*.**+*NFLNews

Bigger in the Big House: Texas shows it’s a contender once again with beatdown of defending champion Michigan

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – SEPTEMBER 07: Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns celebrates with his team after a 31-12 victory against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on September 07, 2024 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Outside of the world of college athletics, the colors maize and burnt orange don’t exist much; garish without proper context.

Have Texas visit Michigan though for a football game and it somehow makes sense for 110,000 people to be clad in one or the other, looking to spend a crisp September afternoon watching a heavyweight matchup.

Only one of the teams, however, is a legit contender this year and it sure isn’t the reigning national champion Wolverines, who would have to labor to find the Mr. Brightside in this one.

Texas 31, Michigan 12.

It wasn’t that close.

The fourth quarter might as well have been played in the calm and quiet of the Law Quad here as maize slowly drifted off to tailgates and traffic jams while the burnt orange crowded to the lower rows and whooped it up in Texas-sized joy with Matthew McConaughey, the program’s “Minister of Culture,” leading the way.

After the beatdown, the Texas players amassed in the southeast corner of voluminous Michigan Stadium to sing the “Eyes of Texas” and celebrate with the fans, who roared in approval at all of it — the team, the score, the possibilities. Linebacker David Gbenda then tried to plant the Longhorn flag into the 50-yard line.

Whether the Horns can duplicate Michigan’s charge to the national title — which would be Texas’ first since Vince Young’s run of 2005 — remains to be seen. It’s a long season, there’s an expanded playoff and making it through the SEC with a running back corps depleted by injury might not be fun.

They sure looked capable on…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/bigger-in-the-big-house-texas-shows-its-a-contender-once-again-with-beatdown-of-defending-champion-michigan-195510777.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-07 19:55:10

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Check Also

The Athletic: Wisconsin Badgers a ‘dangerous trap game’ for a top Big Ten opponent

The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman named the Wisconsin Badgers as a ‘dangerous trap game’ for the …

..........................%%%...*...........................................$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$--------------------.....