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Michigan and Washington played at their peaks. In this rematch, they’re rebuilding

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1 year ago

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Michigan and Washington played at their peaks. In this rematch, they’re rebuilding


Michigan and Washington were two of the oldest teams in college football when they met in the College Football Playoff championship game nine months ago in Houston. Saturday, they will meet again as Big Ten opponents in what might be called the Before and After Bowl.

Both head coaches from Michigan’s championship game victory, Jim Harbaugh and Kalen DeBoer, are gone to other jobs. Both starting quarterbacks: gone. Every offensive line starter: gone. Defensive coordinators, strength coaches, support staffers: gone, gone and gone.

At this point in the comparison, Washington coach Jedd Fisch has a few points of clarification to make. Yes, Fisch and Michigan coach Sherrone Moore have navigated some of the same challenges since taking over for DeBoer and Harbaugh. Yes, both programs lost coaches, NFL Draft picks and multiyear starters. But no, these two rebuilds are not the same.

“I think their situation is very different,” Fisch said. “Sherrone was on the staff for six years. Everybody remained on the team that was recruited to be on that team. They kept half of their coaching staff. There’s been a lot of, let’s call it, continuity.”

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If life after the national championship game has felt disorienting for Michigan, imagine how it feels for Washington. The Huskies played 71 offensive snaps in the CFP championship game, which adds up to 781 when multiplied by 11 players. Of those 781 snaps, four came from players currently on the roster: three from wide receiver Giles Jackson, who started his career at Michigan, and one from tight end Quentin Moore.

“The fact of the matter is our team is completely different,” Fisch said. “The only thing that’s the same is the logo.”


Jedd Fisch brought former Mississippi State QB Will Rogers to Washington this season as one of many transfer portal additions. (Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)

Adjusting to this new reality has been a challenge for both programs. Michigan is 4-1 and ranked No. 10, but instability at quarterback and turnover on the offensive line have made every game a struggle. Washington is 3-2 and lost to Rutgers and Washington State despite outgaining both opponents. It speaks to the perception of both teams that ESPN’s “College GameDay” bypassed the national championship rematch and will set up shop a few hundred miles south as Cal hosts No. 8 Miami.

For Fisch and Moore, last year’s run to the CFP championship game is proof of what’s possible but also a tall standard to be judged by. Moore is 8-1 as Michigan’s head coach, counting four games last season when he filled in for Harbaugh. The Wolverines have found ways to win, but as the reigning national champions, they’re under a microscope that magnifies their flaws.

“When you’re at Michigan you want to represent this place in a fashion like none other,” Moore said. “For me, regardless of if we won it or not — I’m obviously happy we did — there’s a standard that I want us to keep, on and off the field.”

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Michigan still has Will Johnson, Donovan Edwards, Colston Loveland and other key contributors from last year. Washington had 44 scholarship players when Fisch was hired from Arizona to replace DeBoer. The Huskies added 15 players from the transfer portal, including quarterback Will Rogers, running back Jonah Coleman and cornerback Ephesians Prysock, and have one returning starter from the national championship game, linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala.

“The two programs, the two scenarios, are completely unique and different,” Fisch said.

Fisch and Moore have taken different approaches in trying to recreate last season’s success, too. Michigan has tried to deviate as little as possible from Harbaugh’s way of doing things. The Wolverines run a lot of the same schemes, use a lot of the same mantras and point to last year’s success as proof that their methods work.

Fisch, on the other hand, isn’t trying to follow a blueprint left by DeBoer. Many of the players from last year’s CFP team were recruited by former head coaches Chris Petersen and Jimmy Lake. DeBoer took over a talented team, supplemented it with players from the portal and helped the Huskies regain their winning edge. DeBoer’s run at Washington was a two-year success story that helped him land one of the most coveted jobs in coaching as Nick Saban’s successor, but it’s not something Fisch is actively trying to emulate.

