series, though Fancher would return. Fitzgerald raved about the toughness Fancher displayed to get back and be available and then return after re-aggaravating the injury. 

And Fancher lamented the poor decision on what was intended to be a throwaway. 

“I’d like to have that play back,” Fancher said. 

And as Michigan State broke what might be the seventh seal of its injury hell in 2026, as Milivojevic’s status for the final two games is now quite murky, the Huskies enjoyed a well-earned win on the opposite sideline, getting bowl eligible after a night of travel debacles. 

The Huskie arrived at Boeing Field in Seattle around 1:30 p.m. local time of Friday, right as the FAA groundstop that prevented flights from taking off nationwide went into effect, only to be lifted around four hours later. 

Fisch and Co. opted to take the team back to the facility from the airport, shifted up their Saturday morning slate of meetings and prep to Friday night while they were still out west, and then got on the plane to fly east and get to their hotel in East Lansing around 4 a.m. EST.

Fisch said that the Huskies basically treated it like they stayed on Pacific time the whole trip, and the game was thus a 2:30 p.m. kickoff after getting into bed at 1 a.m. PST — which happened to be 4 a.m. where they were. 

“So then I was able to let them sleep until noon,” Fisch said. “Which gave us that eight hours, seven hours of sleep. And then when we woke them up, or whenever they woke up, obviously not many people could sleep till noon, but they didn't have any obligation until noon Eastern. And what I told the team is, we were just gonna stay on Pacific time all the way through.”

Then there was the Huskies’ quarterback, Williams, who Fisch raved about postgame. He complimented the command and control Williams played with, noting the quarterback was going to the right places with the football, protecting it from danger, and scrambling vertically and not side-to-side when the time came. 

There were a few early misses on deep shots, Fisch noted, perhaps an affect of Williams being amped up to play where his father once shone for the Spartans — the elder Williams, 20 years ago in 2006, played 12 games for MSU at defensive back and kick returner, and came up with a pair of picks that year, including a 62-yard pick six against Illinois. 

“I think he got a little excited on those first couple throws,” Fisch said. “We missed by like a fingertip. And then — so we kind of started, I think, maybe 0 for 3 or maybe 1 for 4, and then after that, when we hit that big one to Chris on third down on that second drive,
I think at that point in time, he felt really comfortable. And he was making really, really smart decisions with the football.”

With his family in attendance on Saturday — and rooting for him and Washington — Williams added to the family legacy at Spartan Stadium with his two touchdowns and an array of timely throws, and a couple deep shots. 

“It feels good,” Williams said of making plays in the same stadium his dad did.
”I mean, I know he got my back.”

Williams hit a 58-yard touchdown to Chris Lawson to tie the game, 7-7, early on, and later whipped a throw to Lawson from 17 yards out for a go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter to make it 14-7. 

And Williams didn’t come up with a touchdown on the go-ahead drive late in the fourth quarter, but made some of his best and most important throws, including one down the right side to convert a third down, and then another to Lawson down to the 1 yard line to convert another third down, which set up the go-ahead touchdown with 2:24. 

“He’s one of those guys where, he’s special,” MSU edge Kenny Soares Jr. said.