On Sept. 7, only two weeks into the 2024 football season, the Longhorns will be traveling deep into enemy territory to take on their most difficult out-of-conference opponent this season: the Michigan Wolverines, the defending national champions.
Texas is coming off its best seasonal performance in the CFP era, finding themselves only one win away from a national championship appearance.
Though this win did not come due to a variety of factors, one of which being Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.’s uncanny ability to not miss a throw that night and a couple of self-inflicted wounds by the Longhorns, it was a demonstration of Texas’ potential for the upcoming football season.
After their 2023 campaign, Texas lost some of the team’s most impactful players to the NFL draft.
Amongst these impact players were defensive juggernauts, defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy.
The Longhorns also lost critical playmakers on the offensive side of the ball in wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, Jordan Whittington, tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and running back Jonathan Brooks.
Michigan is also suffering from losses.
Having had the most players drafted into the NFL this past year, the Wolverines have a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball.
Michigan not only faces player changes on the field but also on the sideline.
Perhaps the biggest loss for Michigan this offseason was head coach Jim Harbaugh, who left after his first national championship victory.
After Harbaugh moved on from Michigan to join the LA Chargers, so did most of the coaching staff, leaving newly appointed head coach Sherrone Moore to pick up the pieces and reassemble a stellar sideline.
