Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore opened up his depth chart, eraser in hand as the Wolverines prepare to put a blowout loss to Texas in the rearview mirror.
Moore made it clear his message is for the entire locker room and didn’t single out individual players or position groups for the collective failure that resulted in Michigan’s first home loss since November 2021.
“It stings. It should sting,” Moore said of the 31-12 loss. “A lot of guys haven’t lost a game here in our home stadium. Players take it the worst — they are in the game and take it the worst. For us it’s the toll on them, helping them get over it today. We always talk about the 24-hours rule; what we can do to get better today? We’re looking at it as ‘Let’s go 1-0 this week.'”
Moore’s first loss sets up Michigan for a rebound against Arkansas State (2-0). The strengths of the 2024 roster are yet to be defined, but Moore’s defense was expected to be well ahead of the Wolverines’ offense in the early part of the season. Texas scored on four of its first five possessions and Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers never appeared flustered by Michigan’s pressure. The Wolverines’ offense ran one play in the red zone.
“Not taking anything away from them. Turnovers and third-down margin – you take those things and we have a much better chance to be successful. We know what we have to and it was a good lesson for us to learn,” Moore said.
The Wolverines are on alert to fix key areas of weakness with Southern California due in town Sept. 21.
Michigan did not literally erase its depth chart for the Week 3 game back home in Ann Arbor. But Moore emphasized he’s inviting competition everywhere and looking for players to fight for their continued role. He’s looking for “competition every week; the best players will play.”
“We have to be better, fundamentally better,” Moore said. “We have to be better getting off blocks, doing the little things.
“Guys played hard but you have to play with detail when you play a team like (Texas).”
–Field Level Media
