Big game at the Big House as No. 4 Texas visits No. 10 Michigan for 1st regular-season clash

Updated Sep. 5, 2024 12:01 p.m. ET

Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's Davis Warren may not have the credentials of Texas quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning.

Warren's story, though, is tough to top as he prepares to start against the third-ranked Longhorns on Saturday.

“In a blink of an eye, you’re going through the 6 a.m. workout, where you can’t even lift the warmup weight,” Davis recalled. “And then before you know it, you’re in a hospital and someone tells you that you got cancer.”

He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019, when he attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles. He dropped about 40 pounds and lost his hair, undergoing chemotherapy that left marks on the inside of his left biceps that serve as reminders of his cancer that went into remission. He transferred to Suffield Academy in Connecticut only to have the pandemic wipe out his chance to play and show colleges what he could do.

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh offered Davis a preferred walk-on spot. After backing up J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara for three years, he beat out Alex Orji this summer to start for the first time in five years and threw a touchdown and an interception for the defending national champions in a win over Fresno State.

Davis will make his second career start for the 10th-ranked Wolverines (1-0) against the Longhorns (1-0) at Michigan Stadium in the first regular-season matchup of the storied programs.

“I just count myself super lucky and blessed and and I’d say it just redefined a ton of things for me,” Davis said. “It’s hard to wake up and have a bad day.”

Ewers, meanwhile, is in his third season as the Texas starter. The former five-star recruit skipped his final season of high school in 2021, and enrolled early at Ohio State, where he was on the sideline and deep on the depth chart behind C.J. Stroud. He suited up for the Buckeyes' game at the Big House that year.

“Well, I didn’t play,” Ewers said. "It’s a great atmosphere. They’ve got passionate fans, and it was a cool experience for me to go up there.”

After leading the Longhorns to the Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff last season, Ewers considered turning pro before opting for another season in coach Steve Sarkisian’s explosive, pro-style offense.

Sarkisian believes Ewers could prove to be one of the college football's elite passers this season. He got off to a good start, throwing for 260 yards and three touchdowns, one of them a no-look toss to Matthew Golden, in an easy win over Colorado State.

Backing up Ewers is Arch Manning, the latest Manning family quarterback, who threw his first career touchdown pass last week.

Need for speed

The Longhorns like to talk about how fast they are, on both sides of the ball, and now the SEC team will get to show it on a large stage against a Big Ten power. Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill is a sideline-to-sideline tackler. Sarkisian’s offense thrives on speed in space and a deep rotation at receiver.

“We have two 4x100 (relay) teams in our receiver room,” Texas wideout DeAndre Moore said.

Running back Jaydon Blue has long been considered the fastest Longhorn.

Blue streak

Michigan has won a Big Ten-record 29 consecutive regular-season games, breaking the mark shared by Ohio State teams from 2005-07 and Michigan squads from 1901-03, since a loss at Michigan State on Oct. 30, 2021.

The Wolverines have been the victors in 23 straight home games, dating to a setback against the Buckeyes on Nov. 19, 2019, in their longest run at the Big House in more than a half-century.

Since losing 51-45 to TCU in the 2022 playoff, they have a nation-best, 16-game winning streak.

Turnover trophies

The Longhorns have started a new turnover celebration right out of the pages of King Arthur: Texcaliber. When the Longhorns force a fumble or interception, the ball gets impaled on a metal sword on the sideline.

Michigan hands out Cartier sunglasses, known as Buffs, to players when they force a turnover and the defense poses for a photo on the sideline.

K

icking it

Michigan’s most productive player on offense for much of the opener against Fresno State was kicker Dominic Zvada.

The Arkansas State transfer made three straight field goals, turning a 7-3 score late in the first half into a 16-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. Zvada connected on field goals from 55, 53 and 45 yards in the 30-10 win, earning a share of special teams player of the week honors in the Big Ten.

Hot ticket

The matchup has created a demand that has tickets selling Wednesday for an average of $683, the second-highest price in SeatGeek's 15-year history that trails only last year's game against rival Ohio State.

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Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage

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This story has been updated to correct when Ewers enrolled at Ohio State to 2021.