Michigan suffered its first loss in 616 days on Saturday with its 31-12 loss to Texas at home. The 10th-ranked Wolverines looked inferior in just about every way, and it resulted in the program's worst loss since the 34-11 blowout loss to Georgia in the 2021 College Football Playoff semifinal.

Here are three takeaways from the humbling game.

There are plenty of stats to point to that would support the claim that Texas thoroughly dominated Michigan, but doing so one-by-one would take all day. At first, it was on third down. Then, it was on the ground. After that, it was in turnover margin.

Nothing went right for Michigan on Saturday, which was evident when typically sure-handed Colston Loveland fumbled, giving Texas the ball in plus territory.

Things continued to break down in the second half when Michigan suffered a 55-yard play on an end around and proceeded to leave Texas running back Jaydon Blue uncovered out of the backfield for a 7-yard touchdown.

Michigan's star defensive players were silenced on Saturday. NFL prospects Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant were contained for the most part, and Texas' blueprint heading into the contest worked perfectly.

It was evident from the first drive of the game. Texas converted on three 3rd downs, and although it didn't result in points for the Longhorns on that particular drive, there was clearly an early area of concern for the Wolverines. And it was not contained to just the first series.

Texas was 8-10 on 3rd down in the first half (10-16 overall), and it nearly doubled Michigan in time of possession after 30 minutes.

Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense were carving up Michigan's so-called elite defense, to the tune of 24 first-half points.

Meanwhile, Michigan was just 1-5 on 3rd down in the first half (3-12 overall), and the exact opposite was true for the Wolverines. Davis Warren looked subpar at best and struggled to operate the offense.

The offense was known to be a work in progress, but Michigan fans should certainly have long-term concern about Wink Martindale and the defense's performance on Saturday. With USC and Oregon still to come to Ann Arbor, and of course the annual rivalry contest against Ohio State, Michigan will need to figure out its defense sooner rather than later.

Many fans expected Michigan to take a step back in 2024 following the national championship, but it appears the Wolverines will suffer more of a ginormous leap backward. Sure, Texas is the No. 3 team in the country and looked every bit the part of it on Saturday, but Michigan didn't even look competitive.

The loss exposed major issues with the 2024 Wolverines, and expectations for the season need to be lowered greatly.

Michigan's supposed top-notch defense was no where near as dominant as it has been in recent seasons. Perhaps it's a factor of the offense's ineptitude now allowing for the defense to catch its breath, but it's a team sport for a reason.

At this point in time, Michigan can kiss hopes of a fourth straight Big Ten title goodbye, and a fourth consecutive College Football Playoff appearance seems out of reach, too.

Michigan will play enough poor Big Ten teams to secure bowl eligibility, but anything beyond that seems to be a pipe dream for Michigan fans.

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