Saturday was a rude awakening for Michigan football. The Wolverines thought they had a team to contend for another national championship, but that dream was crushed by the Texas Longhorns.
Texas defeated Michigan football on Saturday by a score of 31-12, but in truth, the game wasn't as close as the final score indicated. The Wolverines were fortunate to trail 24-3 at the half. It could have been 35-3 and Texas easily could have scored 50 points on Michigan's "vaunted" defense.
You can talk all you want about culture but talent is important too and Michigan football seemed to forget that at some point. It was fair to wonder if this would work without Jim Harbaugh, who was the best head coach in college football and so far, we can see how much he's missed.
Texas ran for 143 yard on Michigan. They converted seven of their first eight third down attempts and the Horns also forced three turnovers on defense and held Michigan to just 284 total yards. 80 of those came on the ground.
Davis Warren was 22-of-33 for 204 yards a touchdown and two interceptions but the stat line feels empty. When the game was on the line, the offense couldn't muster a first down.
It was an ugly loss and here are five things we learned about Michigan football against Texas.
The Wolverines won't be defending their national title
That pipe dream is over. There was an idea that Michigan football could still hang with some of the elite programs but Texas ended that fantasy.
Some have said that Texas could be last year's Michigan and maybe that's true. We'll see if the Wolverines fare better against teams like Washington, USC, Oregon, and Ohio State.
But man, it feels like Michigan football will be a two-touchdown underdog going to Columbus, probably accurately.
Michigan fans probably weren't realistic enough about the losses of Jim Harbaugh, J.J. McCarthy, and more generational players like Mike Sainristil and Blake Corum. Culture is important but it doesn't mean you'll replace superstars with fellow superstars.
Texas is on another level and it's clear Michigan just isn't there. Of course, a lot can change between now and November, but the ceiling for this team is much lower than expected.
Michigan football doesn't have a quarterback
You know the old saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have one. Well, Michigan football doesn't have a quarterback and it doesn't matter whether they play Davis Warren or Alex Orji.
Looking back, it's inexcusable that Michigan didn't do more to add a quarterback in the portal for the 2024 season, either this offseason or before.
There was no plan for when J.J. McCarthy left, so you have a former walk-on as your starting quarterback.
And if I hear one more time about how Davis Warren has the "same arm talent" as J.J. McCarthy, I might get sick. That's delusion and was as accurate as Sherrone Moore saying the QB room was "in a good place" just before the season opener.
If this is "a good place" that's a scary thought for the future of Michigan football.
The offensive line isn't meeting the standard
One of the reasons I was confident in Michigan football this season was the offensive line. I believed that there was enough talent there and that Sherrone Moore was a good enough coach to keep that group playing at a high level.
Grant Newsome is now coaching the offensive line though and through two games, the results haven't been great. Michigan struggled to run the ball against Fresno State and couldn't run the ball against Texas.
It was foolish to expect five new starters to maintain the high standard of the past three seasons, but there are highly-touted prospects on the line. Giovanni El-Hadi was a top-100 dude. So was Myles Hinton and Josh Priebe was All-Big Ten honorable mention last season.
The talent is there. But the production isn't. Surely, the offensive line will get better as the season goes along but it's one of the biggest disappointments through two games.
The Wolverines are averaging just 114 yards per game and four yards per rushing attempt. That's not nearly good enough to carry an offense without a dynamic passing attack.
The defense isn't "elite"
Michigan football has a good defense. The Wolverines will have one of the best defenses in the Big Ten this season, but it's not elite. That was clear on Saturday.
Texas took it to the Wolverines from the opening kickoff. Texas missed a field goal on its first drive, but Texas easily could have scored tocuhdowns on its first five drives.
At one point, Texas was down to its fourth-string running back and the offense still didn't skip a beat. Quinn Ewers was elite and he really won me over. That dude is going to be a top-5 pick. He's really improved.
But the defensive effort of the Wolverines was still disappointing. Talk about playing complementary football, it didn't happen. The defense could have set the tone early with some stops. It could have forced a takeaway or two -- that's what needed to happen.
Instead, the defense offered little resistance and if Texas didn't call off the dogs in the second half, the Longhorns would have racked up 500 yards and 40 points.
Michigan's defense has elite players. But the depth has been eroded and the secondary isn't good. Neither are the linebackers. Jaishawn Barham has been invisible and even the defensive line failed to get much pressure.
It was extremely discouraging and maybe the most glaring sign that this Michigan football team isn't anywhere close to where it was last season.
It's far past time for transactional over transformational
It might be easy to blame the current Michigan football coaching staff, but they aren't the ones who decided that Michigan was going to act like NIL didn't exist while every other blue-blood was paying a premium price for top-end talent.
Michigan didn't want to pay up for an elite quarterback like Dante Moore and this is the result. Moore should have been starting for the Wolverines on Saturday and it's baffling that Michigan didn't make a stronger move for him in the offseason when he became available again.
Maybe stars didn't matter as much with Jim Harbaugh, because he's Jim Harbaugh. But eventually, that was going to catch up with the Wolverines. Last year's team had five-star talent but if NIL had been a thing in the 2021 class, Michigan wouldn't have signed Edwards or J.J. McCarthy.
That's the truth. So, Warde Manuel and the entire Michigan athletic department need to come together, because unless Michigan gets aggressive with pay-for-play on the recruiting trail, the gap between it and teams like Texas and Ohio State will only grow larger.
The secret weapon (Jim Harbaugh) isn't around anymore and Michigan needs to act accordingly. So far, it hasn't.