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The Texas Longhorns again face a blue blood in a premier nonconference matchup in Week 2. This season’s matchup features a road battle against the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan won a national title last season. It did so under the radar despite consistently making close battles seem out of reach.
The Wolverines are comfortable in close matchups. Perhaps the confidence comes from their ability to play suffocating defense just long enough to break an explosive run on offense. Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore discussed how the team gets those explosive runs.
One of Moore’s first stated goals is to get a light box. The Wolverines lose all five offensive lineman but presumably the unit would fare well in run blocking this season.
The first way to make life difficult on the Wolverines is not to give Michigan a light box. Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski might be more likely than usual to add a defender to the box in this game. Whether he does or not could indicate how much his philosophy has evolved since Arkansas gutted Texas in the run game in 2021.
Projected Michigan starting quarterback Alex Orji has not yet earned benefit of the doubt in allocating extra defenders to cover more ground in the secondary. Certainly, one career college passing attempt isn’t going to do that. Kwiatkowski’s ability to take away the run could be the key to stopping the Michigan offense. The question is how the defensive play caller will attempt to do that.
By extension, Kwiatkowski can help the defense make life difficult by taking away throws within 10 yards. Such throws will likely be Michigan’s bread and butter as it tries to get its quarterback in rhythm. Texas doesn’t have to let Orji get in rhythm. It will need to trust its edge rush to get to the quarterback before receivers can get open downfield against tight…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/finding-ways-texas-limit-michigan-194535664.html
Author : Longhorns Wire
Publish date : 2024-05-15 19:45:35
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