What Washington coach Jedd Fisch said before playing Michigan: 'We've got our work cut out for us'

The Washington Huskies are 5-1 and winners of two-straight games entering Saturday’s clash with Michigan Wolverines football in Ann Arbor. Michigan is 4-2 coming off a loss to USC in Los Angeles, looking to bounce back and start the second half of the regular season on a high note.

“Excited about what’s ahead of us,” Washington head coach Jedd Fisch said. “Halfway point of the season, sitting in a good position health-wise. We’re getting healthier, which is good. I feel like we’re close to being able to have our full team. Not there yet.

“Going back to Ann Arbor, should be a great opportunity, great atmosphere. It’ll be 105,000, whatever it is, sold out, packed, which we know. It looks like the weather will be good. And we’re excited about the opportunity.”

A journeyman in the coaching space, Fisch spent two seasons at Michigan as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator under Jim Harbaugh from 2015-16.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” Fisch said of Michigan Stadium. “I had the chance to coach there for two years, and we won a lot of games there. We were [20-6] in the two years that we were there. We certainly had opportunities to play in some of the biggest games, biggest rivalries at Michigan, and that was fun.

“It’s awesome. It’s an awesome place. It’s super cool that they sell out every game, they have unbelievable energy, and our guys are going to be excited about this opportunity. I really believe that our team will show up and be fired up to be a part of something like a Washington-Michigan game at 12 on FOX. Everything you could ask for.”

The game will kick at 12 o’clock local time, but 9 a.m. in Washington’s home time zone. The Huskies didn’t fare well on the road in Fisch’s first year last season, going 0-5, including 0-4 when crossing multiple time zones. The Huskies played two games at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) last season and lost both, 40-16 at Iowa and 31-17 at Indiana.

As a result, Fisch and Co. have made some adjustments to their travel plans, and the results have been positive so far, with Washington winning at Maryland (24-20) two weeks ago.

“I want to be like the Seahawks and be on a nine-game road win streak,” Fisch said. “We’re on a two-game road win streak right now. I talked to [Seattle Seahawks head] Coach [Mike] Macdonald, and I’ve asked him a bunch of things and we’ve talked a lot. We adjusted our schedule when we played Maryland, to make it similar to what the Seahawks do for a 4 o’clock kickoff, and we adjusted our schedule this week to make it similar to what the Seahawks do for a 10 a.m. kickoff, which is 1 p.m. Eastern.

“We also have a better team than we brought a year ago. Right now, we’re in our second year together; we’re not in our first. We’re in the second year in the Big Ten, not our first. We’re in the second year of going to travel, not our first. We’re flying on a bigger plane. We’re leaving at a different time on Thursday. We are giving our guys a different schedule leading up to the game. We’re practicing on Thursday morning. We’re walking through on Friday outside. We’re doing things different.

“The time is the time. I don’t look at it as a 9 a.m. start. I look at it as a 12 o’clock start. And wherever we are is what time the kickoff is. I was in the NFL for 14 years, we never once said this is a 10 a.m. kick or 11 a.m. kick. The kick is when the time is. If the time is at 1 o’clock, it’s 1 o’clock. If the time is at 12, it’s at 12.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make the schedule, travel, body clock, any of those as reasons why we play well or not well. We want to do everything we can to eliminate distractions and make it just about the team.”

Washington is led by quarterback Demond Williams Jr., who was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season coming off last weekend’s victory over Rutgers. He accounted for 538 yards of offense in the 38-19 win — 402 passing and 136 rushing — with 4 total touchdowns.

Williams is a threat with his rushing ability, so Washington has been much improved in the run game this season, going from 4 yards per carry in 2024 to 5 through six outings this fall. Michigan will challenge the Huskies Saturday, though, Fisch noted, both up front with the run defense and overall as a team.

“From last year to this year, it’s been a tremendous increase in production and ability, so it’s been fun to watch it,” Fisch said of his team’s run blocking. “But we’ve got our work cut out for us against [Michigan defensive coordinator] Coach [Wink] Martindale and Michigan. We know it’s going to be a very physical football game. They have an outstanding front.

“They do a fantastic job, and we know that defensively it’s going to be an extreme challenge. And then we know offensively, the skill guys — I know some of the guys that they have out there, we recruited. Their quarterback is elite. Their offensive line, [Michigan head] Coach [Sherrone] Moore always does a fantastic job with their O-line, and they’re always well-known to have great backs and tight ends.

“So, it’ll be a tremendous challenge as we play Michigan this week.”