Texas vs Michigan Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal sitting here Sunday morning one of the more uh fascinating matchups we'll see all of 2024 Texas heading on the road to the big house and I think what makes this game so exciting is one this Texas offense we expect it to be one of the best offenses we see in the country going up against the Michigan defense that although the offense struggled against Fresno State you look at that Michigan defense it's still going to be one of the best defenses that we' seen in the country I think even more fascinating you have Coach Sark running this Texas offense who is for lack of better terms just a wizard at dialing up explosive plays going up against defensive coordinator wink Martell who wants to get extreme aggressive cat and mouse game is g to be very fun as a college football fan to watch want to get into some key matchups some players to watch obviously a prediction as well now before we get into a one many of you guys kind of kind of not the deal these game predictions are the best because we get the hear from you guys in the comment section the comment section for this one it's going to be a war zone and I absolutely love it right whether you agree with the boys whether you disagree with the boys whether you're mixing it up with the opposing fan base that's the best part about doing this so we' love to hear from you guys in the comment section and if y all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys and D without further Ado I think we got to start with this Texas offense going up against this Michigan defense on the road hostile environment what does Texas need to do to have success against this Michigan defense I mean I think it's G be about Texas playing the balanced football you see when they're really humming they're running the ball well they're throwing the ball well and then they're working in some of that misdirection stuff that Sark I think is as good as anyone in terms of when he dials it up when he uses it and then how he schemes it up and gets Guys open because really when Texas is doing that and they're hitting explosive plays they are really really tough to stop and that that can you I think if you're a Michigan fan you can certainly see that being an issue at times because is going to want to come after them and get aggressive and if they get caught out Texas athletes are just too good I mean if you're not in position and you're not ready to make plays on the ball if there's too much space for these Texas white outs and running backs they all can hit you and change games in yeah yeah two things you noted that I totally agree with one you look at this Michigan defense like they want their linebackers and safeties firing downhill what does coach Sark do a really good job of is a lot of eye candy a lot of misdirection these linebackers Michigan I think are some of the best linebackers I would also throw the safeties in some of the best safeties and linebackers that you see in the country What's the best way to attack those kind of players not really physically but get after them with their eyes have them take some false steps get some misdirections going and you said it best you get a guy like Isaiah bond in space with the football in his hands those are kind of plays that can change football games I think one of the keys for Texas here is one and kind of what makes me you all know I'm a Michigan fan we're Michigan Mig fans what makes me kind of nervous about this matchup for Michigan is normally I'm feeling pretty comfortable with Michigan rolling into a game and say we are going to smother teams up front I just there's not a lot of offensive lines across the country that can block up Michigan I do think Texas is one of those offensive lines I think that's going to be one of those battles because you look at Quinn yers he still does struggle when he is under pressure when it's a little bit muddy in the pocket can Michigan do that with their front four is a massive question because I don't know if when Martell is going to be wanting to send a ton of linebacker and safety blitzes cuz you look at the weapons on the outside I don't think you want to probably live too much with all that space getting created for those pass catchers can Michigan win with the front four I think is one of the biggest storylines of this football game here and honestly I think the matchup I'll be looking at is that right tackle spot with an edge group in Michigan that I think is is better than it was last year frankly I think watching Derek Moore and Josiah Stewart from last night he certainly gives you a little more confidence and again Texas is probably the only place you look at where you're like well there might be a matchup to exploit is that right tackles SP Josiah Stewart and Derrik Moore and TJ guy and everyone else that's probably where michigans need to get after it because Mason Graham Kenny Grant like those guys will get what they can get but that's a tough unit inside Texas is really good they're inside guys have played together for I think going on three years a whole or for for a bunch of them so they just don't make a ton of mistakes they don't give you a ton of easy stuff I ain't the only spot Michigan can really maybe pick on Texas let's say is that right tackle spot so if Cam Williams at right tackle plays a really good game I think that puts a lot of pressure on everyone else from Michigan yeah and I look at it and say you look at Derek Moore and Josiah Stewart we said they were good football players all off season what you saw from them last night I think they're like top 100 top 50 NFL draft picks I think they're that good and the match up against Kelvin Banks is going to be one to watch and I I do think drik Moore or Josiah Stewart can maybe have some success but I think you're right like you want to have the most success in this pass rush it's probably attacking cam Williams at that right tackle spot that's probably the matchup that we're looking at the most I think a second key in this matchup here D is Red Zone red zone offense for