Saturday's 31-12 loss to Texas sent Michigan into unfamiliar territory — a spot it wasn't in at all in 2023 and a spot it hasn't been in since October 2021. The Wolverines are now tasked with rebounding after a loss.

Michigan's two most recent losses came at the end of the season, meaning there was no upcoming game to look forward to as it relates to correcting mistakes and putting out a better performance. It's been nearly three calendar years since the Wolverines have had to play the week following a loss.

For most players on the roster, this is a unique situation.

Only two defensive starters (Quinten Johnson and Makari Paige) and four offensive starters (Davis Warren, Donovan Edwards, Dominick Giudice and Giovanni El-Hadi) were on the team the last time Michigan was in the situation it's in now.

Second-year players like Semaj Morgan, Jyaire Hill and Evan Link had never even witnessed a loss in a Michigan uniform.

Johnson, the sixth-year senior, spoke about it after the game.

"I know a lot of guys on the team aren't used to being in this position, but it's adversity," Johnson said. "As a man, it's manhood. How are you going to respond to it? You flush it and keep moving. It's Week 2, and that's the great thing about our schedule and the opportunity that comes ahead, is that it's so early in the schedule that we could fix all the execution problems that we had today — and that's the real reason that we lost was execution — so we got all year to go back and fix that."

"It's obviously not a position we're used to being in, but a lot of people say as a man, you don't know what manhood is until you face adversity, and for a lot of those guys, I faced that adversity before. We've lost before. And we've lost bad before. Just facing that adversity and being able to overcome it improves who you are as a person. So, it's a humbling experience, but at the end of the day, it should drive you to have the next experience be better than this one."

Following the loss, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore noted that rebounding off the loss is "gonna take resolve" and that Michigan has to "do it together."

Of course, Michigan welcomes Arkansas State — hardly a worthy opponent — to Ann Arbor next weekend, but No. 13 Southern California awaits the following week, so Michigan will need to figure out its "resolve" sooner rather than later.

"We don't know the resolve yet, but we're gonna see," Johnson said. "I mean, at the end of the day, we lost. That's what the reality of the situation is. So, we're gonna come back Monday. ... It's how you respond. So, a lot of guys in that locker room are high-end players that got a lot of personality, and they got a lot of eagerness to go out and fix the wrong."

Senior edge rusher Josaiah Stewart — who is much quieter than Johnson — offered his thoughts after his first loss in a Michigan uniform.

"One loss doesn't define us," Stewart said. "In my career [at Coastal Carolina], I've lost at home in big games plenty of times, and you just gotta look forward to that next game, and what can you do to improve on this one?"

---

Discuss this article with our community on our premium message boards

Not a subscriber to Maize & Blue Review? Sign up today to gain access to all the latest Michigan intel M&BR has to offer

Follow our staff on Twitter: @JoshHenschke, @Berry_Seth14, @TrevorMcCue, @DennisFithian, @BrockHeilig, @JimScarcelli, @Jerry_Diorio

Subscribe to our podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Check out Maize & Blue Review's video content on YouTube

Follow Maize & Blue Review on social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram