Davis Warren: ‘Standard hasn’t changed’ after Michigan loss to Texas
Michigan Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren said the reigning national championship team’s “standard hasn’t changed” after losing 31-12 to Texas.
Michigan football got punched in the mouth early by Texas on Saturday, and for the first time in nearly two years, the Wolverines couldn’t find a way to land a decisive counterblow.
Michigan fell into an 14-3 hole against No. 3 Texas when the offense retook the field with just over eight minutes left in the second half. The Wolverines trotted onto the field needing to find a way to move the ball against Texas to preserve a regular-season winning streak dating back to 2021.
Instead, the Wolverines ran just nine more offensive plays over two drives for the remainder of the half while Texas inflated the lead to 24-3 entering halftime. Doing the most damage was a pair of turnovers that the Longhorns quickly capitalized on, turning them into 10 points in the final 2:40 of the half.
The Wolverines gave themselves behind a near-impossible uphill climb after the first 30 minutes that resulted in a 31-12 loss to the visiting Longhorns in the most anticipated nonconference college football game of the 2024 season. It was Michigan’s first loss since the 2022 College Football Playoff semifinals and first regular-season loss since October 2021.
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“They are a good football team, they played well today, but we shot ourselves in the foot and let them win that ballgame,” quarterback Davis Warren said. “And I think, (if) we do some things differently, I do some things differently, and that’s a closer game in the fourth quarter.
“And then, it’s whoever makes the most plays in the fourth quarter, and those are the types of games we want to be in.”
Instead, Michigan was looking up at a scoreboard that read 31-6, the game all but out of reach entering the final quarter. Michigan piled up too many mistakes — whether it was a big turnover or a small miscue (like not wrapping up a runner on initial contact) — to hang with Texas, which showed it’s still at the level of a CFP contender.
Texas set the tone early with long touchdown drives on its second and third possessions, while Michigan struggled on offense, mustering only a field goal after a successful flea-flicker on its second possession.
Texas’ second touchdown put Michigan in a spot where a score was necessary before the end of the half to keep things close, but Warren was intercepted on the third play of the drive. He tried to find Tyler Morris on a hitch just past the sticks on third down, but the pass came in high to the tight window, and Texas defenders knocked the ball into the air and Andrew Mukuba pulled it in for the turnover, leading to a field goal to make it 17-3.
Michigan’s next drive lasted six plays before the normally sure-handed Colston Loveland gave the ball back to the Longhorns. Loveland lost the ball while transitioning from a catch to tucking it under his arm, and Texas capitalized to punch in a touchdown 10 seconds before halftime.
“Those (turnovers) are three things, if you don’t have those and you are in a different ball game,” head coach Sherrone Moore said. “But they happened. And they did a good job capitalizing off of them.”
Michigan’s issues all over the field were exacerbated by the extra possessions given to Texas. The offense was disjointed in moving the ball, especially in the first half. That kept the defense on the field without keeping up on the scoreboard. Michigan gained 80 rushing yards on 23 carries, good for an average of just under 3.5 yards per rush, while Warren completed 22 of 33 passes for 204 yards and two interceptions. The result was a 10-minute advantage for Texas in time of possession and the big lead.
“We’ve got to possess the ball,” Moore said. “We’ve got to do a better job with our style of finding offense and making sure we don’t let that happen again.”
Michigan moved the ball late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach and added its only touchdown, but the offense was held in check outside of that and two drives into field goal range.
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Texas had no such issues finding ways to attack Michigan’s defense early. The Longhorns put together four drives longer than 50 yards, including three of the four touchdown drives, by running the ball at will and picking up chunk plays through the air on third downs. Texas averaged 4.43 yards per carry with a spread power scheme that gave Michigan fits up front. The Wolverines had no sacks along with four tackles for loss.
“For us on defense, (it’s) tackling,” Moore said when asked about issues to fix. “We got to make sure we wrap up because they had 135 yards after contact. So for us, those little things, you fix those and it puts you in a better position. But you can’t do that against a good team.”
Even when Michigan managed to stop two Texas plays in a row, they couldn’t get off the field. Texas converted 10 of 16 third-down attempts to keep drives alive, including successfully converting on eight of 10 in the first half.
A big reason for the success was Texas’ ability to keep quarterback Quinn Ewers upright in the pocket, along with his ability to slide to the right spot to fire a pass and keep a play alive. Ewers completed 24 of 36 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns, which included going 6-for-9 on third-down passes, for 81 yards.
“He just did a good job of executing,” Moore said. “He stepped up in the pocket a lot when our rushes went high. He did a good job maneuvering in the pocket on third downs and that’s what really kept drives alive. The play-action game was working, they did a good job with those over routes, and we just got to be better at communicating.”
Now, Michigan is looking for answers as fast as possible while they still have a chance at another run this season. The expanded 12-team CFP can afford teams like Michigan a regular-season slip-up, especially in a top-10 matchup in the first month of the season, but the Wolverines have to rediscover their championship playstyle with a completely different team and coaching staff.
“We are at where we are at, and we are going to continue to grow and get better,” Moore said.
And the way to find those answers, Warren said, is a hard look in the mirror. Execution issues have not been an issue in the last three years, but this iteration of Michigan football hasn’t met that standard yet.
“A lot of reflection, a lot of things we need to work on,” Warren said. “We are going to, I’m confident, that we are going to do those things. We are going to face adversity right in the face. I mean, we haven’t lost a regular-season game here in a while so I think everyone has taken it super seriously.”
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Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city’s professional teams, the state’s two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22, and email him at [email protected].
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Publish date : 2024-09-07 11:59:00
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