Sep 9, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Japanese Michigan Eagles coach Chris Creighton appears to be like throughout the second quarter in opposition to the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Financial institution Stadium. Necessary Credit score: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports activities There will likely be a variety of sentimentality for Japanese Michigan coach Chris Creighton in Saturday afternoon’s recreation at Washington, the defending nationwide runner-up.
Creighton grew up in Seattle and performed quarterback at Roosevelt Excessive Faculty, so it will likely be a homecoming for him.
In his eleventh season at Japanese Michigan, Creighton mentioned he has by no means returned to the world as a head coach, so this will likely be a brand new expertise for him as he relives some childhood recollections.
“I went to Husky video games as a child,” Creighton mentioned. “We truly had been shut sufficient the place I acquired sweatbands and soiled socks from guys as they had been leaving the locker room. I assumed I used to be hitting the treasure chest.”
Creighton hopes his return dwelling will lead to a win in opposition to a Washington group that did not expertise any slip-ups final week in its season opener.
In its first recreation beneath first-year head coach Jedd Fisch and a number of new faces who transferred into or signed with this system as freshmen, Washington earned a 35-3 dwelling win over Weber State.
Fisch mentioned he’ll proceed to throw youthful gamers into the combo after taking part in 9 of the 18 true freshmen on his roster final week.
“We do not actually speak an excessive amount of about redshirting,” Fisch mentioned. “That is not likely a part of our program. Our program proper now could be about taking part in the very best gamers proper now and seeing if we will develop them.”
As for Japanese Michigan, Fisch mentioned he was impressed by the play of its defensive position in a 28-14 win over UMass, a victory that can put Washington quarterback Will Rogers and the offensive line on excessive alert this week.
The Eagles recorded six sacks in opposition to the Minutemen in Week 1.
“They play a variety of post-I protection, so count on a variety of effort to cease the run, and we’ll see how we reply to that,” Fisch mentioned.
One Japanese Michigan participant who must be aware of Washington is linebacker James Djonkam, who was named the Mid-American Convention’s Defensive Participant of the Week final week after registering 13 tackles and one sack.
Djonkam is a switch from Arizona State, which performed Washington final season earlier than convention realignment took each groups out of the Pac-12.
–Subject Degree Media