In opening win, Washington looked different (good) and familiar (not as good) all at once

Demond Williams Jr.? Jonah Coleman? Denzel Boston? They're different. Defense and special teams? Stay tuned.

SEATTLE — They were hard to miss, father and son, both wearing a purple jersey bearing the younger’s last name as they congregated near the tunnel prior to Washington’s season opener against Colorado State.

Demond Williams Sr. played cornerback at Michigan State, where he wore No. 9. Well-wishers gravitated toward his replica No. 2 on Saturday night — including Jedd Fisch and Jimmie Dougherty, the coaches who first recruited his son to Arizona — before Washington’s starting quarterback came over for a pregame chat with his parents, too.

Hours later, Demond Williams Jr. was back in the same corner, children leaning over the railing and shouting his name, the college sophomore autographing a couple items before disappearing back toward the Huskies’ locker room.

Washington rushed for 283 yards on 51 attempts during its 38-21 victory over Colorado State. Jonah Coleman chunked up 177 of those and scored two touchdowns. That effort — by Coleman, by Adam Mohammed, by a re-made offensive line — deserves attention. But this also was our first glimpse at Williams as Face of the Program, as the unquestioned starting quarterback with months of preparation behind him, as the center of gravity for an offense that — if Saturday’s defensive and special-teams outputs should be extrapolated — will probably have to be spectacular on more than one occasion if Washington is to realize the gospel according to Joel Klatt.

So as I’m leaving Montlake well after Saturday has become Sunday, I’m thinking about the plays Williams made that few other quarterbacks could, and about the ways he proved, albeit against a Mountain West opponent, what he can do to change the picture when things break down.