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“It’s a completely different mentality, a different philosophy on how we want to recruit,” Fisch said. “We’re much more high school-oriented, most similar to the way coach Petersen was. Our goal is to try to create it with freshmen and sophomores and let the program take on the personality of the coaching staff.”

The era of the four-team Playoff was dominated by three programs — Alabama, Clemson and Georgia — that could play for a national championship, reload with five-star recruits and contend again the following year. Michigan and Washington broke that mold by assembling championship rosters over a period of years and building to a crescendo in 2023.

For programs that build their rosters that way, the crescendo is often followed by a dip. Michigan and Washington are experiencing that this season as they integrate transfers, young players and first-time starters at key positions.

Edwards was the star of Michigan’s CFP championship victory with touchdown runs of 41 and 46 yards. He returned for his senior season to be part of the transition to a new era, but the transition hasn’t been easy. Aside from Kalel Mullings, who emerged as Michigan’s No. 1 running back with three consecutive 100-yard rushing yard performances, the offense hasn’t found much it can rely on.

“This offense, we’re only returning one starter, and that’s Colston,” Edwards said. “A lot of guys have been asked to be put in a position that they have never been put in. That’s something I had to come to the realization of: This isn’t last year’s team. This is team 145, not team 144.”

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Fisch’s program-building philosophy was shaped by two years he spent on Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan. Fisch experienced some of the heartbreaks that made Michigan’s national championship victory even sweeter, including the “Trouble with the Snap” game against Michigan State in 2015 and the double-overtime loss to Ohio State in 2016. He eventually moved on to Arizona, where he went 1-11 and 5-7 before a 10-win season in 2023.

The lesson is that building the kinds of teams Michigan and Washington had last season isn’t something that happens overnight. Player retention is a big part of the strategy for both programs, which means committing to young players and sticking with them as they mature.

“That, to me, is really what that model is for how we like to do it,” Fisch said. “Our goal is to be able to retain players, not buy players. To retain them, it’s going to take a huge investment in freshmen, an investment in watching the team get better.”

That can be tough to swallow for fans who just watched their team play for a national championship. The road back looks arduous for both programs, and both coaches will be held to higher standards thanks to the success of their predecessors. But if the alternative is coaching a team with no expectations, Fisch would choose this option every time.

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“I would always choose this situation where you have the potential,” Fisch said. “The upside, and the ceiling at Washington, is elite.”

(Top photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)



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Washington

Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

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2 days ago

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March 25, 2026

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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say


Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.

The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.

According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.

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Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.

A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.

Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.

The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.

Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.

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Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.

Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.

The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.

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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

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3 days ago

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March 24, 2026

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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors


Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.

Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.

Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.

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“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”

RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions

House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.

Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.

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The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.

“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”

Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.

The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid

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3 days ago

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March 24, 2026

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid


Washington Wizards (16-55, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-51, 14th in the Western Conference)

Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup with Utah after losing 16 in a row.

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The Jazz have gone 13-24 in home games. Utah ranks second in the Western Conference with 16.6 fast break points per game led by Lauri Markkanen averaging 3.3.

The Wizards are 5-29 in road games. Washington is 9-10 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 15.3 turnovers per game.

The Jazz score 117.4 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 124.1 the Wizards give up. The Wizards’ 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Jazz have allowed to their opponents (49.0%).

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Jazz won the last meeting 122-112 on March 6, with Ace Bailey scoring 32 points in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.

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Alex Sarr is averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks for the Wizards. Will Riley is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 3-7, averaging 116.4 points, 43.3 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.7 points per game.

Wizards: 0-10, averaging 114.3 points, 37.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 130.6 points.

INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Cody Williams: out (shoulder), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).

Wizards: Anthony Davis: out (finger), Tristan Vukcevic: day to day (back), Cam Whitmore: out for season (shoulder), Alex Sarr: day to day (toe), Tre Johnson: day to day (foot), Kyshawn George: out (elbow), D’Angelo Russell: out (not injury related), Trae Young: out (quad).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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