Let’s get one thing straight − this is not a national championship rematch.
That was the tone set by Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore when he spoke earlier this week. He knows that’s technically not true, because on paper it will of course be a national championship rematch when No. 10 Michigan (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) takes on Washington (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) in the late afternoon in Seattle (7:30 p.m., NBC). But Moore says it’s the mentality he needs his team to approach the game with.
Michigan defeated Washington in the national championship game 34-13 on Jan. 9, 2024 in Houston to claim the 2023 national championship and capped the program’s first undefeated season in a quarter century. And while Moore said those memories will live on forever, they’re not going to help his team when it kicks off in Husky Stadium.
“Not at all,” Moore said when asked if he’s given thought to the rematch. “It’s the next game. I know we played them last year in the national championship, but it’s two different teams, so we’ve got to go win this game, that’s it.”
It’s a familiar mindset around college football, and one it feels like U-M has no choice but to employ because of how much both teams have changed. The last time these sides met, it was to determine once and for all who was the best team in the land. They were the only remaining undefeated Power Five (at the time) programs, each with first round NFL quarterbacks and highly regarded players littered across the field.
WHO WINS?: Michigan vs. Washington prediction, scouting report in national championship rematch
This time, however, even though the Wolverines enter as a top-10 team, they find themselves as an underdog for now the third time in five games.
U-M has gone 1-1 the first two times it was picked to lose with a 31-12 loss at home to Texas in Week 2 before a 27-24 back-and-forth win over USC in Week 4, however, those teams both had College Football Playoff aspirations.
By all accounts, headed into the season, the Huskies (who are now 2½ point favorites) certainly did not plan on another CFP trip after revamping their roster from top to bottom under new head coach Jedd Fisch. A loss on the road to Rutgers last week matches that expectation (though U-W outplayed a tough Scarlett Knights team). For Michigan to be an underdog in this spot is an early season gut check for what’s been an unbalanced Wolverines squad headed into its first road contest of the year.
“The environment, I’ve been told, is as loud as any we’ve ever been into,” offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell said Wednesday. “So we’ve got to make sure we practice a variety of cadences, need to be prepared for the noise. … Then, make sure we’re composed. You go in there, it’s us vs. them.
“We’re telling them ‘we’re going to take that environment and use it as our energy’ … play fast and physical.”
Playing fast and physical is one thing the Wolverines have done well so while rushing the ball to the tune of 194.8 yards per game, which is No. 34 nationally. However, to this point, U-M has been beyond limited in the pass game. The Wolverines are No. 129 in the country in passing (out of 133 teams) at 114.5 yards per game and with quarterback Alex Orji under center, U-M has accumulated only 118 yards through the air in two starts.
Even with those facts, Campbell said there was progress between Orji’s first two starts; he went further through his progressions on multiple occasions and found the open man most of the time. Still, U-M’s offensive architecht said not only does the offense need to be more explosive through the air, Orji needs to be more sudden and on time with his decisions.
“He’s been good,” Campbell said. “He needs to be better.”
Campbell called 26 drop backs for Orji last week in a 27-24 win over Minnesota − right in the “honey hole” U-M tried to target for its balanced attack with J.J. McCarthy in recent years − but Orji completed just 10 of 18 passes for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Known as a mobile threat, the potential seems there on the ground but has yet to translate as he added only 12 rushing yards on seven forced roll outs and two designed runs vs. the Gophers.
It was less than nine months ago when these two teams last met as the Wolverines finished on top of the college football world. It capped a three-year run that included a 40-3 overall record, a program record three consecutive outright Big Ten championships, three trips to the CFP, a Rose Bowl win and a national title.
Saturday night is a massive test, but of a different level. This won’t determine if U-M will win it all. But it just might start to determine if it has any say in who does.
“It’s a new week; we’re 0-0,” senior offensive lineman Gio El-Hadi said earlier in the week. “That’s how we do it. We have to be 1-0 after this week. We don’t look too far into the season. We don’t look at the past. We just worry about the now. Yes, it is Washington. Yes, it is a rematch of the national championship, but we treat every game the same. Every game is important, no matter who we’re going against.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football heads to Washington rematch with different reality
