After finding themselves outside of the College Football Playoffs, the No. 13 Texas Longhorns are set to take on the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines in the Cheeze-It Citrus Bowl.
The Longhorns finished the season 9-3 and had a legitimate argument to make their way into the playoffs, with wins over the Texas A&M Aggies and the Oklahoma Sooners, both of which are hosting first-round games on the strength of their 11-1 and 10-2 records, respectively. However, Texas boasts an extra conference loss to the 4-8 Florida Gators and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.
Now, the teams that played Ohio State to bookend the regular season will square off on New Year’s Eve.
The Wolverines come into the game with a 9-3 (7-2) regular-season record, finishing with a 27-9 loss to their rival, Ohio State. Heading into the rivalry game, the Wolverines rattled off five consecutive wins — a streak that does include a pair of one-score wins over 6-6 Northwestern and 2-10 Purdue.
Michigan is led by dynamic freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who has struggled with turnovers but possesses game-breaking dual-threat ability. The freshman is averaging 212.7 total yards per game on a 6.95 yards per play clip and 14 total touchdowns. The Wolverines lean into the run game heavily to take some of the burden off of the young signal caller, with the pair of Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes combining for nearly 1,800 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns.
The two teams will square off on New Year’s Eve at 2:00 PM CDT.
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