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SEATTLE — Washington quarterback Will Rogers watched the final seconds tick down and wondered if the field at Husky Stadium would be flooded with purple.
The Huskies found the slightest bit of redemption against the team that topped them in last season’s championship game worthy of celebration.
“I was curious if they were going to do it, but when they did, it was great,” Rogers said. “I’ve never been apart of it and it’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life for sure.”
Rodgers threw for 271 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns, Jonah Coleman’s 1-yard TD with 6:22 left gave Washington the lead and the Huskies beat No. 10 Michigan 27-17 on Saturday night in a rematch of last season. College Football Playoff Championship Game.
This time was much more competitive than that night in Houston last January when Michigan won its first national title since 1997. It had a different outcome as the Huskies (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) used an offensive outburst. Two key turnovers in the first half and fourth quarter cost the Wolverines down.
The celebration after the first big win of Jed Fish’s tenure at Washington won’t make up for the disappointment of a loss to Michigan last January.
But it was satisfying as Washington won its 18th game at Husky Stadium, the second-longest streak in school 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 Fabikulanan, one of the few on the Huskies roster from the championship game.
The loss ended Michigan’s 24-game Big Ten regular season winning streak. The Wolverines haven’t had a Big Ten loss since falling to Michigan State on Oct. 30, 2021.
“In the fourth quarter, those two turnovers were huge. They got 10 points out of them. So we have to do a better job in all aspects of the football,” Michigan coach Sharon Moore said.
Rodgers threw touchdown passes of 3 yards to Denzel Boston and 16 yards to Giles Jackson as the Huskies built a 14–0 lead early in the second quarter. Michigan (4-2, 2-1) finally found some offensive rhythm when Alex Orji went down early in the game with quarterback Jack Tuttle stepping in to backup.
But Tuttle committed two turnovers in the final 10 minutes and Washington capitalized.
“The defense responded and we have to respond to them,” Fish said.
Tuttle fumbled at the Michigan 32 with 8:02 left after Von Tunufi and Logan Sagapolu recovered.
On Michigan’s next possession, Tuttle was intercepted by Fabiculanan with 3:24 left. The Huskies got a critical pass interference call against Michigan, and Grady Gross hit a 32-yard field goal with 1:06 left to put the finishing touches on the win.
“That was a big-time turnover. Shout out to my brothers for doing their job, too,” Fabikulanan said.
Rodgers was 21 of 31 passing and threw his first interception in more than a calendar year early in the fourth quarter. Rodgers attempted 269 consecutive passes without a pick before being intercepted by Ernest Hausman.
Coleman added 80 yards rushing.
Donovan Edwards ran for 95 yards and his 39-yard TD run was reminiscent of his two long scoring sprints in the championship game against Washington. But leading rusher Kalil Mullings was held back and finished with just 49 yards on 14 carries.
The Wolverines were going nowhere with Orgie at quarterback and led 163-47 midway through the second quarter when Tuttle took over. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 98 yards, but threw an 8-yard TD pass to Colston Loveland on the opening drive of the second half that gave Michigan a 17-14 lead.
“I thought he came out and gave us a spark early. Obviously, we had a touchdown, field goal, touchdown on three straight drives. I think the players shut it down,” Moore said of Tuttle. “He practiced well all week and came back healthy, which was great for us. We’ll see.”
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