‘This is who we are’: Texas flashes new identity as Longhorns bully perennial bully Michigan around Big House

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Steve Sarkisian, that old offensive genius, spent three-plus years preparing for this moment. Just don’t ever expect him to admit as much. The Texas coach didn’t get to the point of marching up and down the rows of the training table making sure his linemen got enough protein. 

He didn’t have to. 

They grow ’em big in Texas; just not this gnarly and mean — at least not lately. So when No. 3 Texas got done with a systematic 31-12 destruction of No. 10 Michigan on Saturday, the difference was about those three years since word leaked that Texas was joining the SEC and what Sark has done with them. 

What has he done, exactly? He made sure his teams would match up in the trenches. Oh sure, Quinn Ewers has developed into a fine player worthy of Heisman contention, and Sark’s play-calling is what leads his resume. His offensive imagination is what got him the job. 

But the one-time BYU quarterback is no fool. To get to the next level, Texas had to make an example of teams like Michigan. 

On Saturday, the reigning national champions were humbled in their own (Big) House.

The bullies were bullied. 

It came like an open-handed slap to the face in Ann Arbor’s late summer imitation of a fall afternoon. It came from Texas. 

The result might have been the biggest message of the Sarkisian era. Walking into Bryant-Denny Stadium last season and beating Nick Saban and Alabama was huge, of course. But this was the explanation point to follow. 

Not only is Texas back, but what they do can be sustained — with force, if needed 

“I reminded the guys we’ve gone into Tuscaloosa and played and won,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve played in a Big 12 championship game. We’ve played in a College Football Playoff. None of the moments should feel too much for us anymore. This is who we are. This is how we know how to play.”

How they play, at least offensively, is an old variation of Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense. Lots of screens, RPOs, lateral stuff to keep the defense in motion. Prized freshman receiver Ryan Wingo went 55 yards on an end around at one point to set up Texas’ final touchdown. 

But they beat you up doing it. The offensive line features no one shorter than 6-foot-3 or weighing fewer than 315 pounds. Center Cam Williams — making his third career start — was flagged three times on Texas’ first drive amid the early din of the Big House. 

“I gave him a big hug,” Sarkisian said. “I had to give everybody in the offensive line a hug before the second series to calm everybody down.”

Then Williams, all 6-5 and 335 of him, and the rest of the o-line settled in to out-leverage and out-play one of the best defensive lines in the country. 

Texas scored on its next four possessions for a 24-3 halftime lead. It converted on eight of its first 10 first downs and 10 of 16 for the game. The result meant the end of Michigan’s 23-game home winning streak, the second-longest nationally. 

It was the Wolverines’ worst regular-season loss since 2020. Michigan’s worst non-COVID year loss since 2019 (Ohio State!) was proof of concept that Sarkisian’s vision of the program has arrived. 

For Texas to be “back,” it had to start putting some people on their backs.  

When was the last time you saw Michigan mauled?

You haven’t, lately. Not in the Big House, where more than 111,000 wedged in to see the first real test of the Wolverines post-Harbaugh. 

This kind of bludgeoning is what will serve Texas the most in its SEC transition. Sark has talked about it since July 2021 when word leaked that his program and Oklahoma were headed to the SEC. The Strength Everywhere Conference might as well have the phrase in its league charter. It’s a line of scrimmage league. 

“I felt like we can play that style of football,” Sark said. “But I also think that we’re not a one-dimensional team. We can play in space. I think that’s important, especially in the Southeastern Conference. As much as the line of scrimmage is really important, if you don’t have the athletes on the perimeter, that’s going to be important, too. You have to have both for it to work. I thought both those things showed up today.”

Without its best rusher — C.J. Baxter, out for the season with a knee — the carries were split between junior Jaydon Blue, sophomore Quintrevion Wisner and true freshman Jerrick Wisner. Ewers picked apart Michigan through the air, missing on only 12 of 36 passes. 

Las Vegas rewarded him in the moment with the best odds to win the Heisman … after Week 2. Michigan vs. Everybody? How about Ewers against the field at this point?

Alabama transfer Isaiah Bond can blow the top off a defense. Tight end Gunnar Helm — seven catches, 98 yards — is becoming a weapon. In fact, on Saturday, Texas looked a lot like Georgia, sharing the wealth offensively and stifling on defense. 

That comparison truly awaits until Oct. 19 when the Bulldogs come to Austin, but you get the picture. For now, Texas has won its last eight road games by an average of 16 points. 

But to massage the school song a bit, it’s “The Size Of Texas” that is so intimidating. In fact, that o-line, touted as one of the best units in the country itself, might have won the Joe Moore Award on Saturday. That means a lot at a place that threatened to retire the trophy for the nation’s best offensive line. Michigan won the Joe Moore Award in 2021 and 2022. 

In the end, the Michigan program that perfected modern-day bully ball to win a national championship, had to step aside like a matador avoiding a charging bull(y).  Is Texas back? C’mon now. The ‘Horns have blown past that train station to put-’em-in-the-national-championship game territory. 

“There’s nothing better than going on the road,” Sarkisian said. “That’s the way to try to take over a game. You can start to eliminate a crowd. That fuels what we are doing.” 

Maybe it should have been expected. Texas has the perfect blend of veterans and rising stars. Forty-eight players who made the trip to Alabama last year were on the travel roster to Michigan. Twenty-eight of those who played against the Tide also made it here. Last week against Colorado State, five players scored their first career touchdowns.  

Meanwhile, a reset of some sort was expected at Michigan after the departure of Jim Harbaugh. There was the loss of 13 draft picks and the quirky coach who developed them. The Wolverines continue to break in a new quarterback, Warren, who was a backup when camp started. Certainly few were picking Michigan to win a league they had dominated the last three years. 

There was going to be transition, perhaps a step down, but not this jarring. Not all at once. Now the Wolverines can’t even dominate their own turf. 

All you needed to confirm was watching Texas senior linebacker David Gbenda grabbing a Texas flag from the cheerleaders after the game and “planting” it at midfield.

No one in Maize and Blue stopped him.