Inside The Huskies

Fisch Keeps Door Open for Four Missing Starters to Return at Michigan

However, Jacob Manu seems like the only player certain to play against the Wolverines.
Dan Raley|
Carver Willis (50) is shown in healthier times for the UW football team.
Carver Willis (50) is shown in healthier times for the UW football team. | Dave Sizer photo

When you play Michigan, especially in Ann Arbor, and in particular in the largest football stadium in the country, it should be all hands on deck.

On Monday, University of Washington coach Jedd Fisch, when pressed about the availability of four key players, left open the possibility that each of them might play. Or at least, he didn't rule anyone out just yet.

Those four would be senior linebacker Jacob Manu, his best defensive player; senior edge rusher Zach Durfee, his top pass rusher; senior offensive tackle Carver Willis, his top blocker, and freshman offensive guard John Mills, who's in consideration to become a freshman All-American (see list below).

Considering what everyone else is faced with, Manu seems the most likely to be in uniform for the Huskies (5-1 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) and waved onto the field for Saturday's game against the Wolverines (4-2, 2-1) at 107,601-seat Michigan Stadium.

With Firsch apparently having convinced the 5-foot-11, 225-pound linebacker to come back and play a full season in 2026 after recovering from a knee injury, Manu can appear in just two of the final six regular-season games to make that happen -- as far as the rules currently dictate.

Manu has played in games against Ohio State and Maryland and sat out this past Friday's outing against Rutgers. Meantime, he filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking relief after missing half of last season for Arizona with an ACL tear and then sitting out the first three games of this campaign.

Healthy again, he'd like to play with unlimited restrictions for the rest of this regular season and return for a full season in 2026.

While pressing the issue with the NCAA, the Huskies apparently will do what is necessary to keep him eligible for another season.

"With Jacob, we'll make a decision again like we did last week," Fisch said. "If we don't know anything regarding his lawsuit, then we'll decide this week if we're going to use one of the two Saturdays left."

It seems highly unlikely, no matter who decides what on his status, that Manu will sit out against a blue-blood team such as Michigan.

The 6-foot-5, 258-pound Durfee, who was among the nation's leaders with quarterback pressures before getting hurt, injured an elbow against Ohio State and has missed the past two games.

Asked about the chances Durfee could face Michigan, Fisch said, "We'll see. We haven't practiced yet. Hopefully high, but we'll see."

While Durfee has a high pain threshold and he's not dealing with a lower-extremity injury, his return at Michigan wouldn't be a surprise.

That leaves Willis and Mills, who injured a knee and a foot against Ohio State and Maryland, respectively.

Again, both players would seem hard-pressed to be ready for the Wolverines, especially Mills, who rode around on an injury scooter on the sideline for Friday's Rutgers game. Their coach remained hopeful.

"Yeah, there's a chance, there's a chance," Fisch said when asked about those two. "I don't know how much of a chance, but there's a chance."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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