College Football Powerhouse Opens as a Touchdown Favorite Against Slumping Contender

The Texas Longhorns and Michigan Wolverines are set to play in Week 2. Each team's Week 1 performance contributed to a lopsided betting line for the matchup.

FanDuel Sportsbook has set the betting line in favor of Texas (-6.5) on the road. The line might have as much to do with Michigan's struggles against Fresno State as Texas' 52-0 win over Colorado State.

The Wolverines underwhelmed in a 30-10 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs . Albeit, the relatively close margin of victory doesn't tell the whole story.

The Wolverines amassed just 269 total yards of offense against their Group of Five opponent in the close contest. The Bulldogs by comparison had 244 total yards. A pick six by Wolverines star cornerback Will Johnson sealed the game in the Michigan's favor.

Running an offense doesn't get any easier for the Wolverines against Texas.

The Longhorns held Colorado State Rams starting quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi to 59 passing yards on 18 attempts. Fowler-Nicolosi averaged 288.3 yards per contest for the Rams last season.

Michigan quarterback Davis Warren didn't fare much better than Colorado State's starter in his first game. Warren had just 118 passing yards on 25 passing attempts against the Bulldogs.

Whether or not Warren starts the Texas game will be worth monitoring after the Wolverines were unable to generate explosion on offense. The instability around Warren, with 10 new offensive starters in 2024, could be another cause for early-season struggles.

Michigan will likely need a strong defensive performance to hang with the Longhorns in the Week 2 clash. Texas put up 545 total yards and 355 passing yards against Colorado State in Week 1. It held the Rams to 192 total yards.

Texas and Michigan are set to play on Sept. 7 at 12 p.m. ET on Fox.

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