Michigan Football: 3 reasons Wolverines will beat Washington
In the first big test of the 2021 Michigan football season, the Wolverines will host Washington Saturday, and here are three reasons they will come out with a win.
Despite the fact that Washington lost its opening game to Montana and is no longer ranked in the AP Top 25, the game Saturday night is still massive for the Michigan football program.
Fans and recruits enjoyed the win over Western Michigan and the Wolverines looked better than expected and beat up on the Broncos 47-14.
But that won’t matter if the Wolverines don’t follow it up with a win against Washington this weekend and thanks to that loss by Washington to Montana, a loss would look even worse now.
On top of all that, it’s a massive recruiting weekend as Michigan football is hosting a bunch of key recruits and a win would help push some towards a commitment, while a loss wouldn’t do the Wolverines or Jim Harbaugh any favors.
Looking ahead to Saturday night’s Maize Out, here are three reasons Michigan football will win.
Michigan football’s star players will stand out
One of the best things about Mike Macdonald’s defense in the first week of the season was that it showcased the talents of Aidan Hutchinson and Daxton Hill.
That shouldn’t be hard to do considering those are the Wolverines’ best defensive players, but at times, in the past, it didn’t feel like that was happening.
Hutchinson applied pressure on the quarterback all game long and also forced a fumble on a strip-sack. Washington’s offensive line was supposed to be a strength of the team, but the Huskies ran for just 65 yards and gave up three sacks, as well as eight tackles for loss.
I’d expect Washington’s front to be motivated to prove that was a fluke and therefore, a better performance is probably coming, but Macdonald will put Hutchinson in a position to make plays, which the future first-round pick will do.
The same goes for Daxton Hill.
Hill was exceptional as a nickel corner last week and he will stand out too. We’ll see how he is utilized but you can tell that Macdonald recognizes what he has in Hill and that will be evident Saturday night.
Washington also threw three interceptions against Montana, so this seems like a perfect opportunity for the Wolverines to finally come up with an interception or two of their own.