Jeff Howe

Thirteen years ago today, David Ash (with a lot of help from Alex Okafor and Marquise Goodwin) led Texas to a comeback win over Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl.

If unleashing Underwood is a part of the game plan, then he's either made a helluva jump in less than a month or Michigan is just winging it and hoping for the best. When I watched him this season, he didn't look ready. That's not a surprise, but he's a long way from being what he can be.

The 2005 Rose Bowl set the tone for the run to the national championship the following season:

One of the greatest football players to ever step on campus at the University of Texas would've celebrated his 43rd birthday on Sunday. Gone way too soon. 🤘

It was 24 years to the date on Sunday that Texas defeated Washington in the Holiday Bowl, 47-43. Major Applewhite brought the Longhorns back from a 19-point deficit in the second half, helping Texas finish Mack Brown's fourth season with an 11-2 record and a No. 5 ranking in the final AP Poll.

He broke his ankle in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks. He ends his second season with the Panthers with 29 catches for 190 yards and a touchdown.

I've watched them a little bit. Solid defensively, hellbent on trying to make the running game work and the passing game went as Underwood did, which is to say that it was wildly inconsistent, at best.

HALFTIME: Texas 70, SE Louisiana 20

I always like hearing what the opponent has to say about Texas. Not a ton of talk on Sunday, but I like knowing what the opposing coaches are willing to divulge publicly.

FWIW, Jordan Marshall, Michigan's leading rusher with 932 yards (6.2 yards per carry and 10 rushing touchdowns), had this to say about Texas on Sunday: "For us, watching film and breaking the game plan down, obviously, they have a lot of guys not playing, but, I mean, it's Texas. They have good players, just like we have good players. Some people aren't playing — it doesn't matter. These are two powerhouse schools. It's going to be a good game on Wednesday and it's just exciting to go against the defense like that, with top players and top guys on their team."

A lot has changed since Texas smacked reigning national champion Michigan, 31-12, on Sept. 7, 2024. The Longhorns’ romp snapped several Wolverine winning streaks, including 23 consecutive wins at the Big House and 28 consecutive regular-season victories. The rosters and coaching staff for both clubs look a lot different ahead of Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl (2 p.m., ABC), the second meeting between No. 13 Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC) and No. 18 Michigan (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten) in 15 months. Still, interim offensive coordinator Steve Casula and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale were in Ann Arbor for the second all-time meeting between the Wolverines and Longhorns. Casula, Michigan’s interim offensive coordinator for last season’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Alabama, said during Sunday’s press conferences at Orlando’s Rosen Plaza Hotel that the Texas defense missing seven starting-caliber players and turning defensive play-calling duties over to Johnny Nansen haven’t changed his view of the Longhorns. Casula cited Nansen’s experience as a defensive coordinator (two seasons at Arizona in 2022 and 2023) and the presence of “a very, very special player” on the edge in second-team All-American Colin Simmons when describing why “ a healthy program, a deep program” like Texas remains a formidable opponent. “Forget who the players were or what the schemes were or anything,” Casula said. “In totality, they were one of the most well-coached teams, in my opinion, that we've encountered in my time here at Michigan. Our expectation would be that we'd encounter the same thing on Wednesday.” Over the last two seasons, only five opponents have had better performances against Martindale’s defense than Steve Sarkisian’s offense, which tallied 389 yards of total offense in the second game of the 2024 season (only three opposing offenses have topped the 5.7 yards per play the Longhorns averaged against the Wolverines in Martindale’s 25 games on the job). Even with the Texas running back room going through a significant transition (Kyle Flood said on Sunday that Christian Clark, Ryan Niblett, James Simon and Michael Terry III could all have roles in Wednesday’s game) and DeAndre Moore Jr. preparing to enter the transfer portal, an offense led by Arch Manning, who completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 1,094 yards and seven touchdowns (two interceptions) while rushing for 112 yards (4.2 yards per attempt) and a touchdown against ranked opponents in the regular season, has Martindale’s attention. “When you had that box of cereal, and you didn't know what the surprise was? It's the same thing going against that offense,” Martindale said. “You're not sure who's going to be there, but they're going to be very talented. It's going to be a great challenge for us.” View full news story