No 3. Texas football solidified its status as a top program in the country with a substantial 31-12 victory against the defending national champions, No. 10 Michigan, in Ann Arbor.
“They’re a really good team, a really good physical team,” head coach Steve Sarkisian said after the game. “We handled the environment and found our rhythm.”
While the Longhorn’s defensive game once again did a solid job of holding off the Michigan offense, keeping the Wolverines to 284 total yards in comparison to Texas’ 389, going 3-12 for third-down conversions and recording three turnovers, the star aspect of the game was the diversity of Texas’ rush attack.
Texas finished off Week 2 with 143 rushing yards in comparison to Michigan’s 80.
The Longhorns’ running back room showed up in the Big House, making game-winning plays. Junior running back Jaydon Blue finished the matchup with 22 yards over nine attempts, but came out for a large chunk of the game due to an injury.
Once Blue came back in the third quarter, he caught a pass from junior quarterback Quinn Ewers for 7 yards in the endzone, bringing Texas’ lead to 31-6 after the kick.
Blue’s absence at a key point in the game created a chance to affect Texas’ offense negatively; however, other running backs stepped up to the challenge.
Sophomore Quintrevion Wisner and freshman Jerrick Gibson held 30 rushing yards on eight attempts and 36 on 10 attempts, respectively. Gibson was given the ball three drives in a row in the second quarter, resulting in a Texas touchdown. Both Wisner and Gibson showed their play-making ability with good eyes, slowing down and finding the best route.
Another notable athlete on Texas’s offensive that helped their success in the running game is freshman wide receiver Ryan Wingo. Wingo, who led Texas in receiving yards last week, had a 55-yard end-around play that got the Longhorns all the way down to the Michigan 3-yard line. Wingo’s ability to rush down the field revealed his power on both types of offensive play styles.
On top of the rushing success, other players showed their efficiency in their running game with their yards after the catch. Senior tight end Gunnar Helm held 98 receiving yards with 45 of them coming from rushing after completing his pass. Both Blue and Wisner held impressive yards after completion numbers with 47 and 20, respectively.
After conquering the heavily accoladed team, Texas will head back to Austin and focus on next week’s matchup against affiliate University of Texas at San Antonio on Sept. 14 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
