SEATTLE — The University of Washington Huskies (3-0) defended home field 48-16 against the Eastern Washington Eagles (1-3) Saturday in the final non-conference matchup of the season for both teams. 

“Thought we did some good things on offense today,” Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch said during the postgame press conference. “There was a couple times that I thought we had some opportunities that we didn’t execute (on), but I felt for the most part we played the type of offense I’d like us to play. Defensively, very disappointed in the penalties. That is not okay to have 100 yards in penalties and multiple drives were kept alive because of penalties. We're too talented on defense to let our emotions get the best of us.” 

According to UW Athletics, Demond Williams Jr. racked up 373 yards and four touchdowns on 27-of-33 passes, and Dezmen Roebuck led the Huskies with a career-high nine catches for 121 yards. Rashid Williams added 86 yards on six receptions and caught a pair of touchdowns, including a one-handed highlight at the front pylon to put the hosts up by three possessions. 

Washington came out firing, taking a three-touchdown lead into halftime. The Eagles scored in each quarter, but not enough to keep pace with the high-powered Husky offense, according to EWU Athletics.  

UW outgained the Eagles, 546 to 315, while racking up 398 yards through the air. Husky quarterback Demond Williams Jr. threw for four touchdown passes.  

Eastern was committed to the run, gaining 142 yards on 46 carries, a 3.1 yards-per-carry average. Nate Bell rushed for 50 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. Malik Dotson had 48 yards on 13 carries. 

“I loved to say the score wasn't indicative of how we were playing,” Eagles head coach Aaron Best said. “Getting the redzone pick was huge, and momentum kind of swayed our way even though the scoreboard didn't say so. The score is what it is. There was a tone of resolve, and that was the difference from last week for sure.” 

The Huskies scored first, driving 74 yards on 8 plays to a 15-yard touchdown pass from Williams. 

The Eagles responded as Bell directed the ball downfield, connecting with Rylin Lang for 10 yards. He added an 11-yard rush to keep the drive going. Bell then connected with Lang for a 33-yard gain to the Huskies 2-yard line. The Husky defense halted the drive, but Soren McKee connected from 20 yards on the field goal attempt to put Eastern on the board, trailing 7-3 

UW offense continued to work, putting together another scoring drive to extend their lead to 14-3.  

The Eagles didn’t flinch however, as Bell picked up where he left off to start the team's next drive, finding Wesley Garrett for a 20-yard completion. After two pass interference penalties on UW, Garrett took a reverse play 17 yards and placed the Eagles in the redzone. On the next play, Bell raced 14 yards to the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown, to cut the lead to 14-10 in the second quarter.  

The Huskies' offense had established a rhythm as they scored 14-straight points, starting with a 3-play, 45-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass. UW followed up with a 7-play, 50-yard drive as Williams connected for his 4th touchdown pass, this time from 18 yards. The Huskies' lead grew swiftly to 28-10. UW made it 17 straight points, closing the first half with a 25-yard field goal to go up 31-10.  

Out of halftime, the Eagles put together a drive to get back in the game. Highlighted by a 32-yard rush from Bell, EWU moved into Husky territory. McKee was called on again and converted a 37-yard field goal to bring the lead down to 31-13 in the third quarter. 

On the Huskies' next possession, they moved the ball 93 yards on 5 plays, scoring on a 1-yard rushing touchdown, re-extending the lead to 38-13. 

Eastern continued fighting in the third, as Bell completed passes to Kevin Allen III and Lang to get some rhythm on offense. Bell was distributing the ball to multiple targets and put the offense back into field goal range. McKee remained reliable and made his third field goal from 43 yards away. EWU now trailed 38-16 in the fourth quarter.  

In the fourth quarter, UW closed out the Eagles with 10 points, starting with a 32-yard field goal, followed by a 2-yard touchdown run to go up by 32 points before eventually securing the win. 

This wraps up non-conference games for the Eagles this season, and they’ll now turn their focus to the Big Sky Conference, starting with Cal Poly on Sept. 26 at Roos Field with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m.  

From there, they’ll face some of the conference’s toughest opponents, but fortunately for them teams like Northern Colorado, University of Montana and Montana State travel to Cheney.  

With most non-conference games taking place on the road, Best feels this team is battle tested and poised to face the challenges that lie ahead.  

“How we can build on that will be determined coming back home,” Best said. “We played 3 of 4 on the road against four really good teams. We'll try to get healthy, and we're playing with guys that don't have a ton of experience on the edge. We hung in there for the better part of three quarters. We don't like to just hang around in games. But when the guys give what they have, and breaks don't go our way, they still look at us and say, ‘We're good.’ That's a good feeling.” 

The Huskies return home once again in primetime when they host Minnesota at 8 p.m. 

BOX SCORE: 

EWU: 3-7-3-3: 16 

UW: 14-17-7-10: 48 

    The Huskies’ Rashid Williams (3) hauls in a sideline catch from quarterback Demond Williams Jr. (not pictured) against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday.