> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Huskies Prepare For Trip to Michigan and Big Noon Kickoff - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/huskies-prepare-for-trip-to-michigan-and-big-noon-kickoff/ - Published: 2025-10-14T00:16:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T05:57:45.000Z - Author: Aaron Coe - Tags: Huskies, Washington Football, Jedd Fisch, Carver Willis, John Mills, Zach Durfee [Embed from Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2238605657?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) SEATTLE, Wash. — It’s Big Noon somewhere on college football Saturdays. Jimmy Buffett sang a song about it being 5 o’clock somewhere, which also means it’s 12 o’clock somewhere, though it may feel considerably earlier for those traveling from the West. The Washington Huskies hit the road to Ann Arbor this week, where they’ll face recently unranked Michigan in the Big Noon game, which will start at 9 a.m. PT/noon ET on FOX. Complaining about body clocks and long flights generally invokes eye rolls and sometimes outrage from those who renounce conference realignment. To UW coach Jedd Fisch’s credit, he has not participated in some of the West Coast coaches’ complaints about early starts and East Coast leaders whining about being up past bedtime for late starts in Pacific time. The schools all made those beds when they signed TV deals, and now they must lie in them. Winning in spite of it all is what Fisch hopes to do. “The time is the time,” said Fisch, who is 2-0 on the road this season with wins at Washington State and Maryland. “I don’t look at it as a 9 a.m. start. I look at it as a 12 o’clock start, and wherever we are is what the kickoff time is.” After struggling away from home last season — UW coach Jedd Fisch went 0-7 away from Husky Stadium in his first year at Washington last season — the Huskies spent the offseason looking at how to not allow distance from home and kickoff times to factor into the final score. Fisch has spoken with Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald about travel. Also a second-year head coach in Seattle, Macdonald’s team has struggled at home but has won nine straight road games, including four games with 10 a.m. starts. Things did not go well for the Huskies at 9 a.m. last year, when they 40-16 at Iowa and 31-17 at Indiana. Though Fisch mentioned that having a better team than last year can be perhaps the biggest factor, the Huskies have made adjustments so their 9 a.m. starts mirror the schedule of Seahawks 10 a.m. kickoff times. Washington upgraded to traveling in a wide-body jet for road games this season to give players more space. The team leaves a little later on Thursdays for Saturday away games and uses a different schedule, which includes an outdoor walk-through on Friday. “We’re going to do everything we can not to make schedule, travel, body clock — any of those reasons — why we play well or not well. We want to do everything we can to eliminate distractions and make it just about the team.” ### Injury Updates Fisch reiterated on Monday that left tackle Carver Willis, left guard John Mills and edge Zach Durfee should return to the lineup at some point this season, but it was not clear whether any of them will play at Michigan. “There’s a chance,” Fisch said. “I don’t know how much of a chance, but there’s a chance.” John Mills was in a boot and using a scooter to move around while he missed the Rutgers game on Saturday after suffering an injury at Maryland on Oct. 4\. Willis, who suffered a knee injury against Ohio State on Sept. 27, walked around with relative ease in a heavy brace on Saturday. Durfee will try to come back from what Fisch previously described as an elbow injury, which occurred against the Buckeyes. Fisch mentioned that Durfee would help a pass rush that he believes allowed Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to “sit back there a little too much” early in the game. “If we get Durfee back — I think Durfee was leading the country in quarterback pressures of a four-man rush. So if he’s back, that will certainly help the situation.” ### Jacob Manu Situation, Continued Senior linebacker Jacob Manu missed Saturday’s game as he and Fisch await clarification on a potential injunction that would allow Manu to gain a fifth year in 2026, or an NCAA rule change that would allow players to participate in up to five full seasons. Currently, players can use a redshirt when they participate in four or fewer games. Manu, who missed five games last season and the first three this year after ACL surgery, has played against Ohio State and Maryland this season. For now, the team is being strategic about which four games to deploy Manu, as [he would prefer the option of an additional college season](https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/home/washington-linebacker-jacob-manu-faces-tough-redshirt-decision). Conversations have been ongoing between Fisch and Manu, and the two decided he would miss the Rutgers game to keep future options open. Fisch said he made sure Manu didn’t have his helmet or pads, as his competitive instincts might pull him out on the field during a key moment if in full uniform. That will be the case during four of the next six games if the redshirt situation is not changed or clarified. “If we don’t know anything regarding his lawsuit, then we’ll decide this week on whether or not we’re going to use one of the two available Saturdays that we have left until the (regular) season comes to an end,” Fisch said. “… I told Jacob I will always do what’s best for him.”