"It's going to be rough for you, Michigan": CFB analyst on upcoming 2024 non-conference game vs Texas in September
The Michigan Wolverines will come into the 2024 season as defending national champions. This was after their undefeated 2023 season in which the Wolverines played fairly lack luster opposition until they met the Ohio State Buckeyes during the final week of the regular season.
However, in 2024, the Wolverines have a non-conference opponent with the ability and talent to defeat them. In week 2, the Michigan Wolverines will face the Texas Longhorns in what will be an early test for both teams.
In the build-up to this highly anticipated clash, College Football analyst RJ Young gave his thoughts on the Wolverines' chances of victory in this game.
"Michigan better defend like Bevo (the mascot for the Texas Longhorns), planted a buckeye tree and a for sale sign in the yard. It's going to be rough for you, Michigan," Young said.
The Texas Longhorns will be a level of opponent that the Wolverines have only faced during the College Football Playoff. They are coming off a triumphant final season in the Big 12, where the Quinn Ewers-led Horns won the conference championship and gained their first-ever spot in the CFP.
Additionally, while they did lose star wide receivers Adornai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy to the NFL draft, the Longhorns have been able to keep much of their squad from last season. For those players who Texas did lose, a nice replacement seemed to be found, like wide receiver Isaiah Bond from Alabama.
The same cannot be said for the Michigan Wolverines. Their 2023 roster was, like the Longhorns', incredibly strong and built around the quarterback and running back pairing of J.J McCarthy and Blake Corum. The pair was able to dominate college football last season.
However, McCarthy and Corum are just two of the 15 Michigan players who will now be in the NFL. From this, the Wolverines have lost a massive part of that championship winning side. Their replacements, while talented, are not as strong and could struggle this season, especially during the earlier games.
All of these factors add up to the fact that the Michigan Wolverines may find their matchup with the Texas Longhorns to be a very tough one to win.
Which other games could the Michigan Wolverines struggle in this season?
The 2024 schedule for the Michigan Wolverines will be one that is very different and features opposition of a higher quality than their 2023 schedule had.
As well as facing the Longhorns, the Wolverines will face Fresno State and Arkansas State as non-conference opponents this year. The Texas game alone makes these three games to open the season much harder than their 2023 games against UNLV, Bowling Green, and East Carolina.
But the Longhorns will only be the first test for the Wolverines and new coach Sherrone Moore. Due to conference realignment, many of the powerhouses of the former PAC-12 conference will be joining the BIG Ten.
The Wolverines will face three of these teams, including the USC Trojans in week 4, and a rematch of the national championship game against the Washington Huskies.
These games will all be before their matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes. In the last few seasons, this game has been the decider for which team will win the BIG Ten (the teams were in the same division, and both were able to easily defeat any team in the other division), and in turn, earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
However, the increased competition in the Big Ten this season, paired with the tough schedule that the Wolverines have may mean that the defense of their national championship may be over before it's even started.
Do you think that the Michigan Wolverines will struggle this season?