When Demond Williams Jr. fractured a rib against Iowa, walked gingerly out of Husky Stadium and didn't return to the field for the second half, one had to wonder if the season was over for the University of Washington quarterback.

With all of the insults hurled his way when the Huskies had a once promising team saddled with a three-game losing streak, it was fair to ask whether Willams would even want to come back and deal with the negativity?

Yet before a crowd of 86,097 black-shirted and deep-throated Nebraska fans, the dual-threat quarterback reappeared to rescue his team in a fourth-quarter relief role that was both dramatic and instrumental in providing a 17-10 victory over the Cornhuskers.

One of the subjects addressed in the postgame by UW coach Jedd Fisch and Williams on a glorious night was the often ruthless backlash previously sent the signal-caller's way by his own Huskies followers.

“I understand that fans and people want to get on social media and say things, and they have the right to do that,” Fisch said. “But there’s also facts that are involved, as well. And Demond has been an incredible teammate, and Demond has played as hard as possible. To personally attack a kid, I have a hard time with that.”

Said the 20-year-old Williams, "It's just been really tough because everybody's been on me. I feel it."

Yet UW fans always have been hard on their quarterbacks during a time of game-day struggles.

They booed Warren Moon so mercilessly when he played poorly midway though his UW career, the future pro football hall of famer seriously considered packing up his stuff and heading home to Los Angeles.

For Williams, he encountered his first real slump with the Huskies in three seasons and people were almost giddy on social media that he got hurt and back-up Elijah Brown had to take over.

Yes, he had played poorly over multiple games, making bad decisions, with everything culminating in a strip sack of him that brought a game-deciding fumble runback for a score by USC in a 26-21 loss on the road.

As painful as it was, the rib injury enabled Williams to reset and once more be the elusive dual-threat quarterback that LSU reportedly tried to pry away from the Huskies with the promise of added riches last winter.

He said the previous Purdue game, which the UW won 38-26 on the road, was the first he had missed since the eighth grade.

Against the Cornhuskers, he first was inserted in the second quarter for a double-pass play that worked with the ball going from Brown to him to Dezmen Roebuck for a 9-yard gainer. Summoned at the start of the fourth period, he reclaimed his job from Brown, drew two series and made magical stuff happen.

He capped off a last-ditch drive with a 25-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to Chris Lawson with 90 seconds left to play.

“I felt we needed a spark," Fisch said of the QB change. "I felt that the way they were playing us, what they were doing coverage-wise, we needed the ability that Demond has, and that's the ability to be able to make a play with his feet."

Said Williams, “If they needed me, then I was ready to go. I prepared like that throughout the entire week, regardless of the reps I was getting, or the situation I was put into."

So with four games remaining, and Penn State, Indiana and Oregon among the opponents, Williams likely has done enough to reclaim his job.

All has been forgiven by the fan base it appears. At least for now.

Yet certainly there will be more sacks, interceptions and even losses that come his way, as well as boos to accompany the distress, but Williams has learned to be even more resilient in the face of a fierce fan blowback.

"I’m more proud of the fact that he was able to block out the noise and just be a good teammate," Fisch said.