Free Press sports writer Tony Garcia looks back at Michigan football’s 30-10 win over Fresno State and looks ahead to the Wolverines’ first big test of the season, a top-ten showdown Saturday vs. No. 4 Texas.
Next up for the Wolverines: No. 4 Texas Longhorns
Matchup: No. 8 Michigan (1-0) vs. No. 4 Texas (1-0).
Kickoff: Noon Saturday; Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: Fox; WXYT-FM (97.1).
Line: Longhorns by 6½.
Know the foe
The Wolverines (No. 1 all-time) and Longhorns (tied for No. 4 all time) are among the NCAA’s winningest programs ever, yet this will be just their second meeting. The first was a heartbreaker for U-M — a last-second loss on a field goal in the 2005 Rose Bowl. Texas appears as strong as it has been since that Vince Young era, with a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance last season. Quinn Ewers returns at quarterback — he was on the cover of EA Sports’ “College Football 25” with Donovan Edwards — and he began his Heisman Trophy campaign by slicing up Colorado State in a season-opening 52-0 win: 20-for-27 for 260 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Though Texas lost two of its top three running backs during the season ramp-up due to injuries, junior Jaydon Blue is a load at 6 feet and 200 pounds, as is 5-10, 205-pound freshman Jerrick Gibson. The Longhorns also added WR Isaiah Bond from Alabama — he had six receptions for 86 yards and a score — while Houston transfer Matthew Golden caught a pair of touchdowns in his Texas debut. The Longhorns’ defense, meanwhile, was clearly suffocating as it shut out the Rams. Defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s group allowed just 192 total yards of offense, holding CSU to 13-for-24 passing for 74 yards and two turnovers and limiting the ground game to just 118 yards total.
Linebacker David Gbenda said the team is “juiced up” for its trip to Ann Arbor and fellow linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. said the team is preparing for “a fistfight.” They sound more than ready to go underneath head coach Steve Sarkisian, a former coordinator under Nick Saban.
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“Going to Michigan is a heck of a challenge,” Sarkisian told reporters Saturday. “I know everyone’s going to point out that they lost 13 draft picks. Well, we lost 11 too, right? And so, but everyone’s saying we’re a pretty good team. And so I think good programs reload. They’ve got players. They know how to develop their players. They’ve been to the College Football Playoff three years in a row and then they finally won it last year. So they’ve got a heck of a team, a heck of a roster.”
Tony Garcia’s 3 things we learned
Michigan’s quarterback decision: Since the moment J.J. McCarthy declared for the NFL draft, the buzz in Ann Arbor centered around his unknown replacement. By the middle of fall camp, the competition had been whittled down to two, Alex Orji and Davis Warren, and finally, Warren separated himself by making play after play against U-M’s elite defense. “The last week, really, he was just consistent, took care of the football, made plays against that defense you saw out there,” head coach Sherrone Moore said. “He ultimately took the job and won it.”
The former walk-on completed 15 of 25 passes for 118 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He certainly found a connection with his favorite target, tight end Colston Loveland, who hauled in eight grabs for 87 yards and a score, but struggled when throwing to essentially anyone else: 8-for-16 for 34 yards. Overall, most of his work came underneath as he completed just one of five attempts for 10 yards and a turnover on passes more than 10 yards down the field.
A WIN IS A WIN: Michigan football met expectations in beating Fresno State. Texas is a chance to surprise
At times, there were cries for Orji, a tantalizing athlete who threw the game’s first touchdown on a play-action design by offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell and ran five times for 32 yards. But a bootleg to the right, on which Orji skipped a pass 5 yards short of his intended receiver — his only other pass attempt of the night — made it clear why U-M went with Warren.
“Coach Harbaugh took a chance on me. I wasn’t a sure-fire guy with all the stars and all that,” Warren said. “I owe it to him and this program and this university and these guys to be here. I never wavered. I never had any interest in leaving or going anywhere else. I wanted to be here, and obviously there’s been some ups and downs along the road. But it did feel really good tonight to get the win.”
Running back rift: After a season of struggles (not counting the CFP title game, in which he ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns), Donovan Edwards returned to Ann Arbor with a renewed “fire.” He said all the right things since the spring: He talked about being a senior leader, learning through the growing pains and working his way back into the spotlight. But again, when the lights were brightest, U-M’s sparkplug short-circuited. He had the first touchdown of the year — a 3-yard score from Orji on a wide-open walk-in that can be credited to Campbell’s play design — but his other best moment was a forgettable 7-yard rush in the second half.
In total, Edwards had 11 carries for 27 yards (and two catches for a combined 0 yards). According to Pro Football Focus, he averaged just 1.64 yards after contact, as only two of his runs went for more than five yards. He recorded just one first down and did not force a missed tackle. Compare that with backup Kalel Mullings, who appeared far more productive. The former linebacker used his 15 carries and turned them into 92 yards. He averaged 4.27 yards after contact, gained 5 or more yards on 10 of 15 attempts, picked up four first downs and forced five missed tackles. When asked about taking over the lead role, Mullings said he “always viewed it as a team thing, us getting the job done together.”
Defensive domination: If this is what Wink Martindale’s unit looks like to begin the season, it’s scary to think what it can become by the end. The defense held a Fresno State offense that averaged better than 30 points per game last year to just 10. The defensive line was suffocating, starting with the run wall by Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant that held Bulldogs rushers to 22 carries for 39 yards. (That total drops to 9 yards when the three sacks, for minus-30 yards, taken by Mikey Keene are added in.) On the edges, Josaiah Stewart (five tackles, three for loss and two sacks) and Rayshaun Benny (five tackles, two for loss and one sack) had perhaps their best games in Michigan uniforms. Keene did complete 22 of 36 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown, but with just 2 of 11 third-down conversions while throwing two costly interceptions. There were new faces all over the place, but it looked like the same U-M resistance.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football vs. Texas: What we learned, spread, scouting report
