After dismantling what was expected to be a decent Colorado State team by a more than comfortable 52-0 margin, No. 4 Texas takes on defending national champion Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines are breaking in a new head coach in Sherrone Moore and a new quarterback. Or quarterbacks if Moore continues to start one-time preferred walk-on Davis Warren but also mix in dangerous dual threat (read: run first) Alex Orji from Sachse, Texas.
Oh, and Michigan is replacing nine offensive starters, including all five offensive linemen, running back Blake Corum, three receivers and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, whose successor currently is Warren. The Los Angeles native had thrown only 14 passes in his career before Saturday and once received chemotherapy after being diagnosed with leukemia in 2019.
The 6-2, 195-pound senior directed Michigan to a gritty 30-10 win over Fresno State but needed a pick-six from star cornerback Will Johnson to secure the win after the Wolverines led by six with 10 minutes to play.
“We can’t leave ourselves in third-and-long,” Warren said. “We’ve got to keep the chains moving. That falls on all of us. But I’m just so proud of the ways guys battled. That last (touchdown) drive — that’s Michigan football right there. That’s the momentum we needed.”
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Steve Sarkisian isn’t buying that this will be any lesser of a threat than the 2023 Michigan team, which buried Texas killer Washington to win last season’s national championship in Houston.
Never mind his Longhorns are a 6½-point favorite in Saturday’s 11 a.m. contest.
“Going to Michigan is a heck of a challenge,” the Texas coach said Saturday. “I know everyone’s going to point out that they lost 13 draft picks. Well, we lost 11, too, right? But everyone’s saying we’re a pretty good team. I think good programs reload. They’ve got players. They know how to develop players. They’ve been to the College Football Playoff three years in a row, and they finally won it last year.”
Texas is hardly immune to winning big games. Last year’s double-digit win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa spurred the Longhorns to an 11-1 regular season and ultimately proved the tiebreaker over CFP contenders Florida State and Georgia.
This year’s matchup with Michigan could turn out to be just as monumental for both clubs.
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