The new Texas wide receiver room was one of the biggest talks of the offseason. With the departures of Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell, there was a big question mark on what Steve Sarkisian would do to maintain the high level the previous receivers provided, but the transfer portal signings shut down the doubters.

In the opening game against Colorado State, three newcomers scored their first touchdowns for the Longhorns, and one of them is a familiar face for the Wolverines.

Junior transfer Isaiah Bond was part of the Alabama team that took Michigan to overtime in the College Football Playoffs semifinals. Bond led the Crimson Tide in receiving yards with 47 and four receptions.

“They’re all fast. They’re all playmakers,” Moore said. “Bond, we played last year. He’s a great playmaker so our guys are familiar with him obviously in a different scheme doing different things. He’s a really good playmaker.”

Moore served as Michigan’s acting head coach for four games during the team’s national championship-winning season before succeeding Jim Harbaugh in the position in 2024.

Moore has yet to face names like Matthew Golden and Silas Bolden. Still, he acknowledged both players’ impact coming into Saturday’s matchup.

“The big thing that stands out is their speed, their ability to separate,” Moore said. “I think Sark’s done a really good job just putting them in a position to showcase their talent. For us, it’s going to be doing everything we can to contain those guys.”

Ranked No. 10 in the newly released AP Top 25 Poll, Michigan will be Texas’ hardest opponent until No. 15 Oklahoma on Oct. 12, with No. 1 Georgia visiting Austin the Saturday after.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Longhorn football team has a lot of momentum heading into Saturday’s top ten showdown with Michigan!

Texas and Michigan, two of college football’s winningest all-time programs, will meet for just the second time ever. Head coach Steve Sarkisian cannot wait.

“To think like, these two iconic programs with those iconic uniforms and those iconic helmets, meeting for the first time in the big house! Man, that’s awesome! I mean, I’m getting goosebumps right now,” Sark said.

The Horns roll into Ann Arbor fresh off the program’s first season-opening shutout in 20 years, while the Wolverines surprisingly struggled a bit with Fresno State, before winning by 20. 

Ewers throws 3 TD passes to help No. 4 Texas roll over Colorado State 52-0 in opener

The Horns are now a touchdown road favorite, but the burnt orange overconfidence won’t be a problem.

“Three straight College Football Playoffs, national champs, 41-3 in their last 44 games, they’ve won 16 games in a row, 23 straight at home, so we’re gonna be in for a dogfight,” said Sark.

Of course, playing in front of 100,000+ screaming Michigan fans at the big house will be a little different from this past Saturday at DKR. That said, roughly half this group passed a similar test this time last season in Alabama.

“It definitely helped us understand we can go into big places and play good teams and come out on top,” said Kelvin Banks, junior o-line man.

“We’re definitely gonna learn a lot about ourselves, and this whole team in general going into this game. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful for the opportunity
that we get for these two storied programs to meet head-to-head,” said Quinn Ewers, junior quarterback.

The Longhorns take on Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Sept. 7, at 11 a.m.