Bigger than the Big House: Texas proves it’s a contender again with win over reigning champion Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Outside the world of college sports, the colors maize and orange aren’t common; they’re garish without the proper context.

But let’s say Texas comes to Michigan for a football game, it makes sense that 110,000 people in either suit would want to attend a heavyweight match on a chilly September afternoon.

Only one team is a real contender this year, and it certainly isn’t the reigning national champion Wolverines. They will have to do their utmost in this competition to find the Mr. Brightside.

Texas 31, Michigan 12.

It wasn’t much of a difference.

The fourth quarter might as well have been played in the calm and tranquility of the Law Quad, as the corn slowly drifted away to the tailgates and traffic jams, while the burnt orange crowds crowded into the lower rows and celebrated with exuberance, exuberance, exuberance, exuberance, exuberance, with Matthew McConaughey, the program’s “Minister of Culture,” leading the way.

After the loss, Texas players gathered in the southeast corner of the sprawling Michigan Stadium to sing “Eyes of Texas” and celebrate with the fans, who shouted their approval of it all — the team, the score, the opportunities. Linebacker David Gbenda then attempted to plant the Longhorn flag on the 50-yard line.

“It was special to see the amount of burnt orange in the stands,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I soaked it in. I love that kind of stuff.”

Whether the Longhorns can replicate Michigan’s run at a national title — which would be Texas’ first since Vince Young’s 2005 run — remains to be seen. It’s a long season, there’s an extended playoff slog, and navigating the SEC with an injury-depleted running back corps might not be fun.

Texas certainly looked capable on Saturday. Steve Sarkisian’s team is deep and talented and scary. It blocks. It tackles. It has speed and size. For all the potential pyrotechnics of a Quinn Ewers-led offense, this was won with blunt force, line dominance.

The Longhorns racked up 389 yards of total offense, 4.5 yards per rush and forced three turnovers. They defeated Michigan in Michigan’s game.

It was a group of running backs — Quintrevion Wisner, Jerrick Gibson and Jaydon Blue — who racked up the yards (143 total) there. It was Gunnar Helm who snagged passes (seven total) there. It was linebackers David Gbenda and Anthony Hill Jr. who provided some defensive heft.

It was mostly the big boys who came to Big Ten country and showed up.

“We pride ourselves on our physicality,” Hill Jr. said. “We train physically. We practice physically. And it showed on the football field.”

The Longhorns came here to take over everything from the flags flying outside the Graduate Hotel here in Ann Arbor, to the bars and restaurants in nearby downtown Detroit, to the trenches where games are actually won.

It was an impeccable success, a show of force that could make all those old “Texas is back” jokes just not as funny anymore.

“This is who we are now,” fifth-year offensive lineman Jake Majors said. “This is the standard we set every day.”

Michigan fans have seen up close for three years what a contender and then a champion looks like. They know they don’t have it in 2024. Texas fans have watched the team climb to the playoffs and have to acknowledge that this team has even more potential than that.

Michigan doesn’t have anyone who can play quarterback at an elite level. Not only did Texas let Ewers throw 24 of 36 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns, but its backup is none other than Arch Manning, heir to the family’s quarterbacking empire.

Michigan had 13 players drafted into the NFL last spring and saw its coach, Jim Harbaugh, and numerous assistants follow him to the Los Angeles Chargers. There’s still some elite talent — tight end Colston Loveland had eight receptions — but the holes are glaring and everywhere.

Last year, the Wolverines desperately needed a quarterback, but the timing of that December, the uncertainty surrounding Harbaugh’s status, the playoffs and the chaos surrounding the Connor Stalions scouting scandal likely got in the way.

The result: It’s a transitional year for the team as it searches for a suitable quarterback. The Wolverines played hard until the end, even scoring with 1:54 left in the game. As for new head coach Sherrone Moore, better days are likely ahead, but he might want to sign his contract. Quickly.

It’s a potentially historic season in Texas, a team building on last year’s semifinal run and with expectations just as high this time around.

And a beautiful, orange Saturday in Ann Arbor was a stepping stone on that path.