What they're saying about Michigan football's Citrus Bowl loss to Texas

The Michigan Wolverines saw their 2025 season come to a close with a 41-27 loss to the Texas Longhorns in the Citrus Bowl, ending the year with a 9-4 record as it transitions into the Kyle Whittingham era.

Here is what some in the media were saying about the Wolverines following the fourth setback of the season.

Ryan Van Bergen, The Wolverine postgame

WATCH: Michigan football falls to Texas, turns page to Kyle Whittingham era

“I had already moved past today in terms of it being a definitive end of the Sherrone Moore, Biff Poggi, Jim Harbaugh tree, if you want to call it that era,” Van Bergen said. “Almost a spring game style of mentality for what we may have coming back for Kyle Whittingham, what do we have in the depth chart currently? What are we working to retain? What are the positions that need attention as a transfer portal closes in on us here?

“So I didn’t have very high expectations for this game. I’d like to see some of the young guys play well. I wanted to see them having fun, playing loose, making some plays, not doing some things that technically are sound. But overall, for me, losing 41-27 in this bowl game with all the extra non-football stuff that this team has had to endure and the media cycle that it has been put through. I. I’ve been to bowl games where I’ve had a more lopsided loss than this, and we were way more dialed than this team probably was.

“I make no excuses. You never want to lose a football game, but there were things that I saw today that I wanted to hang my hat on as positives of, ‘Hey, we have this coming back, we have this opportunity.’ I believe Wittingham is going to have a great handle on things and put us in a great direction and in a great position very quickly. So what are the guys out here today showing? They had some really good moments. What are some positions that stand out as problems or areas for the highest levels of concern? And what do we have to look forward to? Because my book has closed on the 2025 season.”

Chris Balas, The Wolverine

Texas 41, Michigan 27: Notes, quotes, and observations – time to turn the page

And with that 41-27 Michigan loss to Texas in a meaningless bowl game, the Sherrone Moore era has come to a merciful end. 

Give the Wolverines credit for playing hard, but even with Texas’ 9 or so opt-outs (to Michigan’s 3), the Longhorns were too much for a mid-talent U-M team that played in the second half like it had much of the year. There was a plethora of mistakes, including three bad picks from true freshman Bryce Underwood, critical missed tackles at inopportune times, and a makeshift offensive line that struggled with largely backups in the Texas defense. 

If you’re a fan, of course, any time Michigan takes the field, you’d like to see the Wolverines win. At the same time, this one felt like the 2010 Gator Bowl when the outcome might not have been inevitable going in, but regime change was … and you couldn’t wait to get started. Like then, you hoped the seniors and veterans would play well, maybe get one more victory on the resume. 

Most, though, already had plenty of great memories to look back on, including a national title and at least a couple Big Ten championships. We’re only two years removed from the program being the best in the country, and whereas we wondered if we’d ever see it again after years in the wilderness, it happened. 

If we’re being honest, Moore was always a stretch to keep it going, especially when Jim Harbaugh took most of his staff with him. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait as long as we expected to rip off the band-aid, and now it’s up to coach Kyle Whittingham to bring the pride back after it became a laughingstock under Moore. 

Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine

Best and worst from Michigan’s Citrus Bowl loss to Texas

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.

Austin Meek, The Athletic

What did Michigan’s Citrus Bowl loss to Texas say about the future for Kyle Whittingham?

After the month Michigan just had, it would have been hard to blame the Wolverines for not showing up to a four-hour Cheez-It commercial on New Year’s Eve.

Teams have opted out of snack-themed bowl games for lesser reasons than the firing and arrest of the head coach. But Michigan did show up for the Citrus Bowl, if only to try to be the foil for Arch Manning’s 2026 Heisman Trophy launch.

A month that felt like a lifetime for Michigan ended Wednesday with Bryce Underwood throwing passes into the teeth of the Texas defense and the Longhorns running away with a 41-27 win. The Wolverines gave a better effort than anyone had a right to expect, considering all that has transpired since Sherrone Moore’s firing and arrest three weeks ago. They even had a lead in the fourth quarter before the wheels came off. Still, the best part of this season is that it’s now over and the Kyle Whittingham era can begin in earnest.

Michigan’s new coach kept a low profile this week in Orlando. Instead of coaching Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl, he was meeting individually with every player on Michigan’s roster, trying to get to know the personnel and the personalities that make up his new program. He watched the game from a suite inside Camping World Stadium and popped into the ESPN booth in the third quarter.

Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press

Cold finish for Michigan football matched by warm hopes for 2026

Barring a national championship, every end to a Michigan football season is bittersweet, no matter the team.

Sure, a win can blunt the pain of knowing it’s the final gathering of any particular Wolverines squad, especially if it also brings a sense of momentum for the following season. Even a loss can bring that, with enough standout returners.

But for this Michigan team – Team 146 – those don’t quite apply after the Wolverines fell to Texas, 41-27, in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31. U-M gave up 17 unanswered points in the final 6:54 to end 2025 with a thud. Perhaps even more unfortunately, that’s the least of the tumult this group faced in December.

A saga that began Dec. 10 with the firing of head coach Sherrone Moore, featured jail time for Moore and an arraignment watched across the state, and, eventually, the hiring of longtime Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on Dec. 26 leave the Wolverines in a bit of no-man’s land.

U-M players know Whittingham is a no-nonsense coach who builds his teams with DNA similar to that which Michigan has often espoused at its best: physicality, with a ground-and-pound philosophy on offense and a disciplined, aggressive defense.

But they don’t entirely know how the program will get from here to there under Kyle Whittingham.

Trevor Woods, Maize n Brew

4 takeaways from Michigan’s Citrus Bowl loss vs Texas

Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale almost certainly coached his last game at Michigan, and it couldn’t have gone much worse. Michigan had numerous missed tackles, they didn’t generate a sack despite blitzing a lot, they had blown coverages, and they allowed Arch Manning to gash them with his arm and legs. Manning was 21-of-34 for 221 yards with two touchdowns. Manning also embarrassed the Michigan defense as a runner with 155 yards, two touchdowns, including a 60-yard score to put Texas up 38-27. Michigan’s defense was bad against USC, Ohio State, and Texas, and a change in scheme and leadership is desperately needed on that side of the ball.

Max Olson, ESPN.com

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Though the Longhorns didn’t close out their season in the College Football Playoff as they would have liked, Manning and his squad did put together a strong finish that should guarantee a ton of offseason hype around this program yet again entering 2026. Manning threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 155 yards and two more scores, keeping Texas’ offense rolling despite the absence of several top playmakers. He put a one-score game away for good in the fourth quarter by burning Michigan’s defense for a 60-yard touchdown run down the middle. Manning finished his first season as Texas’ QB1 with 3,562 total yards and 37 total touchdowns. Now it’s time to make a run at a national championship in 2026