Sherrone Moore Says Preparation for Texas is 'Not Any Different'

While Moore may not change his approach toward taking on Texas, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said the opposite about how his team is preparing for the game.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore looks up during the first half against Fresno State at Michigan Stadium at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. / Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA TODAY NETWORK

With a little under a week before Texas enters the biggest stadium in the nation to take on No. 10 Michigan, immense preparation has gone underway for both opponents, as told by both Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian and Wolverines head coach Sherrone Moore.

Texas enters the matchup at No. 3 in the AP Polls and is the projected favorite to win despite being the villain in "The Big House" on Saturday. However, this does not undermine the fact that Michigan is a well established program and looks to continue the flow of momentum from last year's national championship win. Although the Wolverines lost 13 picks and their former head coach to the NFL, Moore has remained confident in his team's ability to get the job done at home.

During Moore's press conference on Monday, he was asked how it feels to be going up against such a challenging opponent so early in the season, especially with some adjustments still to be made with such a fresh squad.

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore watches a play during the first half of the spring game at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 20, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

"I think it's exciting for our players, for the program, for the fans, everything," Moore said. "You want these types of games, you want these atmospheres, you want these building blocks to help you mold your team and really get where you need to be."

Both Moore and Sarkisian have discussed how each of their programs has been handling the anticipation of the game by taking the time to perfect their skills, but the two had quite the opposite takes on how much work is being put into their preparation.

"For us, it's just about the preparation this week. You know, we start today, and we get the players in today. It's about doing what we can to go win every day. The preparation's not any different," Moore said. "You're going to be a different team week two than you are week three, you're going to be a different team week one than you are week two, so for us, it's just about our mindset of it's another big game and it's a big game because we're in it."

On the other hand, Sarkisian revealed during his media availability on Monday that the plays he's been drawing up have actually been in the works since the offseason.

"Our players didn't know it probably until today, but we were practicing a lot of these plays for this game in training camp," Sarkisian said. "So they didn't know it as much, but now they know it, that we've started the preparation for it today. So I don't necessarily want to say it's been in place for months, but we had a pretty good idea of the style in which we wanted to play this game. We've practiced a lot of these plays in training camp, and now we kind of get to dust them off this week and use them in the ballgame."

Saturday will ultimately reveal who put in more work and dedication to preparing for this game, no matter what approach each coach has taken, and will solidify an impressive win for either program.