A third-quarter personal foul indicates the tough way Texas won over Michigan
ANN ARBOR — No numbers showed what level of national title contender the Texas Longhorns are more than the 31 points on their own side of the ledger compared to the Michigan Wolverines’ 12 on Saturday. A number of statistical measures like net yardage (389 to 284), net rushing yards (143 to 80), first downs (19 to 13), and total plays (68 to 56) in the Longhorns’ favor go to show why Texas won in as dominating a fashion as they did in front of 111,170.
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That said, one single instance of adding to a stat Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian wants his team to keep as small as possible — penalties — probably still brought a smile to his face.
Late in the third quarter after freshman wideout Ryan Wingo‘s end around netted 55 yards and put Texas at the Wolverine three, a small mishap with the snap saw Quinn Ewers lose five yards on first and goal. A few Michigan players were in no rush to help Ewers to his feet and even did a thing or two to keep him down on the dirt. Nothing that approached vile maliciousness, but something petty for players on a team down 24-6.
Texas didn’t let that slide, rushing to Ewers’ aid and making sure Wolverine players knew that wouldn’t fly. Jake Majors, Kelvin Banks, Hayden Conner, and DJ Campbell came to Ewers’ defense immediately. Campbell and start Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant even got into it a bit too much to the officials’ liking, earning personal foul flags in the process.
That’s something that did not happen three years ago. During the Longhorns’ 40-21 loss to Arkansas, quarterback Hudson Card was knocked to the turf and kept down. No Longhorn rushed to his defense.
That team obviously went 5-7.
The lack of action was emblematic of the program then and the immediate action, even the unsportsmanlike conduct on Campbell, is emblematic of the program now.
“Nobody likes to see their quarterback getting pushed around and shoved around,” Sarkisian said postgame. “Those guys have got a lot of pride. We’ve got four returning starters with a lot of starts under their belts up front. They’ve been with some real battles with Quinn on the field. I just don’t think they’re ever going to stand there and let him be a lone wolf. They’re going to stick together.”
Majors was a part of that line in 2021 and he’s been as big a part of the development not just of Texas’ offensive line, but also the overall development of culture. In this sense of a word used all-too-often, culture means toughness.
Texas faced a Michigan team under Sherrone Moore that prides itself on toughness. When one of the toughest U-M players popped up, Texas popped right back.
“It just shows the brotherhood we have here,” Majors said. “We all go through hardships during practice and through the week. We understand how hard practice is.”
Ewers has helped cultivate that but it takes more than just one man’s action. That’s something that he appreciated after the game.
“For a quarterback, that’s probably the best feeling in the world besides converting a third down or throwing a touchdown pass,” Ewers said. “To see those guys have my back the way that we did, it’s just a great feeling.”
Ewers was helped in other ways. Michigan, Grant, Mason Graham, and talented EDGE rushers and all, did not record a sack. Ewers had time in the pocket to throw for 246 yards and three touchdowns. The rushing game tallied 143 yards and a score on 32 carries.
But it was a certain way that the Longhorns did it, a tough way, that was shockingly lacking in 2021.
The Longhorns won the tough way in 2024 against the defending national champions as they look to become champions themselves this season.
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“We’ve got a tight-knit group,” Sarkisian said. “These guys are in the fight together. I say that figuratively. Obviously, we go into every game and we understand that we’ve got to play as one.”
