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Best and worst from U-M's Citrus Bowl loss to Texas

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff01/01/26thewolverineon3

By Clayton Sayfie

ORLANDO, Fla. — Michigan Wolverines football lost to Texas, 41-27, in the Citrus Bowl to cap off the 2025 season. Here are the best and worst from the game.

The dagger

Two plays completely swung the game — which was exciting much of the afternoon, one of the best of bowl season — in Texas’ favor in the fourth quarter.

Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood threw an interception, his second of the game, on third-and-8 from his own 38-yard line as the Wolverines were looking to take the lead, down 31-27 at that point.

On the very next play, Texas quarterback Arch Manning kept the ball and dashed 60 yards to pay dirt to give his team a two-score advantage. The 6-foot-4, 219-pound Manning faked a handoff, pulled the ball and ran to his left. Junior safety Brandyn Hillman had a chance to meet him in the hole but overran the play and was too far upfield, and Manning just sliced through the middle of the Wolverines’ defense, untouched, for the score.

The issue for Michigan defense

Manning’s legs were the big problem for Michigan’s defense, with the junior rushing 9 times for a game-high 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In addition to the 60-yarder, Manning got out of a jam with Michigan calling a perfect blitz and freshman defensive back Jordan Young whiffing on a tackle in the backfield on fourth-and-2. Instead of being down short of the line to gain, Manning gained 15 yards and then threw a 30-yard touchdown three plays later.

Manning recorded a modest 6.5 yards per pass attempt — though he did make some impressive throws — and Texas running back Christian Clark was productive with 105 yards and a score on 20 carries, but the biggest threat was Manning’s legs, making Michigan pay on big downs.

Texas’ 235 rushing yards are the most Michigan had given up all season, with the previous high being 224 by USC. The Wolverines hadn’t allowed that many since giving up 263 to Texas Christian in a 51-45 CFP Horned Frogs win Dec. 31, 2022.

‘Handcuffs off’

After attempting only 5 passes in the first half of a 27-9 loss to Ohio State Nov. 29, the last time out for Michigan, the Wolverines called 4 passing plays (1 was a sack) in a row to start the game. How’s that for letting it loose?

The Wolverines were without offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey (left for Missouri) and, more importantly, former head coach Sherrone Moore (fired for having an affair with a staff member) — and interim head coach Biff Poggi told co-offensive coordinator Steve Casula to let it rip.

“This game, we had the handcuffs off,” junior wide receiver Kendrick Bell said.

The Wolverines threw for only 199 yards and 2 touchdowns, but there was a concerted effort to both air it out more and let Underwood run more. The quarterback had 13 rushes (3 of them sacks) for 77 yards and a score. His 5-yard rush in the fourth quarter put Michigan ahead and was one of Underwood’s better moments of the season.

Best catch

Bell hauled in his first career touchdown, an impressive grab along the sideline in the end zone on third down. That gave Michigan’s offense a jolt early on.

Best Wolverines

Michigan sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan forced a fumble on a first-quarter kickoff, recovered by junior defensive back TJ Metcalf, at the Texas 23-yard line, leading to a field goal that gave the Maize and Blue a 6-3 edge.

Those two connected on that play and were Michigan’s best pair of players on the afternoon. The two shared the team lead with 7 tackles, and each broke up a pass.

Metcalf’s pass breakup was in the end zone on a near-catch by Ryan Wingo that looked almost certain it was going to be 6 points. Metcalf didn’t give up on the play, though, and batted it down to save points. Texas fumbled the snap on the next play for a loss of 22 yards, pushing it out of field goal range, and Michigan got away with one.

Sullivan was all over the field defensively and nearly had an interception.

Toughest news

Michigan sophomore running back Jordan Marshall was going to be the key to winning this game, unless the defense put forth a masterful effort, which it did not. The 5-foot-11, 216-pounder could’ve given it a go but decided not to as he struggles to get 100 percent following a shoulder injury toward the end of the regular season.

Instead, Michigan had to rely on Underwood’s arm and legs — and the freshman mistakes that come with that, including 3 interceptions, all in the second half — along with a former walk-on in junior Bryson Kuzdzal. A Grand Rapids, Mich., native, Kuzdzal is a solid player, rushing 20 times for 82 yards, but isn’t the special back that Marshall has become. Plus, the Wolverines had an offensive line down three starters by the end of the first quarter. It was a tall task without an elite talent like Marshall.

A see you later

These days, non-College Football Playoff bowl games are interesting in a lot of ways. They don’t necessarily reflect what kind of team took the field in the previous 12 games or what it will look like the next time they suit up, to begin the following season.

The Wolverines are in about as unique a spot as anybody could be, with a coach fired for an extramarital affair with a subordinate, a new coach in Kyle Whittingham taking over just days before the final game, and players and coaches figuring out future plans on the fly.

One thing’s for sure — this group will never be together again. But nobody knows how much of this group will return, either, and that’s the big question. In postgame availability, players were asked as much about what’s next as they were the game.

That was new!

Michigan’s special teams had some juice, and the biggest difference was new coordinator Kerry Coombs, who took over for the fired J.B. Brown.

Senior kicker Dominic Zvada connected on a 53-yard field goal in the first quarter and also hit from 31 yards out in the second half, though he did miss a 45-yarder as time expired in the first half.

But the real difference was in the return game, with freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh being such a dangerous weapon that Texas was kicking it away from him by the end of the game.

Marsh returned 4 kicks for 143 yards (36-yard average) with a 51-yard long. He brought back 1 punt, too, a 10-yarder. Michigan had much better field position than usual when it could help it, thanks to Marsh, the blocking and a forced fumble by Sullivan that was recovered by Metcalf. Marsh set Michigan up in Texas territory on three possessions in the second half.

Worst plays

Underwood has a lot of promise, and we saw a ton of flashes in this game, but he has to be developed. There’s a long way to go, and a lot riding on how he progresses throughout the offseason. His job is to be a much better quarterback on Sept. 5 — the date of the opener against Western Michigan — than he was tonight.

Underwood was really good in the first half, completing 12 of his 19 passes for 2 touchdowns. On the drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Marsh, he accounted for 66 of the 69 yards, including 53 with his legs.

But his fundamentals got sloppier as the game went on, and 3 second-half interceptions can’t happen in a game, no matter the opponent, when he’s a sophomore. Those were easily the worst plays of the game for the Wolverines.

To be fair, his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach left the program in mid-December, taking the same job at Missouri, so expecting a huge jump from the end of the regular season to the bowl game wasn’t all that realistic.