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Defense/ST Notes: Michigan defense finds its fastball vs. Washington

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome10/18/25anthonytbroome
NCAA Football: Washington at Michigan
Oct 18, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Cole Sullivan (23) and linebacker Ernest Hausmann (15) celebrates in the first half against the Washington Huskies at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

ANN ARBOR – The Michigan Wolverines‘ defense, and everything about it, was called into question last week after a putrid showing across the board at USC.

Challenges were made, emotions were high and the table was set for a redemption game against the Washington Huskies. Michigan obliged, cleaning up many of its mistakes to beat Washington 24-7, holding one of the most explosive offenses in the country to 249 total yards.

“I think when you look at the weeks before, that’s what it looked like, it looked like that,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said after the game. “So it was a little out of character last week, and what it looked like in all phases. And it’s just not one person to blame, we’re a team. So as a team, we had to fix it and we have to keep doing it because we have a long way to go. And we got a lot of football left to play. We know we’ve got a big game next week that I’ve already got my mind on right now.

“I gotta give myself 24 hours, gotta give ourselves 24 hours, but I find myself wanting to go to the building and go watch the film on [Michigan State] right now. … Just proud, proud of the team, proud of the players.”

Last week against Rutgers, Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. had 536 yards of total offense on his own. This week, Michigan held him to 180 total yards and -19 yards rushing, along with 3 interceptions.

“You gotta keep eyes on him all the time,” Moore said. “You have to be disciplined with your rushes. And I thought our D-line, there’s a couple times he got out, but you can’t just let him have free plays. And first, you gotta stop the run, whether it’s quarterback run, running back run. And we did that. We held him to 40 yards on 23 attempts, which is outstanding.

“If you do that and force a guy to just be a pocket passer, especially when they’re smaller, it’s harder for them. It’s harder for anybody if you’re just gonna throw the ball. If you’re gonna sit back there and throw the ball, and you can’t be balanced. It’s hard. You can dictate the coverages and things that you want to stop the pass. So just an unbelievable job by the staff and the players of buying into the process of how to stop him.”

Ultimately, it was a much cleaner week in the tackling department, and Moore was happy with how his Michigan team rebounded from last week. The Wolverines also held star tailback Jonah Coleman to 50 yards on 16 rushes, which headlined a strong day at the office.

“The response tackling, I thought that was awesome,” Moore said. “But stopping the run. In this league, you have to be able to stop the run. If you can’t stop the run, you don’t have a chance. So for us to do what we did, holding them to 40-something yards with that running back and that quarterback, that’s the most important piece, and was really proud of them for that.”

Rolder, Sullivan have a day

Even with Michigan’s strong defensive outing, it found itself in a dogfight well into the second half with the game tied at 7-7. The turning point came on back-to-back defensive series with linebacker interceptions thanks to sophomore Cole Sullivan and Jimmy Rolder. The Wolverines cashed in with offensive touchdowns in each spot, giving it a lead it would never look back from.

Sullivan’s interception was his third of the season, and forth takeaway overall.

“[The Sullivan pick] was an unbelievable play,” Moore said. “He just continues to find the ball in the moments that you need him. And in moments you need somebody to make a play, Sully always just shows up. And that’s because he’s always in the right position. He’s always doing his job, doing it right, doing it full speed. Whether it’s on special teams, on defense, and that was huge.

“And then for us to score the next play was just great momentum. Jimmy Rolder gets an interception, we go down and score. Those are the things that you need as a team to go win. So it was huge and as a defense, just tackled better, played with better fundamentals, played with better eyes. The basic things that you need to go win football games, and that’s what we did.”

Sullivan walked through the play: “We were playing quarters that play, and the running back flared, so I’m responsible for the flat. I was just trying to work through the slant window, looked back at the quarterback and the ball just came right to me. Just trying to do my job the best I could, and trusted that the coaches put me in the right position.”

Rolder’s interception was another surprise, but he was in position to make a play and did.

“They always talk about how turnovers come in bunches, and I think that’s what happened there,” Rolder said. “Huge momentum switch. You felt the energy on the sideline. It propelled the offense out there. They went out there, were driving the ball down. Huge momentum switch.

“Playing some split-safety coverage, read the route, got there a little late — not gonna lie — but you gotta catch the ones they throw to you.”

Rolder said the Michigan team needs to make sure to stay emotionally stable in game prep, and be ready to do it again next week.

“Just don’t get too high, don’t get too low,” the senior said. “Steady Eddie throughout the week. Watch the film, learn from it and just move on. That’s exactly what we did last week, that’s what we’re going to do this week and just continue on from there the rest of the season.”

Sullivan was struck by the team’s connectivity heading into the game, and something present all season long.

“Something that’s so great about this team and about Coach Moore,” Sullivan said. “He says all the time, we try to be the most connected team as possible. That’s something I don’t think too many place do as well as us. The offense gets hyped for the defense. After my interception, the offense rallied around that. After Jimmy’s interception, they rallied again. It’s amazing to have those kind of teammates that just rally around each other. We’re all happy for each other’s success.”

Sophomore safety Jacob Oden made it three interceptions on the day with a late one while on his rear-end on the field. It literally fell into his lap.

That was the day in a nutshell.

Michigan miscellaneous defensive/special teams notes

• Sophomore defensive back Mason Curtis made his first career start in Saturday’s game.

• Senior defensive back Zeke Berry had a career-high 6 tackles, besting his previous best total of 5.

• U-M allowed just 40 rushing yards on 23 carries (1.7 yards per rush), the lowest output of the year for the Huskies.

• Michigan held Washington scoreless in the second half, and on the season, has held its opponents to just 5 touchdowns and 4 field goals across 7 games.