Demond Williams Jr. passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more as Washington cruised past UCLA 48-14 on Saturday night in Pasadena, Calif.
After its first three possessions resulted in two punts and a field goal set up by favorable field position, the Washington offense finally broke through with Williams’ first score of the night. His 25-yard touchdown carry in the second quarter capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive, and set off a deluge from the Huskies (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten Conference).
Washington scored 34 unanswered points and, for the better part of three quarters, looked prime to hand UCLA (3-8, 3-5) its first shutout loss since 2011.
The Huskies defense held the Bruins to just more than 100 yards until deep into the third period. UCLA converted its first third-down attempt earlier in the game, then failed to do so on its next 10 opportunities.
It was not until Luke Duncan — taking over at quarterback after Nico Iamaleava was injured on a sack — completed a 24-yard pass to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala late in the third quarter that UCLA successfully converted a second third-down attempt.
That conversion set up the Bruins’ first score, as Duncan found Mikey Matthews on a short completion the receiver took to the end zone. The 37-yard touchdown was one of a limited number of times the Huskies’ defense gave up anything to UCLA.
One defensive highlight came late in the second quarter when safety Alex McLaughlin ran back a 59-yard scoop-and-score after the Huskies sniffed out a UCLA fake field-goal attempt. McLaughlin’s touchdown shortly before halftime turned a two-possession deficit for the Bruins into a three-score gap, 20-0.
Williams poured it on in the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown carry and an 18-yard scoring strike to Dezmen Roebuck. Williams added another touchdown pass of 24 yards to Decker DeGraaf in the fourth quarter. J. Coleman’s 1-yard TD run and DeGraaf’s TD bookended UCLA’s second score: Jamir Benjamin’s 13-yard return of a fumbled punt return forced by teammate Kanye Clark.
Williams finished 17-of-26 passing for 213 yards with an interception. He rushed for 56 yards, backing up Adam Mohammed’s 108 yards on 21 carries. Roebuck led the Huskies with seven receptions for 96 yards.
Duncan finished 5-for-11 for 81 yards. Iamaleava went 16 of 26 for 69 yards. Washington outgained UCLA, 426 to 207, including 212-57 on the ground.
