The Michigan Wolverines take on the Texas Longhorns in the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Even, Wednesday, Dec. 31 (3 p.m., ABC). Before the powerhouse programs square off for just the third time ever, let’s
take a look back at how the two previous matchups played out.
2005 Rose Bowl
The first ever meeting between Michigan and Texas took place in 2005 at college football’s most iconic venue — the Rose Bowl. Michigan held a 31-21 lead entering the fourth quarter before Vince Young led a last-minute comeback, culminating in a game-winning field goal from Dusty Mangum as time expired, 38-37.
Young recorded five touchdowns and 372 yards, helping the Longhorns overcome a historic performance from Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards (10 catches, 109 yards, three touchdowns). To this day, it still stands as one of the most memorable Rose Bowl matchups this century.
2024 regular season
The most recent meeting between the Wolverines and Longhorns occurred just last season, as the reigning national champs hosted Texas in Week 2 on Sept. 7, 2024. Both programs were coming off appearances in the final four-team format of the College Football Playoff and it was one of the most-hyped non-conference matchups of the season.
Unfortunately, the game didn’t exactly live up to the hype as Texas completely dominated from start to finish. The Longhorns jumped out to a 24-3 halftime lead and never looked back. Quarterback Quinn Ewers accounted for 246 passing yards and three touchdowns to beat the Wolverines, 31-12, at the Big House.
2025 Citrus Bowl
Michigan and Texas entered the 2025 campaign with aspirations of competing for a national championship, but neither played to their full potential as both teams finished with a 9-3 record. With that said, the Citrus Bowl will be an opportunity to reach the 10-win plateau and head into next season with momentum, so I expect both teams to play with a lot of energy and intensity.
The matchup will also pit two of the nation’s most highly-touted quarterbacks against each other, as Michigan’s Bryce Underwood and Texas’ Arch Manning try to finish the season with a memorable win in the third all-time meeting between the schools.
