Report: QB Elijah Brown to make 1st start for UW Huskies

Quarterback Elijah Brown is set to make his first start for the UW Huskies on Friday night at Purdue, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Demond Williams Jr., who started UW’s first six games at quarterback, is dealing with a rib injury that he suffered late in the first half of the Huskies’ 41-24 loss to No. 17 Iowa last Friday night.

Williams is listed as questionable on UW’s availability report. He could be available as a reserve, depending on how he feels during pregame warmups, according to Thamel.

Brown, a former four-star recruit from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, spent his first two college seasons at Stanford. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound signal caller went 1-2 while starting the final three games of Stanford’s 2025 campaign.

Brown’s first significant action for UW came last week, when he filled in for Williams and completed 28 of 39 passes for 251 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Williams completed just 6 of 11 passes for 69 yards before getting hurt.

It’s been a difficult third season on Montlake for Williams, who briefly entered the transfer portal in January before returning to the Huskies two days later. The dual-threat quarterback has completed just 66.7% of his passes for 1,396 yards, eight TDs and three interceptions this fall, while rushing for 183 yards and two TDs.

Washington (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) began the season in the AP Top 25, but has stumbled to a disappointing campaign. Purdue (3-3, 2-1) is coming off back-to-back wins over Illinois and Minnesota that snapped a 19-game Big Ten losing streak.

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