When a sports columnist—I fancy myself a sports columnist—doesn’t have much to write, there’s always the “10 Things I’ve Noticed, “10 Quick Thoughts,” or “The Top 10 Pick a Category” to lean into.

With apologies to Kirk Bohls, here’s my 10 11, and a prediction.

1. I was pleasantly surprised that the Longhorn Defense shut down Colorado St.’s passing game. I didn’t think CSU would seriously challenge Texas. Still, I thought they’d throw it around the yard to the tune of about 275 yards, exposing Pete Kwiatkowski and his staff’s continuing inability to defend a competent passing attack. According to Ian Boyd on the “Inside Texas” blog site, Texas’ success against the CSU passing attack was due to Texas playing a variation of the old “Tampa Two” pass coverage scheme. “Tampa Two” was popularized in the early 2000s by Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Texas has two new assistant coaches who have experience with the Tampa Two. A detailed explanation of Tampa Two is too arcane to go into here, so I’ll summarize it. Eventually, pass defenders must cover receivers, not just swaths of grass.

2. I don’t know if Tampa Two would be effective against Michigan’s offense, which is more about running than passing. When they do pass, their most dangerous target is tight end Colston Loveland. He’s listed at 6’5” and 245 pounds and is described as a matchup nightmare. He caught eight passes for 87 yards last week against Fresno State. In 2023, he had 45 receptions for 649 yards and four touchdowns. Will he be a nightmare for Texas?  Well, my brother David has said for the last 40 years or so, “Nobody covers the tight end.”

3. Fox Sports lead college football analyst—Joel Klatt– said this week on Colin Cowherd’s show that Texas’ offensive line is the best in the country and that Quin Ewers may be the best quarterback in the country. Paraphrasing, Mr. Klatt said Michigan is in trouble this week facing Texas’ speed and that offensive line. I have followed Mr. Klatt for several years. I like him, and he’s almost always right about college football.  I’m glad he likes Texas this week, but it gives me vicarious performance anxiety.

4. Colin Cowherd hinted that he had put big money on Texas this week. Assuming he placed a bet on Texas, I wonder if he bet soon enough to get the Horns at -4. The last I checked, the line had gone to -7. Is Michigan a good bet at +7?

5. Reviewing one of my columns from last year, I found this interesting factoid: Steve Sarkisian is 16-28 versus the top 25 teams and 2-9 versus the top five.

6. Is Michigan a must-win for Texas? Well, it’s not a conference game, and regarding qualifying for the playoffs, the conventional wisdom is that if you lose a game, it’s best to lose early in the season.

7. I think it is a must-win for two reasons. 1. You’re favored to win, and 2. With Georgia, nemesis Oklahoma on the schedule, and dangerous road games versus the Aggies and Arkansas, if Texas loses to Michigan, their margin for error over the rest of the season is significantly reduced.

8. Michigan was unimpressive last week in beating Fresno St. The final score, 30-10, is deceiving. Fresno St. was driving late before Michigan got an 86-yard pick-six to turn what might have been a 23-17 game late in the fourth quarter into what looks like a comfortable win.

9. Many observers have speculated that Michigan played a vanilla game schematically against Fresno St., keeping under wraps what they might reveal against Texas.

10. How long will it take for the Longhorns to get comfortable playing in Ann Arbor in front of 107,000 mostly Michigan fans? No time at all?  A quarter? A half?  They never get comfortable?

11. Arch Manning has perfect teeth. They’re perfectly straight, as white as I’ve ever seen, and not too big or too small. Perfect.

Prediction

It takes Texas about a quarter to get comfortable in “The Big House.” Colston Loveland catches 11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Texas struggles in the red zone. Despite all that, Texas wins a nailbiter 23-20.

Hook “Em,

W.E.

Movie Clip of the week

Song of the Week

My father told me this happened to him after a winter break when he was at Duke.