Ranking Michigan football’s 2024 games by difficulty: No. 4, Washington

Part nine of a 12-article series in which we rank Michigan Wolverines football‘s 2024 regular-season games by difficulty — with 12 being the easiest and one the most challenging. Checking in at No. 4, an Oct. 5 road trip to take on the Washington Huskies.

Head coach: Jedd Fisch

Year: First at Washington
Overall record: 17-22

On3 Industry national recruiting rankings

2024: 49th
2023: 27th
2022: 79th
2021: 39th
2020: 15th

2023 record: 14-1, 9-0 Pac-12

Two undefeated teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation met Monday night, Jan. 8, in Houston: Michigan and Washington. The Maize and Blue took home the national championship, but both were teams of destiny.

The Huskies were counted out time and time again, particularly ahead of games against Oregon, but beat the Ducks twice (36-33 in Seattle and 34-31 in the Pac-12 championship game in Las Vegas) and ran the table all the way to the final game. The Huskies beat Texas, 37-31, in the Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal.

Washington winning the Pac-12 was its first time since 2018 and only third occurrence this century, with 2016 being the other championship season.

The Huskies had an incredible passing offense, throwing for 343.7 yards per game, and scored 36 points per contest. They were held to just 255 passing yards and 13 points against the Wolverines, though.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing second in voting, completing 65.4 percent of his passes for 4,803 yards and 36 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. The Indiana transfer threw for over 4,600 yards in each of his two seasons in Seattle. He was selected No. 8 overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL Draft.

The Huskies had three top-100 NFL Draft picks at wide receiver, led by Rome Odunze (No. 9 overall, Chicago Bears), and had the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line.

The defense was solid, ranking 56th in the country with 24.8 points allowed per game. The Huskies were especially good at forcing turnovers (20) and getting off the field on third down (38.7 percent conversion rate for opposing offenses).

Did you know?

• Fisch served as Michigan’s quarterbacks and wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator under head coach Jim Harbaugh from 2015-16.

• Michigan will face two of the three other College Football Playoff teams from last season, with the Wolverines also set to host Texas Sept. 7.

• Michigan has a 9-5 overall record against Washington, with the most recent meeting coming Jan. 8, a 34-13 U-M win. Four of the matchups have come in the Rose Bowl.

2024 overview

Washington will look as different from last year to this season as a team can from one campaign to the next. The Huskies return just two starters on defense and none on offense, have a completely different coaching staff and added/lost numerous transfers. All told, 22 Huskies left the program to the portal. They also tied their program record in the seven-round draft era with 10 NFL Draft picks.

Fisch brought 12 players from Arizona — which finished with a 10-3 record with five ranked victories last season — including running back Jonah Coleman (871 rushing yards, 25 receptions, 6 total touchdowns last season), EDGE Isaiah Ward (5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks) and cornerback Ephesians Prysock (64 tackles, 1 interception).

It’s hard to project what the Huskies will look like in 2024, but there’s a relatively known commodity at the quarterback position. Fisch convinced Will Rogers, a Mississippi State transfer who had already joined the program before head coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama and Fisch was hired, to remain in Seattle. He’s second all time in SEC passing yards (12,315) and fourth in touchdowns thrown (94), with the bulk of his career having come under the late former Mississippi State head man and air raid guru Mike Leach.

Fisch’s offenses have been productive, ranking 18th in the country in scoring last season, after standing 48th and 67th in 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Why No. 4 in our rankings?

Michigan hasn’t won a road game against a Pac-12 team since beating UCLA by one point in 1989 (24-23), losing four such games in a row since. The Huskies obviously are no longer in the Pac-12, instead one of the newest members of the Big Ten, but it’s challenging to head west and win in a road environment.

Washington doesn’t have the overwhelming majority of its significant contributors from last season, but Fisch is a good coach and brought talent with him. Rogers is no joke at quarterback, either.

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