Washington quarterback Will Rogers watched the clock run down, thinking about whether the field at Husky Stadium would soon be filled with purple fans celebrating. The Huskies getting a little revenge against the team that beat them in last year’s championship felt like a big reason to celebrate.
“I was curious if they were going to do it, but when they did it, it was just awesome,” Rogers said. “I’ve never been part of that and it’s something I’ll remember the rest of my life for sure.”
Rogers threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. Jonah Coleman’s 1-yard touchdown with 6:22 left gave Washington the lead, leading to a 27-17 victory over No. 10 Michigan on Saturday night in a rematch of last season’s College Football Playoff championship.
This game was much closer than the previous one in Houston last January when Michigan easily claimed its first national title since 1997. The Huskies (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) had a strong offensive showing in the first half and took advantage of two important turnovers in the fourth quarter to defeat the Wolverines.
The celebration after this significant win for head coach Jedd Fisch at Washington didn’t erase the disappointment from the loss last January.
However, it was a satisfying moment as Washington won its 18th straight game at Husky Stadium, which is the second-longest streak in the school’s history.
“It feels good. You lose to them in the championship and then to come back and win and beat them, it feels good,” said Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan, one of the few players on the team who played in the championship game.
This loss ended Michigan’s 24-game winning streak in Big Ten regular season games. They hadn’t lost a Big Ten game since falling to Michigan State on October 30, 2021.
“In the fourth quarter, those two turnovers were huge. They got 10 points off of them. So we got to do a better job taking care of the football in all aspects,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said.
Rogers threw touchdown passes of 3 yards to Denzel Boston and 16 yards to Giles Jackson, helping the Huskies take a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. However, that lead faded as Michigan (4-2, 2-1) found some offensive flow with backup quarterback Jack Tuttle after Alex Orji struggled at the start.
But Tuttle made two costly mistakes in the last 10 minutes, and Washington took advantage. “The defense responded and we needed them to respond,” Fisch said.
Tuttle fumbled with 8:02 left after being hit by Von Tunuufi, and Logan Sagapolu recovered the ball at the Michigan 32. Coleman rushed for 27 yards on the first play and then scored from the 1-yard line to give Washington a 24-17 lead.
On Michigan’s next drive, Tuttle was intercepted by Fabiculanan with 3:24 remaining. The Huskies got an important pass interference call against Michigan, and Grady Gross made a 32-yard field goal with 1:06 left, sealing the victory.
“That was a big-time turnover. Shout out to my brothers as well for doing their job,” Fabiculanan said.
Rogers completed 21 of 31 passes and threw his first interception in over a year early in the fourth quarter. Before that, he had gone 269 passes without a pick. Coleman added 80 rushing yards.
Donovan Edwards rushed for 95 yards, and his 39-yard touchdown run reminded fans of his long scoring runs in the championship against Washington. However, leading rusher Kaleel Mullings was limited to just 49 yards on 14 carries.
The Wolverines struggled with Orji as quarterback and were being outgained 163-47 midway through the second quarter when Tuttle took over.
He finished 10 of 18 passing for 98 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland on the first drive of the second half that gave Michigan a 17-14 lead.
“I thought he came out and gave us a spark early. Obviously, three straight drives we had a touchdown, field goal, touchdown. I think the players fed off that,” Moore said about Tuttle. “He practiced well all week and got back healthy, which was great for us. We’ll see.”
