Washington coach Jedd Fisch on facing Michigan: 'We've got our work cut out for us'

Michigan Wolverines football hasn’t shown much of a passing game through five outings, and that’s been a big storyline, with the Wolverines ranking 130th of 134 FBS teams with 115.4 yards per game through the air. But the Maize and Blue have played stellar defense and check in 34th nationally with 194.8 rushing yards per tilt, posing challenges for opponents.

Michigan has won three straight games after its 31-12 loss to Texas, beating Arkansas State (28-18), USC (27-24) and Minnesota (27-24). The Wolverines will hit the road to take on Washington Saturday evening in Seattle.

“Well, they run the ball really well and they play great defense,” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said. “I was watching the USC game before I came up here, and with 12 minutes left in the second quarter, USC had minus-3 yards and Michigan had 121 yards, but the score was 7-0. So that was an interesting one.

“You look at the Minnesota game, it was 24-3 before the game kind of went the other way there for a while. In the fourth quarter, Minnesota got hot, which you saw [on film].”

Fisch credited Michigan head man Sherrone Moore for the run game, which has seen graduate running back Kalel Mullings rack up 100-plus yards in the last three clashes.

“I think that they certainly run the football exceptionally well,” Fisch reiterated. “Sherrone has been there six years. That’s his run game. He got there [two years] after I left [Michigan as an assistant coach from 2015-16]. He was the tight ends coach, then the O-line coach, then the O.C. During that time, you could see how he built it from outside in.

“The tight ends became an elite group, then the offensive line became an elite group and then the whole offense last year was very hard to stop. They’re continuing to run the ball at an exceptionally high level.”

Michigan’s defense is now run by Wink Martindale, who was the coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens while U-M’s last two defensive maestros, Mike Macdonald (2021) and Jesse Minter (2022-23), were on the Ravens’ staff.

“Defensively, they really have run the Baltimore Ravens’ defense now since 2021,” Fisch said. “When [former Michigan and Arizona defensive coordinator] Don Brown came to Arizona, they hired Mike Macdonald, and then from Mike Macdonald to Jesse Minter, Jesse Minter to Don Martindale. All three of them were together in Baltimore, so they run the Ravens’ defense, so you’ve gotta deal with one of the best defenses I guess in the world, pro football.

“And then you’ve got to deal with, offensively, a team that’s really going to ground and pound you. And then as soon as you fall asleep, they’re going to hit you on a big one over the top.”

Washington is considered one of the toughest places to play in college football, and Fisch is expecting a hostile environment inside a packed Husky Stadium.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Fisch said of playing the defending national champions. “It’s gonna be a great atmosphere. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t absolutely slammed in the stadium, with hopefully 70, 75,000 and we can get in trouble for having 2,000 over the limit or something like that. I hope every student comes out, stands on each other’s shoulders if there’s no space.

“We’re gonna need the crowd, we’re gonna need the energy and we’re going to need our healthiest and best football team, and we’re gonna need our coaches to be our very best on Saturday, as well.”

Washington ‘improving’ as season rolls along

Washington has wins over Weber State (35-3), Eastern Michigan (30-9) and Northwestern (24-5) but suffered setbacks to Washington State (24-19) and Rutgers (21-18). In the loss to the Scarlet Knights in Piscataway last Friday night, the Huskies put up 521 yards of offense to Rutgers’ 299.

“I kinda like how our team is beginning to play,” Fisch said. “If anyone would’ve told me that we would’ve gone across the country and outgained a team by 230 yards and not turned it over and not taken a sack and not had a negative play, I would’ve signed up for that.

“So, if we can continue to evolve offensively and continue to get better there … defensively, we’re in the top 10 in scoring and total defense. In both offense and defense, we’re in the top 20 in yards per play on both sides of the ball. If we can just get better each week, I think we can put ourselves in a great position.

“I think we’ll start seeing … none of us would’ve expected us to miss some kicks. Grady Gross is one of the best kickers in the country, so every now and then I guess there’s a fluke day that occurs, but never in a million years would I have guessed that [he would miss 3 field goals against Rutgers], nor do I think it would happen again.”