How Texas proved 'they are for real and then some' as College Football Playoff contender vs. Michigan

Texas entered the 2024 season with high expectations ahead of Year 1 in the SEC. The Longhorns were fresh off one final Big 12 title and their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance, and they didn’t have to wait long for their first test.

Texas headed to Michigan in Week 2 to take on the defending national champion in The Big House. For Quinn Ewers and the offense, it meant going up against one of the top defenses in the nation, led by Will Johnson at cornerback. He handled it with ease as Texas left Ann Arbor with a 31-12 victory behind 389 yards of offense.

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The Longhorns looked the part of a CFP contender in Week 2, and On3’s J.D. PicKell said it was more than just passing a test. He thinks Steve Sarkisian’s group cemented itself as a team capable of winning the national title.

“I think Texas … made a statement in Ann Arbor,” PicKell said on The Paul Finebaum Show. “They are not just gonna be a team that kind of hangs around and we talk about them being a contender. I think they’re one of those teams that can win the whole darn thing. We always knew they were one of those teams that could – if you were playing in a game where, ‘First to 40,’ you feel good about Ewers, you feel good about Sark, you feel good about the weapons.

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“But they went to Ann Arbor and bullied the bully. Like, they held them to 82 yards rushing and they definitively had the line of scrimmage advantage there against a team that’s made their living on the line of scrimmage.”

Ewers had a huge day in the victory, throwing for 246 yards and three touchdowns. But Texas also got it done on the ground with 143 rushing yards even despite losing Jaydon Blue for a stretch due to injury.

The unit that stood out the most, though, was the offensive line – a group the Longhorns return almost entirely from last season. They went toe-to-toe with a Michigan defensive line that was the driving force behind a dominant scheme.

On the other side of the ball, a Wolverines offensive line that stood strong for the last few years struggled against Texas’ defensive front. If the Longhorns can repeat that performance, PicKell said it adds a whole new dynamic to their operation.

“If Texas can play that game in addition to, like, the firepower first-to-40, first-to-50 kind of game, they’re gonna be a problem for the rest of college football,” PicKell said. “So I think Texas, right now, has made a very clear statement that they are for real and then some.”