ANN ARBOR >> The Wolverines, the defending national champions, said they were looking forward to the matchup against third-ranked Texas, a national semifinalist last year. They said this would be a statement game and prove the doubters wrong.

Well, it was a statement game — for Texas.

The Longhorns, a touchdown-favorite entering the game against No. 10 Michigan, overwhelmed the Wolverines, 31-12, on Saturday in a much-ballyhooed matchup at Michigan Stadium with all of the major college football television shows in town.

Texas and its high-potent offense dismantled and wore down Michigan’s strength, its defense, while the Wolverines’ offense looked anemic most of the game and undermined by three turnovers.

Until the final two minutes kicker Dominic Zvada was the lone highlight for the Wolverines after contributing two field goals from 37 and 52 yards. With the game out of reach, Michigan drove 78 yards on eight plays and culminated with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Davis Warren to Semaj Morgan. The two-point conversion failed.

“For us, it’s a loss. You haven’t had one of these in a long time, so you definitely feel it,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “The kids feel it. They feel it more than anybody. Definitely feel bad for them. We know all three phases we’ve got a lot to work on. We’ve got to get better at the fine details. Can’t have penalties and turnovers. Those are things we’ve got to work on.”

The Wolverines, underdogs at home for the first time since facing Ohio State in 2021, saw their 23-game home winning streak stopped. They had won 29-straight regular-season games entering this meeting.

Offensive and defensive players repeatedly said in the postgame news conference that the bottom line for the loss was poor execution across the board.

“I didn’t do enough. I shot us in the foot too many times,” Warren said. “We didn’t do enough offensively. It was on us. They’re a good football team, they played well today, but we shot ourselves in the foot and let them win that football game. We do some things differently, I do some things differently, that’s a closer game in the fourth quarter and then it’s whoever makes the most plays in the fourth quarter.

“Those are the types of games we want to be in. We knew it was going to be a tight game, and we let them off too easy. It’s a really crappy feeling because I know this room, this offense, this team has what it takes to win that football game, and we didn’t do it.”

Warren, in his second collegiate start for Michigan, was 22-of-33 for 204 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, one which was tipped by receiver Tyler Morris and the other on a miscommunication with tight end Colston Loveland, who didn’t turn for the ball. Texas scored a field goal and touchdown, respectively, off those turnovers.

Loveland, targeted 11 times, finished with eight catches for 70 yards and had a fumble. Michigan had 80 rushing yards on 23 carries. Donovan Edwards led the team with eight carries for 41 yards. The Wolverines finished with 284 yards, including 132 in the fourth quarter, and were 3-of-12 on third down.U-M