ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Nineteen years ago, the Texas Longhorns traveled into a massive Big Ten stadium and recorded a Week 2 victory that served notice of the national championship that was to come later that season. The score then: Texas 25, the Ohio State Buckeyes 22.
This time, the Week 2 victory in the Midwest was much easier. This time it was Texas 31, the reigning champion Michigan Wolverines 12, in a thumping that was not as close as the final score. Michigan’s 23-game home winning streak was realistically gone by halftime, a sudden reality check for a program resting on its Jim Harbaugh laurels.
Are the Horns ready to repeat that 2005 history all season? Is their first national title since Vince Young was running amok in the offing?
“Long way to go,” cautioned fourth-year Texas coach Steve Sarkisian.
Sark said this was more a barometer game than a defining game. For now, the barometer is producing nothing but positive readings.
So far, so very good. Going to the four-team College Football Playoff last season firmly established that Texas is BACK. Now, Texas might be championship-level BACK.
The Horns looked like a complete team in the Big House. A strong, fast, physical, smart, well-coached team.
They have a Heisman Trophy contender at quarterback in Quinn Ewers. His teenage mullet is long gone; now he’s a burrheaded veteran who has just about seen it all at the college level.
Saturday he was a third-down maestro. Texas converted 8 of 10 third downs in the first half and 10 of 16 for the game, with Ewers coolly making plays of every variety against an elite defense. Ewers has now won in Michigan Stadium and Bryant-Denny Stadium in consecutive years, completing 48 out of 74 passes for 595 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions in those two games.
“There’s something about Quinn and his demeanor,” Sarkisian said. “He’s a really calm guy. He never rides the emotional roller coaster, and I think that demeanor helps him in these games. We can go into some of these tough environments and know our quarterback is going to be really collected.”
Not only will Ewers’s teammates respond to that calm, they will have his back if need be. Late in the first half, Ewers took a knee on a busted play in the red zone and Michigan players hit him late. Texas offensive lineman Hayden Conner responded by shoving the Wolverines’ Cameron Brandt.
“We’re not going to allow that to happen,” Texas lineman Jake Majors said.
The Horns aren’t going to allow opponents to score much, either. They went the first 118 minutes of the season without surrendering a touchdown until Michigan put a late, cosmetic score on the board. A week after giving up just 192 total yards in a 52–0 shutout of the Colorado State Rams, Texas gave up only 284 to the Wolverines. Michigan’s ground-and-pound ethos established under Harbaugh was repudiated by Texas, with the Wolverines rushing for 80 yards and having a long run of 12.
“The more physical team came out on top,” safety Andrew Mukuba said.
That extended to the Texas offensive line, which knocked back Michigan’s touted defensive front for much of the game. They opened holes for three backs—Jaydon Blue, Quintrevion Wisner and Jerrick Gibson—who moved up the depth chart after preseason injuries to CJ Baxter and Christian Clark. Sarkisian has recruited quality depth.
And a year after losing standout tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders to the NFL, Texas showed it still has a stud at that position as well. On a day when all the pregame tight end talk was about Michigan’s Colston Loveland, Gunnar Helm introduced himself with seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Helm was part of Sarkisian’s first recruiting class in Austin, and he’s ready now for an impact role.
“He’s a warrior for us,” Sarkisian said.
Michigan, meanwhile, is missing more than a few warriors. The program was all-in to win the national title last season, and now the show is over. The student body singing “Mr. Brightside” at the end of the third quarter hits differently when the home team is down 25. Harbaugh left for the NFL and took some key assistants with him—some of them beating the NCAA posse out of town as the Connor Stalions investigation continues. A ton of key players went pro as well. This might not be as bad as LSU’s title hangover in 2020, but it’s not going to be easy.
New head coach Sherrone Moore has a problematic quarterback situation, with Davis Warren having thrown three interceptions in two games and backup Alex Orji still a one-dimensional runner. The Wolverines have scored three offensive touchdowns and look largely bereft of explosiveness.
Most of the Michigan fans had departed by the end of this game, leaving a large burnt-orange contingent to sing “The Eyes of Texas” with the Longhorns. In the stadium tunnel, athletic director Warde Manuel embraced Michigan legend Charles Woodson, who said to Manuel, “Sometimes you need one [loss].”
Manuel nodded in agreement. “Wakes you up,” he said.
The Wolverines have two weeks to be wide awake. That’s when the USC Trojans arrive for their first Big Ten game.
Texas has three manageable home games before hitting a big two-game stretch in October: vs. the Oklahoma Sooners in Dallas followed by the Georgia Bulldogs’ visit to the Forty Acres. The winner of the latter game, on Oct. 19, might be on its way to a No. 1 CFP seed and playoff favorite status.
The Horns’ progression to this stage has been a validation of hiring Sarkisian, who was not a slam dunk when plucked from Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama. After going 5–7 in his first year and 8–5 in his second, questions still hovered. But last season was a breakthrough, and this veteran bunch now looks prepared for even bigger things.
“None of these moments should feel too big to us anymore,” Sarkisian said. “This is who we are now.”
Texas has been there and done that, winning at Alabama last season. Now it has been here and done that, winning in the Big House. Swaggering out of the Midwest with a huge victory, that 2005 feeling is in the air again for the Longhorns.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Texas Demolishes Michigan in Barometer Test Along National Championship Quest.
