Above Image Credit: MPR News
When: Saturday, Oct. 5, 7:30 PM EST
Where: Husky Stadium (Seattle, WA)
Channel: NBC/Peacock (check your listings; click here to subscribe to Peacock)
The Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies meet on Saturday night in a rematch of last year’s national championship.
Birth of a New Big Ten Conference Rivalry
Michigan and Washington have been going at it for a long time. In fact, the last time they faced off was last year’s national championship where Washington lost, 34-13.
Washington then left the dying Pac-12 conference to join the Big Ten. Now, instead of waiting for a few years or a long while to face off, both teams will now be getting acquainted with themselves more than usual. That tradition starts this Saturday night.
Of the 14 meetings between these two teams, Michigan has won nine of them. However, Washington enters this new meeting as the betting favorite. A win against the Wolverines will redeem them from the championship loss and drop Michigan’s rank down a notch.
Players to Watch Out For
Washington QB Will Rogers is making big moves. The senior has already recorded 1,354 yards (3rd most in the Big Ten) and 10 touchdowns.
He is one of four top offensive players in the Big Ten. The other three are RB Jonah Coleman and wide receivers Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson. Expect all four men to be front and center on the field.
Michigan may have a way to counter it. DE Josaiah Stewart is one of two players with the most sacks in the conference. He may be the best way to keep Rogers in check, and he can be a heavy contributor to slowing down the offense. The rest of the defense have to do the same.
Wolverines senior QB Davis Warren might be on top of the school’s passing list, but two weeks ago, Alex Orji took over the position. He went 7 of 12 for 32 yards in the win against USC and 10 of 18 for 86 yards against Minnesota. However, he threw an interception in towards the end of the third quarter, sparking a huge comeback for Minnesota.
Orji still has a lot to learn to be a more-than-adequate quarterback.
Michigan vs. Washington: Final Prediction
This game will have some changes since last year. Washington had Kalen DeBoer as their coach, and Michigan had J.J. McCarthy as their quarterback. Saturday night will be a whole new game and start.
Washington enters as the favorite because when you look back at Michigan’s last few games, they have been winning, but it’s been close call after close call. In fact, in a rare occurrence, they beat their last two opponents with the same score of 27-24.
Washington dominated three out of their last five games. They made it their mission to get back in the national championship conversation. Things have changed since the event, but they’ll have to take what they learned from that game to help them through this one.
Michigan needs to do better. If they plan to stick with Orji as QB, he’s going to have to perform even than he did the last two weeks. His passes have to be more accurate, the offense has to be more widespread, and his run game needs more improvement.
