Wink can adjust
Sherrone Moore said some tough conversations were had this week. It feels like one of those had to be had with Wink Martindale.
It's fine to have exotic stuff if your players can execute it. Michigan football wasn't executing. So the Wolverines simplified their approach. Martindale still blitzed on 30 percent of the downs, and it hurt Michigan at times.
Yet, the Wolverines shut out an elite offense in the second half. Make no mistake about Washington the Huskies are dynamic. Jonah Coleman was leading the Big Ten in touchdown runs. UW has legit receivers, too. They aren't Ohio State good, but this was a challenge and Michigan was up to it.
Williams was running for over 60 yards a game. Michigan held him to -19. One week after more than 500 total yards against Rutgers, Williams had 191 against Michigan.
It's not getting the same amount of publicity, but this performance was on par with Alabama and Ohio State last season. Michigan should have a ranked win, but regardless of that, if Michigan defends the way it did in the second half, when it forced three takeaways, or the fourth quarter, when it held Washington to -8 yards, it can beat anyone on the schedule.