Washington Huskies pour it on in 49-13 pounding of Purdue
SEATTLE – Adam Mohammed had made only two trips to the end zone entering Saturday.
Despite playing in 13 games and taking 42 carries as a true freshman in 2024, Mohammed – the 6-foot, 220-pound tailback from Glendale, Arizona – never scored. He’d been limited to two touchdowns through nine games in 2025. His most recent end zone jaunt came Sept. 6, when he bulldozed in from 4 yards against FCS UC Davis.
Mohammed had three touchdowns before the first half concluded against Purdue on Saturday.
Making his first career start in place of injured senior tailback Jonah Coleman (knee), Mohammed’s career day propelled Washington to a 49-13 victory against Purdue in front of an announced crowd of 67,229 at Husky Stadium on a misty Saturday evening. It’s the Huskies’ seventh win of the season, guaranteeing an improved record during coach Jedd Fisch’s second season on Montlake.
UW crushed Purdue in convincing fashion, pounding the Boilermakers in every facet of the game. Even without several key starters, including Coleman and wide receiver Desmond Boston, UW outgained Purdue, 506-267 in the blowout win. The crowd was mostly gone by the start of the fourth quarter, with the game well in hand.
Mohammed rushed for 59 yards on 17 carries and a career-best three touchdowns, while adding 27 yards receiving on one catch. Redshirt freshman running back Jordan Washington chipped in with a career-high 108 yards on just five carries. Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams Jr. finished the game 16-for-19 passing for 257 yards and two touchdowns while adding 23 yards rushing on seven carries.
Washington’s offense, looking for a rebound performance after a bad outing last week against Wisconsin, struggled early. The new-look offensive line – featuring sophomore Zachary Henning at center, true freshman John Mills at right tackle and redshirt freshman Paki Finau at left guard – showed some cracks early. Particularly when Henning’s fifth snap of the game sailed past Williams, turning the ball over to Purdue on the UW 42-yard line.
The defense, however, bailed out the offense. The Huskies (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) forced a three-and-out on the Boilermakers first drive of the game, and after UW offense punted away its second possession deep in its own territory, the defense came up with a massive fourth-down stop.
Purdue, lined up on Washington’s 38-yard line, needed just one yard to gain. But UW junior linebacker Xe’ree Alexander and fifth-year edge rusher Zach Durfee combined to stonewall tailback Antonio Harris – running out of a wildcat formation – for no gain to force the Boilermakers (2-9, 0-8) to turn it over on downs.
The stop helped spark Washington’s offense, and Williams immediately connected a 43-yard pass down the left sideline to senior wide receiver Omari Evans. The Penn State transfer, making his first start of the season in place of injured junior wideout Denzel Boston (ankle), managed to snag the ball with one hand as he fell to the turf, securing UW’s longest completion since Oct. 18.
Five plays later, Mohammed was celebrating in the end zone after a 1-yard touchdown plunge after lining up as a fullback to give Washington a 7-0 lead. The drive also included an improbable play by Williams, who recovered another errant snap by Henning and then found sophomore tight end Decker DeGraaf for a 6-yard gain to convert on third down deep in the red zone.
Washington began to pile on the points in the second quarter. Alexander, a former Kennedy Catholic High standout, made another fourth-down stop on Purdue’s ensuing drive, coming off the edge to drag Harris down for a 2-yard loss on UW’s 35-yard line when the Boilermakers needed one yard for the first down. Mohammed punctuated a 14-play, 61-yard drive with his second touchdown of the game, again a 1-yard plunge.
From there, UW was off to the races. True freshman linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, the former Bethel High standout, intercepted Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne for his first career pick to set up redshirt freshman running back Jordan Washington, who entered the game with 67 yards rushing on 14 carries this season.
The 5-11, 185-pound tailback broke off the longest run of the Huskies’ season on the very next play, bursting through the gap between sixth-year right guard Geirean Hatchett and Mills before hitting the right sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run. It was the first touchdown of Washington’s career and gave UW a 21-0 lead.
Mohammed and Washington tacked on one more touchdown before halftime, as the sophomore running back pinballed through defenders from five yards to make it 28-0 with 55 seconds remaining.
The only thing that went wrong for UW during its first-half barrage came with 10:24 remaining in the second quarter, when freshman wide receiver Raiden Vines-Bright was knocked out of the game after taking a big hit from Purdue safety Myles Slusher at the end of a 10-yard screen pass.
Vines-Bright was eventually stretchered off the field and loaded into an ambulance, though a UW spokesperson said he was responsive and was able to move his extremities. He was taken to a hospital for precautionary testing. Slusher was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the play.
UW’s touchdown bonanza continued after the break. Williams connected with sophomore wide receiver Audric Harris on a 61-yard touchdown – the longest pass play by a Husky this season and the longest pass of Williams’ career. It was also Harris’ first career touchdown. And after Purdue finally got on the scoreboard with a 41-yard field goal by kicker Spencer Porath, Williams punctuated Washington’s next drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Dezmen Roebuck to make it 42-3.
Purdue tacked on another late field goal and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. UW, meanwhile, brought in backup quarterback Kai Horton in his second action of the season to finish things out. Horton led the Huskies down the field in his limited action and went 2-3 passing for 37 yards, capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to put the game on ice.