Signs of the Times: Michigan fans fled the Big House after first-half Texas beatdown

The Michigan faithful could not get out of The Big House any faster. After watching the Wolverines come up dead vs. the Texas Longhorns, many Michigan fans were seen leaving their college football cathedral to either get ready for the Detroit Lions' season opener or really anything else to improve their spirits. These were two of the four teams who made the College Football Playoff last season...

As Texas seems to have built on what worked a year ago, Michigan may need to go back to the drawing board. The defense tried to do its part during the first quarter, but the offense is about as good as what we saw out of Tom Allen's final Indiana Hoosiers team from a year ago. The worst part in all of this is you could see this tire fire from a mile away. Michigan did not do enough to hold serve.

Admittedly, this was a very tough matchup for Michigan anyway. Texas is one of four or five teams I can realistically see winning the College Football Playoff this season. The Longhorns still have to get past the likes of the Georgia Bulldogs and others in SEC play, but they are pretty much a playoff lock, too. As for the Wolverines, I don't know if they can win eight games with how pathetic this offense is.

Rather than watch the Wolverines completely unravel before their eyes, these fans decided to leave.

Michigan is allowed to improve as the season progresses, but this team is a far cry from what it was.

Michigan fans leave the Big House in droves after getting embarrassed

There is taking your ball and going home, and then there is this... Nobody outside of Ann Arbor really thought the Wolverines would have had any shot in this game, but I wasn't ruling out a competitive one either. It needed to be a low-scoring affair, one where Don Martindale's defense kept Quinn Ewers and the Texas offense in check. Instead, he looked like a top-10 pick in next year's NFL Draft.

What I keep going back to is, why is Davis Warren the starting quarterback for the Wolverines? All offseason long, I thought it would be Alex Orji. I had never seen him throw a football until last week vs. Fresno State, and maybe that's why he is still the backup. Still, this is the defending national champions. Why did you not pursue guys in the portal like Dequan Finn or Jordan McCloud at least?

Ultimately, this embarrassing home loss will only add doubt into the minds of the Michigan faithful that Sherrone Moore will be able to keep this thing on the tracks. I wouldn't say that he is going to drive it into the ditch, but he still hasn't gotten the big-time money just yet. Again, what has athletic director Warde Manuel been doing all offseason long? Michigan looked so incredibly unprepared.

I don't think we'll see another mass exodus from The Big House this season, but you never know.