3 major concerns for Texas vs. Michigan

We're a little under 24 hours away from the kickoff time of the top-10 showdown in Ann Arbor between No. 3 Texas football and the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines on Sep. 7 at the Big House.

Texas football faces tough Week 2 test in its first top-10 road battle in over 15 years vs. Michigan at the Big House

Texas is looking to pass its biggest test of non-conference play this season against a first-year head coach in Sherrone Moore, who will lead the defending National Champions, Michigan, onto the field on Saturday morning.

The Wolverines are riding an insane 23-game winning streak at home at the Big House into this big-time Week 2 matchup against the Longhorns this weekend. But this is a very different Michigan team than we saw take the field that won the National Championship and the Big Ten crown last season.

Michigan not only lost head coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL (he took the LA Chargers head coaching job during the offseason), but they also lost over half of their starters on both sides of the ball this season. Moore lost all five starting offensive linemen, their starting quarterback JJ McCarthy, their top receiver Roman Wilson, and their leading rusher Blake Corum to the NFL last offseason.

And that's just the losses the Wolverines suffered on the offensive side of the ball during the offseason.

That said, this will still be an incredibly difficult matchup for the Longhorns to go on the road and beat a Michigan team in a hostile environment that is coming off a title and boasts one of the nation's top defenses.

Here are three major concerns for the Longhorns in Week 2 on the road vs. Michigan.

Wink Martindale's simulated pressure getting effective blitz pressures on Quinn Ewers

Moore made a smart move during the offseason to replace their departed defensive coordinator Jesse Minter with NFL veteran defensive play-caller Wink Martindale from the Giants and the Ravens. Martindale has a similar background and resume and the defensive terminology is pretty similar to Minter.

Both were defensive coaches on the Ravens' staff in the NFL around the same time in the late 2010s and early 2020s.

What makes Martindale such a unique defensive coordinator and defensive play-caller in college and the NFL is the variety of blitz packages and simulated pressures he brings along the front seven for Michigan's defense this season. Martindale is one of the most creative defensive play callers with his different stunts and blitz pressures he can call with his aggressive looks along the front seven on defense.

Against all the talent and speed Texas brings on the outside and the plethora of weapons and options for quarterback Quinn Ewers to get the ball to on offense, Michigan's defense will need to be at their best this weekend to keep pace.

One way that I'm sure Martindale will attack Texas's offense and Ewers specifically with his defensive game plan is with some early disguised blitzes and heavy pressures from the front seven and mixing in the safeties in the box. There is a lot of movement in Martindale's defensive front, to try and create chaos and cause confusion from the opposing offenses.

Michigan has a ton of athletic and NFL-caliber playmakers up front at defensive line and the linebackers. Martindale will try to scheme up his blitz looks to get at least one free rusher going after Ewers to collapse the pocket and put him under pressure to cause errant throws and sacks.

Texas's offensive line chemistry and communication will be vital to give Ewers time to go through his reads in the hostile road environment in Ann Arbor this weekend. If Jake Majors and the Texas O-Line are able to give Ewers some clean pockets to throw from to set the tone this weekend, it could be a big day for the Texas offense against Michigan's defense.