Big game at the Big House as No. 4 Texas visits No. 10 Michigan in the first regular-season clash

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s Davis Warren may not be eligible to play quarterback at Texas Quinn Ewers AND Manning’s Arc.

But Warren’s track record is hard to top, especially as he prepares for Saturday’s game against the third-place Longhorns.

“In the blink of an eye, you’re going through a 6 a.m. workout where you can’t even lift a warm-up weight,” Davis recalls. “And then, before you know it, you’re in the hospital and someone’s telling you you have cancer.”

He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2019 while attending Loyola High School in Los Angeles. He lost about 40 pounds and hair while undergoing chemotherapy, which left marks on the inside of his left bicep that serve as a reminder of his cancer, which has gone into remission. He transferred to Suffield Academy in Connecticut, but the pandemic ruined his chance to play and show colleges what he could do.

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh offered Davis the preferred spot without the roster. After three years of backing up J.J. McCarthy and Cade McNamara, he beat out Alex Orji this summer to start a game for the first time in five years and threw a touchdown and an interception for the defending national champions in a victory over Fresno State.

Davis will be in the starting lineup for the second time in his career 10th place Wolverines (1-0) vs. Long horns (1-0) at Michigan Stadium in first match of the regular season from feature programmes.

“I just consider myself super lucky and blessed, and I would say it just defined a lot of things for me,” Davis said. “It’s tough to wake up and have a bad day.”

Ewers, meanwhile, is in his third season as Texas’ starter. The former five-star recruit sat out his senior season of high school during the pandemic and enrolled early at Ohio State, where he’s been on the sideline and deep on the depth chart behind C.J. Stroud.

“Well, I didn’t play,” Ewers said. “It’s a great atmosphere. They have a passionate fan base, and it was a cool experience for me to go there.”

After leading the Longhorns to a Big 12 championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff, Ewers considered turning pro but opted for another season in coach Steve Sarkisian’s pro-style offense.

Sarkisian believes Ewers could emerge as one of the best quarterbacks in college football this season. He started off well, throwing to 260 yards and three touchdownsincluding a no-look throw to Matthew Golden in an easy win over Colorado State.

Replacing Ewers is Arch Manning, the newest quarterback in the Manning family, who threw his first touchdown pass last week.

The need for speed

The Longhorns like to talk about how fast they are on both ends of the field, and now the SEC team will get to show it on the big stage against a Big Ten powerhouse. Longhorns linebacker Anthony Hill is a side-to-side-line player. Sarkisian’s offense thrives on speed in space and deep rotation in receiver.

“We have two 4×100 relay teams in our receivers room,” Texas forward DeAndre Moore said.

Longhorn running back Jaydon Blue has long been considered the team’s fastest player.

Blue streak

Michigan has won 29 consecutive regular-season games in Big Ten history, breaking the record set by Ohio State in 2005-07 and Michigan in 1901-03, since losing to Michigan State on Oct. 30, 2021.

The Wolverines have won 23 consecutive home games dating back to a loss to the Buckeyes on Nov. 19, 2019. It was their longest winning streak in the Big House in more than a half-century.

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

Trophies for turnover

The Longhorns have launched a new possession celebration straight out of King Arthur: Texcaliber. When the Longhorns force a fumble or interception, the ball is impaled on a metal sword on the sideline.

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

K

licking it

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

The Arkansas State commit scored three straight times to turn a 7-3 deficit late in the first half into a 16-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. Zvada scored from 55, 53 and 45 yards in the 30-10 win, earning a share of Big Ten special teams player of the week honors.

Hot ticket

The game has generated so much interest that tickets were selling for an average of $683 on Wednesday, the second-highest price in SeatGeek’s 15-year history, behind only last year’s game against rival Ohio State.

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

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