Texas Ready for ‘Fist Fight’ vs. Michigan: ‘It Starts Now!’

AUSTIN — The No. 4 Texas Longhorns started off the 2024 season with a bang Saturday, shutting down the Colorado State Rams in a 52-0 blowout win at home.

The attention now turns to Week 2’s matchup with the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor, but the Longhorns aren’t waiting until the weekend is over to begin their prep before heading north.

Texas coach Steve Sarksiain and multiple players were asked about the looming meeting with the defending national champions following Saturday’s win. Here’s what they had to say:

Steve Sarkisian on Michigan’s talent

“Going to Michigan is a heck of a challenge,” he said. “I know everyone’s going to point out that they lost 13 draft picks. Well, we lost 11 too, right? And so, but everyone’s saying we’re a pretty good team. And so I think good programs reload. They’ve got they’ve got players. They know how to develop their players. They’ve been to the College Football Playoff three years in a row. And then they finally won it last year. So they’ve got a heck of a team, a heck of a roster.”

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron on Michigan prep

“It starts now, it doesn’t start on Monday,” Barron said postgame on the Longhorn Radio Network. “And what you do right now in today’s preparation, just taking care of your body and things like that to get ready for Monday.”

Texas QB Quinn Ewers on opportunity to face the defending champs

“We’re all excited to get up there and to be able to play against the defending national champions,” Ewers said. “We’re excited for the opportunity that we’re granted, and fired up to see how we handle this week.”

Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. on “fist fight” that lies ahead

“I feel like we did a great job, but it could always be better,” Hill Jr. said. “Of course, we know where we’re going into next week. We know we gotta be more physical. We know what type of battle we getting into. … A fist fight.”

Steve Sarkisian on players already prepping for Michigan

“They were telling me in the locker room the preparation starts now, they were doing a team recovery. Cold tub, icing, they didn’t want anybody just walking out of that locker room,” Sarkisian said. “They wanna get themselves ready to go.”

Texas LB David Gbenda on being “juiced up” for the game

“Michigan is a great outfit with a lot of tradition, and they’re returning a lot of talent,” Gbenda said. “It’s gonna be a great game, and I know that they’re going to be just as juiced up as we are. So going to that environment and just getting ready to face the level of competition is going to be amazing. It’s going to be fun. But also the level of preparation, of course, is going to have to get more detailed than that, but Coach Sark and the coaches are going to get us ready for that.”