Michigan and Oklahoma have been on the biggest stages of college football regularly.
The programs are among the top five in winning percentage in the sport’s history and have churned out All-Americans and championships.
Saturday, the two college football bluebloods meet for just the second time in their history and the first time on either school’s campus when the No. 15 Wolverines take on the 18th-ranked Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma.
“It’s gonna be a really cool matchup — two incredible programs that represent all the excellence in college football for a long, long time,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said. “Gonna be really exciting from an environment standpoint.”
Both teams are coming off season-opening wins.
Michigan beat New Mexico 34-17 in a game where running back Justice Haynes ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns, while the Sooners knocked off Illinois State 35-3 behind quarterback John Mateer’s 393-yard, three-touchdown performance.
While Mateer has plenty of experience, having started at Washington State last season before coming to Norman along with offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, Saturday will be a new experience for Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood.
Underwood, a freshman, will be making his first road start.
“We can’t worry about it, we’re going to create noise,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “We’ve got ways to create loud noises for our players that make it hard for them to communicate that they’ve got to speak really loud, and they’ve got to do things to make sure the communicate to each other. So, we’ll handle that piece. But within the moment is not to get caught up in all the extra stuff. So just execute and do your job.”
The Wolverines will be without linebacker Jaishawn Barham for the first half after he was ejected for targeting in the second half of the win over New Mexico.
Michigan appealed the penalty, but it was ultimately upheld.
Oklahoma hopes to have several pieces back on the offensive line after five-star freshman Michael Fasusi and Western Carolina transfer Derek Simmons missed the opener.
Both are listed as co-starters on the depth chart.
The Sooners also need more from Cal transfer running back Jaydn Ott, who is expected to see an expanded role after recording just one carry in the opener. Ott missed much of preseason camp due to injury.
“When he’s at his best, we’ve all seen — people that know his journey — what he’s capable of,” Venables said. “So he’s a real weapon, and I think he’ll play a real factor in our season moving forward. So I’m excited about that, to have another weapon like that on our offense, and we’re going to need him.”
It’ll also be a return for Moore.
The Wolverines coach, who was an offensive lineman at Oklahoma in 2006-07, downplayed his Sooners connection.
“It’s about my players,” Moore said. “So there’s no, like, emotional attachment to it. But I’m emotionally attached to the players that are at Michigan. They’re my kids. … It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere, don’t get me wrong. It’s a great town, and obviously I got my degree from there, and there’s a love there, but like, these kids are what’s special to me. So that’s all I’m worried about.”
Venables was the Sooners’ defensive coordinator when Moore was playing.
“He was a guy that loved to compete, super physical,” Venables said of remembering Moore as a player. “One of the lineman that just, man, he did the methodical very, very well. … Guys gravitated to his leadership style.”
–Field Level Media
