Three yards. Less than 10 feet. The length of a mid-range jumper. According to Washington Head Coach Jedd Fisch, that is the distance the Huskies are from being unbeaten heading into this weekend’s game at Husky Stadium versus the Michigan Wolverines.

In what, in any other year, would likely be the ESPN Gameday game, the two teams that played in the 2024 National Championship game squaring off in a conference tilt…this would be the stuff of a marquee, prime time contest with the entire country locked in on what was about to go down at the Greatest Setting in College Football. And yes, the game will be shown during prime time back east, but the juice that would normally be associated with a game of that magnitude just isn’t there. That’s because both head coaches are gone, most of the impact players in that national championship game for both teams are gone while the rest of college football kept moving along at a breakneck pace.

But that doesn’t mean much to Fisch, who had no control over any of those storylines. He’s more concerned about the fourth and goal call in the Apple Cup he immediately regretted, and the incomplete pass on fourth and two on Washington’s first drive of the second half at Rutgers. Score touchdowns on those two plays, as well as make field goals Grady Gross normally makes in his sleep, and Washington’s season so far starts to look significantly different.

But as another Washington head coach famously said, if if’s and but’s were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas. And Washington, despite being one of only nine FBS programs with a top-10 offense AND defense, is 3-2 instead of 5-0. That’s the reality Fisch and the Huskies are currently dealing with.

Fisch answered questions about the red zone issues, in-season player NIL issues, a lot of player health updates, and of course his take on this weekend’s opponent during his Monday press conference.

Full quotes are below.