Week 1 of the college football season was filled with excitement, statement wins, and several puzzling performances.
As the focus shifts to Week 2, fans are in for a real treat, as the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines welcome Quinn Ewers and the No. 3-ranked Texas Longhorns to Ann Arbor for a massive non-conference showdown (12 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports App).
The two iconic programs have only met once before – a memorable 38-37 victory by the Longhorns in the 2005 Rose Bowl. The stakes are different this time, as both programs enter the 2024 season with national title aspirations. The Longhorns currently hold the third-best odds to win the national title, listed at +750, while the Wolverines are currently listed at +3500.
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In other Week 2 action, Shedeur Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes travel to Lincoln to battle freshman phenom Dylan Raiola and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, while Dillon Gabriel and the Oregon Ducks look to get back on track following a puzzling 24-14 win over FCS Idaho.
FOX Sports college football writers Laken Litman, Michael Cohen and RJ Young are here to preview the biggest storylines heading into Week 2.
No. 3 Texas travels to Ann Arbor to take on No. 10 Michigan on Saturday in one of the most anticipated non-conference games of the season. What must the defending national champions do in this matchup to defeat the Longhorns and begin the 2024 campaign 2-0?
[Related: RJ Young’s 2024 college football rankings]
Laken Litman: Michigan had the No. 1 defense in the country last year when it won the College Football Playoff National Championship. Even though the Wolverines lost a chunk of talent on both sides of the ball to the NFL — plus its head coach and defensive coordinator — the unit is still considered to be elite under new coordinator Wink Martindale. He’s going to need to use his creativity to fluster veteran Texas QB Quinn Ewers and his army of playmakers, though he has playmakers of his own. All-American cornerback Will Johnson, defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, and edge rusher Josaiah Stewart (2.0 sacks in Week 1) will have to carry the load as Michigan’s offense finds its rhythm.
Michael Cohen: The Wolverines must do a better job avoiding negative and minimal-gain rushing plays to sustain drives, control the clock and keep Texas’ high-powered offense on the sideline for as long as possible. Michigan ran the ball 34 times for a respectable 148 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and zero touchdowns in a 30-10 win over Fresno State last weekend. But more than 38% of those carries gained 3 yards or fewer as an offensive line featuring five new starters left plenty of room for improvement in Week 2 and beyond. Tailback Kalel Mullings shouldered much of the workload with 15 carries for 92 yards (6.1 yards per carry), but his backfield partner, Donovan Edwards, struggled mightily when trying to run between the tackles. Edwards, whom many assumed would ascend to the top of the running back depth chart following the departure of Blake Corum, averaged just 2.5 yards per carry on 11 attempts with a long gain of 7 yards. That kind of inefficiency won’t cut it against a Texas defense that only allowed two carries longer than 10 yards in a dominant 52-0 win over Colorado State to begin the season.
RJ Young: Get Donovan Edwards going. Edwards only topped the 100-yard rushing mark once last season, which came in the Wolverines’ win over Washington in the national championship game. In a backfield with a brand-new starter at QB and without a proven and productive wide receiver, it’s past time for Edwards to assert himself as the offensive engine that makes the Michigan machine go.
Conversely, what is the key for Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns to leave Ann Arbor with a victory??
RJ: Be Texas. Run your shifts, your motions and trust your talent to reach its potential. Texas has a talent advantage at QB and wideout. It has a defense that can stop the run and a secondary that measures up to Michigan’s receivers. If Texas can run the ball effectively against Martindale’s front, the Longhorns should notch their first top-25 win this season.
Michael: Test Michigan’s unproven secondary. Aside from Johnson, who earned All-America honors last season, and safety Makari Paige, a returning starter from the national championship squad, the Wolverines’ defensive backs are either inexperienced, new to the program or both. The unquestioned strength of Michigan’s defense is an ultra-talented front seven led by an elite quartet in the trenches: Derrick Moore (three tackles vs. Fresno State) and Stewart (three tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks) on the edges, with Graham (four tackles) and Kenneth Grant (one pass breakup), who form arguably the best defensive tackle pairing in the country, along the interior. The linebacking corps features two future pros in former Nebraska transfer Ernest Hausmann and Maryland transfer Jaishawn Barham.
But the strength of Texas’ offense is the depth of talent at wide receiver, tight end and running back — three position groups that seem to house one elite recruit or transfer after another. Six different players caught multiple passes in the blowout win over Colorado State as Ewers and Arch Manning combined to throw for 355 yards and four touchdowns. By increasing the number of skill players on the field, which might mean using four- and five-receiver sets, the Longhorns have the potential to dictate Michigan’s personnel defensively, forcing their first-year coordinator to swap some of his bigger bodies for less-experienced defensive backs. And that might create some favorable matchups for Ewers and Co. to exploit.