Texas right you look at Michigan's defense Elite in the Red Zone last year was good in the Red Zone last night against Fresno State you look at Texas from last year they moved the football just about as good as anybody in the country but really struggled to score touchdowns in the Red Zone if if you want to beat a Michigan team especially at home you got to be able to execute in the Red Zone they did that against Colorado State now can you do it on the road in the big house against one of if not the best defenses in the country that's probably what you're looking for in this football game here in that where gets interesting for Texas having CJ backer go down who was that kind of power Red Zone short yardage back that they had I wonder how they're going to kind of Shuffle the deck a little bit because I think you need a really good running back like like we kind of said that defense offensive line it's good on good it's not I don't see Texas bullying Michigan I don't necessarily see Michigan bullying Texas so that does create some areas where your running back just needs to run top and when he has one-on ones with a linebacker in the hole you got to be able to fall forward you gotta be able to get those short yardage that'll be an interesting kind of part of this game assuming Texas or Michigan can kind of keep the lid on this Texas offense and prevent them from really just getting into a track meet and running up and down the field which I certainly expect Michigan to do I think the secondary is very good I think those short yardage plays some of those areas where you would really want a guy like CJ baxer who is a bit more of a hammer I'm kind of gonna be watching those because Jaden blue is good at what Texas mostly wants him to do in terms of his ability to play in space I'm not trying to take anything away from him but you do lose some of that physicality that you have with CJ baxer where you are maybe a third and two or something on the three yard line you kind of probably want a guy like CJ Baer run that I agree I I love I thought Jaden blue looked great I know the Texas fans love Jaden I think he's a great running back but I do agree that especially when you get into some of those short areas like third and shorts or Red Zone situations you you probably do miss a guy like CJ Baxter we'll kind of see how that plays out one of thing to note for Texas they're not like super big in the wide receiver room either like you look at Adan I Mitchell last year he was kind of one of those Red Zone guys that when those throwing Windows got compressed you could kind of go at him now I I really do like the wide receivers right Isaiah Bond looks awesome I think that battery between him and Quinn yers is going to be very good all season can you take away a guy like Isaiah Bond who they do a really good job moving all over the football field and I don't think I also think when you think Red Zone I think there is that like misnomer that you need to be big I think like when you see Isaiah Bond run routes and how good he is running in condensed areas I mean that route he put on that Colorado State guy in the red zone was nasty even through the face mask so again Isaiah Bond certainly a guy who I I think in Michigan's cor is a little bit longer a little bit taller and they're smooth guys they can move really well but can they keep up with that jittery quickness that Isaiah Bond keeps kind of puts on them I think that'll be kind of an interesting one especially when you're talking about what like what is Tex's answer for those short yardage positions and and that stuff in the rest yeah I think if you're missing you got to put hands on them like you look at Amir hall or jier Hill or will Johnson they're all 61 62 like they're big physical long wide receivers that want to play a little press they want to put hands on wide receivers can Isaiah Bond deal with that physicality that's probably another matchup you're looking at and I think kind of the the wrapup point on that matchup is can Michigan Michigan and Texas right can they kind of walk that line specifically Michigan right you want to be aggressive you want to send pressure these defensive backs are also aggressive too you saw Will Johnson kind of get beat on a Sluggo last night because he's trying to take away the football which later in the game he obviously takes one back for six can you balance that without giving up the explosive play because you said it best if this does turn into an explosive to play Fest the track me from what we saw with that Michigan offense as a Michigan fan I'm not very confident uh picking Michigan and ATT track me kind of game now flipping sides here to this Michigan offense I I think the biggest key here is can Michigan play the game on their terms I think one of the more frustrating aspects for a lot of Michigan fans last night was the Run game was not as consistent as we'd like right you go back to 2023 with a guy like Blake Corman a veteran offensive line it was you know second and five and then it was third and one and then moving the chains staying on schedule being very efficient in the Run game the efficiency wasn't great until that fourth quarter one of the biggest storylines here is I think Texas is going to load the Box because Michigan did not show you anything that makes you fear them pushing the ball vertically down the field can one can the Texas defensive backs kind of hold up on Islands because I do expect Texas to walk their safeties into the box closer to the line of scrimmage and then more importantly does Michigan have that ability to punish Texas when they do deci had to load the football load the box is is probably one of the question marks you're looking at here I mean I think obviously to me the first thing I'm going to be looking at is can this run game be established in the way that frankly you saw it start to get established for Michigan down the stretch and I thought the offens line started dialed in but also when they bring in kle mullings to kind of be the primary Bellow that's a different style of game I think that's kind of