Meet Texas Football: Former Ohio State QB, 1,700-Pound Mascot

ANN ARBOR — The highly anticipated showdown between Michigan and Texas is almost here. Ahead of Saturday’s kickoff, MLive has published player profiles, scouting reports and more.

With that in mind, here’s some information that likely won’t have much impact on what happens on the field at Michigan Stadium (kickoff is 12:10 p.m. ET on FOX), but is still worth mentioning.

Ex-Buckeye takes on Michigan

Texas’ starting quarterback began his college career at Ohio State. Quinn Ewers, a former No. 1 overall recruit, is in his third season as the Longhorns’ starter. He was a second-team All-Big 12 selection last season and is a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy as a senior. He threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns last week.

Ewers was the highest-ranked prospect in the country after graduating from Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School. Originally a member of the class of 2022, he committed to Texas before changing his mind and choosing Ohio State. He was later reclassified to the class of 2021 and joined the Buckeyes that summer. (Ohio State also nabbed prospects who were drafted Nos. 4, 5 and 10 in that class, all of whom are still on the team.) For Ewers, name, image and likeness possibilities played a role in both decisions.

C.J. Stroud was Ohio State’s starting quarterback that season and Ewers appeared in only one game, making two turnovers in a blowout win over Michigan State. Ewers transferred to Texas after the season.

On Saturday, three years after his lone season as a Buckeye, Ewers will face Ohio State’s arch-rival Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Moore connections

There are other similar connections in this matchup. Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford coached Ewers at Ohio State in 2021. Michigan linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary spent three seasons at Texas from 2014-16. Under head coach Charlie Strong, Texas went just 16-21 during that span, finishing below .500 each season.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of two programs that are so rich in tradition,” Jean-Mary said this week. “(This game) means a lot to me because I was there. I still know a lot of people there. I still have a group message with some of the players that I coached at Texas, but I’m not answering them this week.

“I think when you get two iconic programs like this, it’s always going to be special, not just for the fans, but for the coaches as well.”

Although Michigan-Texas is an important game, it was the game for Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore’s two seasons as a player at Oklahoma. Moore was an Oklahoma offensive lineman in 2006 and 2007, going 1-1 against the Longhorns.

On Monday, Moore said he expected to hear from some former teammates leading up to the game. “But that stuff doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s all about us. It’s about the Wolverines this weekend.”

Rose Bowl rematch

What makes this game even more interesting is the fact that Michigan and Texas have only met once before, in an epic Rose Bowl. On January 1, 2005, Texas quarterback Vince Young threw for 180 yards, ran for 192 yards and accounted for all five touchdowns when Texas kicked a field goal with time running out to beat Michigan 38-37.

Texas finished 11-1 and went undefeated the following season, returning to the Rose Bowl for another thrilling victory, this time against USC, to clinch a national championship.

Texas, then a member of the Big 12, is in its first season in the SEC. Saturday’s game is the first in a home-and-away series announced in 2014. Michigan will visit Texas in 2027. In between, the Wolverines’ key nonconference games are against Oklahoma.

No Bevo

Bevo, the 1,700-pound Texas Longhorn with a white and burnt orange coat that matches his school colors, has been a fixture at Texas football home games since 1916. He made a memorable entrance onto the field in last week’s season opener, nearly hitting a handler in the face with the tip of his horn. Those horns, by the way, are about six feet wide.

This is the 15th Bevo (Bevo XV) and he infamously attacked Georgia’s bulldog mascot, Uga, during the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 2018 season, narrowly missing injuring multiple spectators. (College football is wild.)

While Bevo traveled for that game, he doesn’t always do that, and he won’t be at Michigan Stadium on Saturday. If he were, there would be no altercation with Michigan’s mascot, since the school doesn’t have one.