Laken: This is a perfect early challenge for Ewers and Co. After piling up 52 points in a shutout win over Colorado State a week ago, the Longhorns face a stalwart defense loaded with future NFL talent. Texas can make a statement if it can run the ball effectively and if Ewers can connect with his band of receivers. After losing its top five receivers to the NFL, Texas reloaded in the transfer portal and landed Matthew Golden, Isaiah Bond, Silas Bolden and tight end Amari Niblack. Ewers has been working on building chemistry with them since the spring, and we’ll see how well they matchup vs. Michigan’s secondary. Texas likely won’t need to score 52 points to beat Michigan given its offense features so many new faces, including five first-time starters on the offensive line.
Dylan Raiola looked impressive in Nebraska’s Week 1 win over UTEP. Now, Raiola and the Cornhuskers host Shedeur Sanders and Colorado at Memorial Stadium. What would a win do for Raiola’s confidence and the Nebraska program?
Michael: At this point, there’s little doubting Raiola’s confidence after he handled the scrutiny of such a high-profile recruitment — a process in which he changed high schools multiple times and was committed to both Ohio State and Georgia before signing with Nebraska — and then won the starting job as a true freshman. He was a five-star prospect on the recruiting trail and seems to be a five-star prospect in college, too, especially after such an impressive debut in Nebraska’s 40-7 win over UTEP last week. Raiola completed 19 of 27 passes (70.4%) for 238 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while looking largely unflappable in the pocket. So, while it’s unlikely the result of Saturday’s showdown with the Buffaloes will influence Raiola’s confidence after he’s proven to have that trait in spades, there’s something to be said for acquitting himself well when juxtaposed with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, a likely first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanders is one of the unquestioned faces of college football, and arguably the best QB in the country, which will give the scouts and NFL personnel in attendance quite a measuring stick against which to compare the youthful Raiola.
As for the Nebraska program, well, a win over Colorado will send a desperately devoted fan base into delirium given the ease of the Cornhuskers’ schedule in the coming weeks: vs. Northern Iowa, vs. Illinois, at Purdue, vs. Rutgers, at Indiana. There’s a legitimate chance that head coach Matt Rhule and his team could be 7-0 heading into their game against Ohio State on Oct. 26.
Laken: For a freshman starting QB, any win is massive. And to potentially go 2-0 with that second victory coming against Coach Prime, Sanders and Travis Hunter would give Raiola a major confidence boost as Nebraska begins its season. Plus, he’s already on track after his performance in Week 1 – Raiola went 19 of 27 for 238 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 40-7 win over UTEP. The Cornhuskers have a pretty favorable schedule, with its toughest matchups against Ohio State and USC not coming until later on in the season. As many W’s as Nebraska can stack before then will be crucial.
Keyshawn on Coach Prime: ‘I got Colorado winning the Big 12’
RJ: A win for Raiola doesn’t do much for him. Colorado isn’t a ranked opponent. It isn’t a conference opponent. It isn’t CFP contender. It’s a team we care to watch because its coach is one of the great marketers the sport has ever seen on top of having a pedigree as a winner at Jackson State. But at Colorado? It’s the same Colorado we’ve seen for nearly a decade. A win for Raiola will be as important as the win against UTEP and get him closer to his goal of playing in the CFP in front of a TV audience who will know who he is by the end of the night, if they don’t already.
Oregon was a popular CFP pick heading into this season, but the Ducks looked far from dominant in a 24-14 win over Idaho in Week 1. What’s the level of concern with Dan Lanning’s team, and what do you want to see in Week 2 that will make you feel everything is OK in Eugene?
Laken: It’s easy to overreact considering Idaho, an FCS team, was able to get pressure on QB Dillon Gabriel and sack him three times. Oregon also has a grueling schedule coming up — the Ducks face Ohio State on Oct. 12. Does Lanning have some things to fix before then? Yes. But does he still have the pieces to rebound and continue building toward a playoff berth and a national championship? Yes again. It’s only Week 1, after all.
RJ: Iowa is a better offensive team than Oregon! They said step aside or there will be violence, so I said: Iowa ranks 50th in the country in scoring offense. Oregon ranks 91st. I choose violence. When Iowa drops 40 on an FCS opponent in the season-opener and Oregon struggles to score 24 in a nail-biting win, I ain’t the only one who should be choosing violence.
Michael: A shoddy performance from Oregon’s offensive line was legitimately concerning given that the Ducks were facing an FCS opponent. The departures of second-team All-Pac-12 right guard Steven Jones and first-team All-American center Jackson Powers-Johnson were always going to be challenging shoes to fill, but the collection of returning players and incoming Indiana transfer Matthew Bedford still combined for 144 career starts — which should have been more than enough experience to handle Idaho. Instead, Oregon’s starting offensive linemen were charged with allowing nine quarterback pressures, including at least one apiece for all five starters, according to Pro Football Focus. Three of those starters — right tackle Ajani Cornelius (2.0 sacks allowed) and guards Iapani Laloulu and Marcus Harper II surrendered at least two pressures each. Those aren’t the kind of numbers Lanning and offensive coordinator Will Stein want to see, especially considering Gabriel only held the ball for an average of 2.16 seconds per throw, the fifth-shortest time in the country among players with at least 50 dropbacks this season.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him at @RJ_Young.
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13.
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