DawgmanRadio: Our Michigan Pregame Show!

Dawgman Radio: A Washington Huskies athletics podcast

The guys from Dawgman.com - Scott Eklund and Chris Fetters - break down the key talking points on both sides of the ball as the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines travel to Seattle to play Washington at Husky Stadium today with a 4:30 pm scheduled kickoff.

In setting the scene, the guys talk about some of the lessons learned from Washington's last game, a 21-18 loss at Rutgers, including their takes on some of the things UW Head Coach Jedd Fisch said about the game and what they took from it.

Then it's time to check out the matchup between Washington's offense versus Michigan's defense. Both teams lost so much from the teams that played in January's National Championship game, but the Wolverines were able to keep some continuity, especially on defense - starting with their defensive front. How will Washington attack the visitors, knowing Michigan is statistically one of the best teams in the country at stopping the run? Will they pass to set up the run? And how much will they be able to get out of Jonah Coleman, now that Fisch explained that UW's leading running back was on a bit of a snap count versus Rutgers?

After a quick break the guys turn the tables and look at Michigan's offense going up against Washington's defense. Statistically, Michigan is already pretty one-dimensional under new quarterback Alex Orji; can the Huskies under first-year DC Steve Belichick make Michigan even MORE one-dimensional? Chris offered one big statistic with regards to the Wolverines' run game that offered a key that, if Washington can match that key, will give them a huge boost toward that goal.

The Michigan Insider's Alejandro Zúñiga also helped us out by giving us some inside intelligence on Washington's opponent. You can read it HERE.

The other big piece of this game, other than being the first-ever regular-season matchup of the two teams that played in the previous National Championship Game, is recruiting. According to Scott, the Huskies will likely host over 100 recruits from multiple classes today, with nearly half of them noted as having heavy interest from UW and at least 15 currently committed prospects for the 2025 recruiting class.

Arguably the biggest visitor from that committed group is tight end Vander Ploog, who has recently earned scholarship offers from schools like Oregon, Texas A&M, and Alabama. Has that turned Ploog's head? Or will his unofficial visit back to Montlake this weekend be a reminder of all the reasons why he committed to UW in the first place?

The other notable recruit on campus will be the Huskies' lone 2025 official visitor, offensive lineman Peter Langi. The 6-foot-5, 330-pounder from Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco, Langi is the highest-rated uncommitted offensive player in Northern California for 2025.

To wrap things up, Scott and Chris give their final thoughts and keys to this important matchup with so much riding on the line on the field for UW and off the field in recruiting. In many ways with a Washington win, this game could hold the same kind of importance that the first Oregon win did last season.

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