the game Michigan fundamentally needs especially with the Texas defensive line in the interior that I still think you have your questions about their depths and they're they showed like they're really athletic group they can make some plays I thought Boton played incredible for them which was huge for Texas but that's still a unit I'm looking like do they have the the depth in in the size and the ability to go up if Michigan's really just gonna commit to pounding on him and kle mullings is gonna run really hard and be able to get behind his pads and chew yards up I think Michigan needs to have that in their game and that's going to be what the interesting thing is because I frankly don't know that we know what Michigan offense is going to look like tomorrow or coming this week because I think there's going to be some changes I I would I would expect that with the offense that we saw against Fresno State last night is probably not going to be the same offense we see week two against Texas and it can't be because if it is the same Michigan I don't see how they really have much yeah no I'm there's two things that come to play one can Michigan just run the football on a loaded box wh which would probably mean you're playing Alex orgy a decent amount and then number two and I think this is probably the most important question is it can you punish Texas down the field where you look at Michigan's offense last night it was very relling on Coulson lovelin kind of those short intermediate route trees over the middle of the field over half of Davis Warren's completions went to Coulson Loveland so can one Texas take away Coulson Leland's massive story line and then number two when you have matchups with guys like Fred Moore or Tyler mois can they win vertically down the field what made Michigan's offense so good last year yes they could run the football when they wanted to but when you did want to put seven eight guys in The Tackle Box you JJ McCarthy Roman Wilson Cornelius Johnson could make you pay down the field we didn't see if Michigan can do that week one against Fresno State they're going to need to do it against Texas week two and if they don't I'm I'm kind of with you it's hard to see Michigan winning this football game uh and one other note I would make is I I do think Texas's secondary significantly better I mean that was that's a Colorado State offense that last year threw for over 3500 yards you have a legitimate NFL wide receiver in Tory Horton they threw the ball for 79 total yards last year last yesterday afternoon I should say against Colorado state that was a really good performance by Texas defensive back still let's get into the pick here the lines moved a little bit and I kind of agree with the line movement right Michigan in the offseason was sitting around two and a half Point favorites for Texas it's back up to six points now I'll give you the floor first you're going to take some heat in the comments section and who you got here I really struggle to take Michigan in hurts me to do it because obviously a Michigan guy but I just that offense and if that's what they think is the best version of that offense and the best quarterback they can put out there in in in the best they can do I I mean Texas is too complete I don't like I get I think Michigan's gonna be able to not control the game on defense I don't think they're GNA go up and down on Michigan by any stretch of imagination but playing the way they played last night their inability to do almost anything in the past game that really threatened you aside from getting the ball to close in love Lin I think he a very concerning kind of development for the Michigan Wolverines playing these really complete teams like yeah and and you I think you probably said it best where it's like this Texas team's too complete to kind of have that kind of offense I think there are nine games on this Michigan schedule that Michigan wins with that performance last night Texas is not one of those games I look at Texas and say if you give Texas enough time on the offensive side of the football it it's going to be hard to to not let them put up some points like they got a a Firepower they're going to find some explosive plays at some point if we can't stay on the field on offense now the caveat is if Michigan's offense like if they can change some things if they can find something with Alex orgy in terms of being a bit more maybe they just go to something like a bit of an option Style game or some sort of Run game that is a little bit unique I almost that gives Michigan frankly a better shop than what they had last night I would say you're going to see a lot more of Alex orgy week to I I would think Michigan probably just didn't want to kind of show all their cards in terms of how you want to use Alex or I do think you're going to see more Alex or week too but at as we sit right now and this is not a game that I'm like rushing to bet because this is Michigan getting six point it's also like a very classic like overreact to week one kind of thing 100% I think I'm doing that too I think a lot of Michigan fans quite frankly are doing it but I I my like the football fan brain in me I look at these two teams specifically Michigan's offense and say it's really hard to see Michigan playing the way they did on Saturday night beating this Texas team that has all that Firepower so I'll I'll take Texas and the six points but I don't feel good about it and this is going to be a really good game when you have the defense Michigan has like you're especially at home like you're not going to be out of these football games but I think a lot of Michigan fans would probably agree what we saw Saturday night is not giving us a ton of confidence going into week two D we'll close it out there gonna be a really fun game we're going to talk about this game from a ton of different angles over the next couple of days appreciate you guys rocking with the boys let it fly in the comment section if yall do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel appreciate you guys we'll talk to you'all later peace