My goodness.

A beatdown. A drubbing. A statement.

Call it whatever you want. Texas went into Ann Arbor and took Michigan’s soul. Texas cruised to a 31-12 win, which marked Michigan’s first home loss in front of fans (excluding 2020) since Nov. 2019.

Here were 3 takeaways from Texas’ win at Michigan:

1. Quinn Ewers is that dude

Was there any doubt about that? There shouldn’t have been. Ewers entered the season as one of the Heisman Trophy favorites, and with good reason after leading the Longhorns to their best season in 14 years.

Just as he did last year in Week 2 with a brilliant showing at Alabama, the third-year starting quarterback delivered clutch throw after clutch show on the road en route to another win against a top-10 team. Ewers made off-platform throws with ease and paced a Texas offense that dealt with a first-half injury to starting running back Jaydon Blue, who later returned to action and hauled in a receiving touchdown.

Still, Texas didn’t need to have a dominant showing from its backfield because Ewers was in control in the first half. He helped Texas convert 8-of-10 third-down conversions in the first half. Ewers finished the day with 246 passing yards for 3 TDs and 0 turnovers.

He earned the right to stay — and possibly lead — the Heisman conversation.

2. Texas showed Michigan that a 2-QB system might as well be a no-QB system

Last week, Michigan’s offense struggled to move the football against Fresno State. Needless to say, that wasn’t the best sign ahead of facing an experienced defense like Texas. Neither Davis Warren nor Alex Orji could do anything.

Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski had an answer for everything that Sherrone Moore’s Michigan offense did on Saturday. The Wolverines only mustered 88 first-half yards and it converted just 1 third down in the first half. Derek Williams Jr. and Andrew Makuba both had interceptions (1 on Warren and 1 on Orji) for a Texas defense that didn’t allow Michigan to reach the end zone until the final 2 minutes … when it was 31-6.

Do the Wolverines have a quarterback problem? Sure.

But is Texas’ defense a problem even after losing Byron Murphy and T’Vondre Sweat? Absolutely.

3. Remember the significance of that road win for Texas

What do I mean by that? Well, Texas’ only SEC road game until mid-November is Oct. 26 at Vanderbilt. While nobody should be doubting the Diego Pavia-led Dores, yeah, that’s telling. The Longhorns’ Year 1 SEC draw is extremely favorable.

That’s not to say that there aren’t challenging games on the schedule (vs. Oklahoma and home against Georgia). But the way the schedule sets up with a convincing Michigan win in the rearview mirror, it’s safe to say there was an obvious takeaway from Saturday.

Texas is in the driver’s seat to return to the Playoff.