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Michigan vs. Washington big preview: Meet the teams, coaches, QBs, draft prospects, plus a prediction

Michigan vs. Washington is the national championship college football deserves

It all comes down to this. The final national championship of the four team College Football Playoff era is on Monday night in Houston, with the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines taking on the No. 2 Washington Huskies.

Both teams come in undefeated and looking to win their first national title in a long time. For Michigan, a title would be a crowning achievement for a team that reached the playoff the previous two years but never made it past the semifinal. For Washington, a natty is the finishing touch on a perfect season, and the swan song for a conference on its last legs.

Here’s a primer on everything you need to know before kickoff Monday night.

Washington vs. Michigan: The coaching battle

Since getting hired at Washington after the 2021 season, all Kalen DeBoer has done is win big games. DeBoer has lost two games in two years as the Huskies head coach, and when it’s time for a game with raised stakes, he always gets the best out of his team. He’s undefeated against Oregon and Texas, and now gets the chance to show off in the national championship game against Michigan.

DeBoer has won everywhere he’s been. When he got his start at NAIA Sioux Falls, he went 67-3 and won three NAIA championships. As head coach at Fresno State, he never lost more than three games and QB Jake Haener was one of the best Group of Five QBs in the country that year. As a coordinator at Indiana in 2019, he led the Hoosiers to one of their best offensive seasons ever, averaging over 400 total yards of offense.

The offense is what attracts for the Huskies and DeBoer; it’s a petri dish of Air Raid offenses and NFL principles with wins in the transfer portal and developed talent. The Huskies have the talent to throw the ball all across the yard, but make no mistake about it: to win the game they want to run the ball. RB Dillon Johnson has seen an uptick in usage through the meat of the season, and has kind of been their closer as they finished out games.

DeBoer has also been an extremely aggressive coach, opting to go for it on fourth downs and go and score touchdowns instead of settling for field goals. DeBoer has an extreme trust in his offense, and in the biggest moments, he’s come up big with his playcalling.