Instant observations from Huskies’ win over No. 10 Michigan

SEATTLE – Nine months after falling to the Michigan Wolverines on the sport’s biggest stage, the UW Huskies got a major slice of revenge.

Recap | UW defense comes through in clutch | Huskies riding longest home win streak since 1910s

Washington’s defense came up with two massive fourth-quarter takeaways, star running back Jonah Coleman leaped across the goal line for a go-ahead 1-yard touchdown with 6:22 remaining and the Huskies pulled away to beat 10th-ranked Michigan 27-17 on Saturday night in a rematch of January’s national championship game.

With the victory, Washington (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) rebounded from a mistake-plagued loss to Rutgers last week and earned its first signature win of the Jedd Fisch era. The Dawgs also broke a modern program record with their 18th consecutive home victory and snapped the Wolverines’ 24-game Big Ten regular-season win streak.

Here’s what stood out from the back-and-forth showdown of traditional college football powers on a picture-perfect fall evening at sold-out Husky Stadium:

• Washington swings game with takeaways: After entering the night with just four takeaways through their first five games, the Huskies broke a 17-17 fourth-quarter deadlock by forcing two turnovers in a span of five minutes. The first came on a forced fumble by edge rusher Voi Tunuufi, who knocked the ball free from Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle on a scramble. Defensive lineman Logan Sagapolu recovered the fumble, setting up Washington’s offense on the Michigan 32-yard line. Coleman then broke a 27-yard run on the ensuing play and scored shortly after to give UW a 24-17 lead. Then on Michigan’s next possession, Washington safety Kamren Fabiculanan undercut a route and made a spectacular diving interception on a pass intended for star tight end Colston Loveland. That gave the ball right back to the Huskies, who drove 26 yards to set up a game-sealing field goal. Prior to those two turnovers, Michigan had grabbed the momentum by intercepting UW quarterback Will Rogers, who hadn’t thrown a pick all season. But the Huskies’ defense picked up its QB and seized the momentum – and ultimately the game – right back.

• Huskies hit big plays through the air: Rogers and his receiving corps torched Michigan’s defense with big plays early on. The fifth-year senior quarterback completed six passes of 15-plus yards in the first half, including a 36-yarder to Denzel Boston on the game’s opening play and a 39-yarder to Giles Jackson on third-and-long that extended a touchdown drive. Rogers had a quieter second half, but still finished 21-of-32 passing for 271 yards, two TDs and an interception. Boston caught five passes for 80 yards and recorded his eighth TD reception of the season, while Jackson added four catches for 78 yards and a score against the program he played for in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to UW. In the final minutes, Boston also helped seal the game by drawing a key third-down pass-interference penalty on Michigan star cornerback Will Johnson. Senior tight end Keleki Latu added a team-high seven catches for 65 yards, including two big gains on well-timed screen plays.

• Dawgs dive into bag of tricks: Early in the second quarter, Fisch dialed up a trick play that worked to perfection. With dual-threat freshman quarterback Demond Williams Jr. lined up at wide receiver on the right side of the field, Rogers took the snap and tossed a backward pass to Williams. Williams then threw back across the field to running back Cameron Davis, who then followed a convoy of blockers down the left sideline for a 37-yard gain. And then on the very next play, Rogers connected with Jackson for a 16-yard TD pass. Williams also made an impact in the third quarter, when he rotated in for some snaps and helped key a field-goal drive with 20 rushing yards and a third-down completion that moved the chains.

• Huskies’ defense clamps down in second half: After a slow start, Michigan’s sputtering offense burst to life following a quarterback change midway through the second quarter, when seventh-year graduate QB Jack Tuttle came in to replace run-first starter Alex Orji. Tuttle provided more of a passing threat and immediately ignited the Wolverines’ attack, leading them to 206 total yards and 17 points on his first three drives. But after that, Washington’s defense adjusted and buckled down. The Huskies allowed just 39 yards on 21 plays over Michigan’s final five possessions, highlighted by the two game-changing takeaways in the fourth quarter. Washington held the Wolverines to just 287 total yards on the night, marking the fifth time in six games that Steve Belichick’s defense has surrendered fewer than 300 yards. The Huskies have held all six of their opponents to 24 points or fewer.

• Gross redeems himself in fourth quarter: Washington junior kicker Grady Gross missed his first two field-goal attempts on Saturday, hooking a 41-yarder wide left on the game’s opening drive and then getting a 28-yarder blocked on the final play of the first half. That gave him five consecutive misses dating back to last week’s three-point loss at Rutgers, when he went 1 of 4. It was a baffling stretch for the usually reliable kicker, who had been 23 of 27 for his career prior to the Northwestern game two weeks ago. But Gross redeemed himself in the fourth quarter, hitting a game-tying 28-yarder with 13:38 remaining and a game-sealing 32-yarder with 1:06 to go.

• Washington plays much more disciplined: One of the most important things the Huskies did Saturday was get out of their own way. Heading into the night, they were averaging 80.8 penalty yards per game, which ranked 122nd out of 133 FBS teams. Those penalty issues were perhaps the biggest reason why UW suffered its narrow losses to Washington State and Rutgers, despite outgaining both of those teams by a combined 293 yards. In those two defeats, the Huskies committed far too many ill-timed penalties that either killed drives on offense or extended drives on defense. But on Saturday, Washington stopped shooting itself in the foot. The Huskies committed just two penalties for 20 yards, which enabled them to capitalize on their 429-287 advantage in total yardage.

More on the UW Huskies

• Red-zone issues, penalties, missed kicks make UW a metrics outlier
• Caple’s UW Huskies Notebook: Key player lost for season

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