Michigan Football Grades from 17-10 Win Over the Oklahoma Sooners

The theme of the week is what a difference a week can make. Last week, Michigan’s report card was as ugly as it could be. That’s what happens when a team plays well below its standard.

This week, they’re not going to have straight A’s across the board, but the performance against Oklahoma was much better than that of Western Michigan. The Wolverines did just enough on offense while making some big plays on defense to swing the tide in their favor.

More on that, along with the rest of the team in our weekly report card.

Pass Offense: C-Plus

Was the stat line gaudy? No. Was Bryce Underwood throwing the ball all over the field in a way that would remind Michigan fans of Chad Henne releasing bombs to Mario Manningham? Also no.

Was it exactly what he was asked to do in order to win the game? Yes.

The goal for this game appeared to be simple. Michigan was trying to take care of the ball, avoid negative plays, and make a few plays when they needed to.

Underwood’s final line of the day was a modest 9-17 for 111 yards. He was officially sacked twice.

Again, it’s not a stat line that’s going to win him the Heisman trophy, but it was going to win the game Saturday afternoon.

There is little doubt Michigan needs to figure some things out in its passing game. Tight ends are an absolute non threat and non factor when they’re on the field in the passing game.

A receiver who is not JJ Buchanan or Andrew Marsh has yet to catch a pass this season for the Wolverines.

Buchanan was the team’s leading receiver with 48 yards on just two catches. Andrew Marsh had three catches for 13 yards, and really has yet to find his footing this season.

Michigan needs to figure out who they want on the field when they’re throwing the ball, and put their receivers in better positions to make plays. The suggestion here would be to attack the middle of the field more often.

For now, however, they were good enough, and specifically the quarterback was better this week than last. That’s a stepping stone, if nothing else.

Rush Offense: C-Minus

The most disappointing part of Michigan’s team through two games is its ground game.

Their leading rusher through two weeks is Bryce Underwood. That’s not a slight to Underwood, who clearly is a gifted runner. It’s more so that the backfield was supposed to be the strength of the offense. Through two weeks, it’s been anything but.

Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter had as many carries combined as Underwood had against Oklahoma. Marshall had 32 yards on 11 carries. Hiter added six yards on eight carries.

The saving grace for the ground game was Underwood having 87 yards on 18 carries, including an explosive 38-yard burst for the game’s first touchdown.

TOUCHDOWN WOLVERINES 〽️

QB Bryce Underwood takes it himself 38 yards to the HOUSE!@Wendys pic.twitter.com/jaBOk89PdZ
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 12, 2026

The offensive line needs to play better. Evan Link appeared to be benched in favor of Nate Efobi, but he had his struggles as well.

It’s not hard to wonder if Michigan’s best five on the offensive line includes Andrew Babalola at left tackle with Blake Frazier kicking inside to one of the guard spots. That’s a topic for another day, however, as Babalola still has yet to prove he can stay healthy.

It’s not quite time to sound the alarms yet that Michigan’s run game is a complete failure, but it’s a mess right now.

Pass Defense: A

The star of the game was Michigan’s pass defense. Whether it was the pass rush making live hell for John Mateer, or sticky coverage giving him limited throwing lanes in the rare event that he did have time to throw.

John Henry Daley, Nate Marshall, and Dom Nichols all had at least half a sack. Jyaire Hill made the biggest play of the game with an interception on a third-and-9 in the fourth quarter to put Michigan in position to score the game-winning touchdown.

WALK-OFF SACK 😤

Nate Marshall brings down John Mateer to seal @UMichFootball's victory over No. 11 Oklahoma. pic.twitter.com/0Qik4LbQkv
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 12, 2026

Mateer came into the season as a potential Heisman candidate, but those hopes certainly took a hit on Saturday. Mateer finished 17-33, 189 yards, one touchdown pass and one interception. He was officially sacked three times, but under duress throughout the game.

Michigan’s secondary is staking a claim to be one of the best in the country, specifically the cornerback tandem of Hill and Smith Snowden.

Take a bow, Jay Hill.

Rush Defense: A

Much like Michigan, Oklahoma’s leading rusher was their quarterback. John Mateer had 45 yards on 13 carries, but a large chunk of those yards came on one scramble where Mateer found an escape lane and ran for 22 yards.

Overall, no Sooner ball carrier averaged more than 3.9 yards-per-carry.

For the game they averaged 3.44 yards-per-carry with 100 yards rushing on 29 carries. That’s about as stingy as a team can get against a high-powered offense like the Sooners.

Again, take a bow, Jay Hill.

Special Teams: B-Plus

What a find Cam Brown has been as a punter. Through two weeks, there’s an argument to be made that Brown has been one of Michigan’s best players. Usually, that’s not a good thing because it means he’s on the field more than the offense would like, but it’s true.

Brown was excellent on Saturday, pinning Oklahoma deep throughout the game, including two punts down inside the 10. Kick coverage was excellent, highlighted by the stellar play of Zeke Berry.

Trey Butkowski made his debut on a 40-yard-field goal to give Michigan a 10-0 lead in the first half.

One thing to pick at in this case is Michigan’s return game. Andrew Marsh has left a little to be desired as to decision making for fielding punts. Bryson Kuzdal has not had a lot of room to roam in the kick return game either.

Coaching: A

This grade has just as much to do with the lead up to the game as it does the game itself. Michigan could have easily felt sorry for themselves and been buried by all the noise surrounding the program after Week 1.

Instead, Kyle Whittingham, Jay Hill, and the rest of the coaching staff went to work to prepare them for a marquee matchup against a marquee opponent.

They were certainly aided by the crowd, which was rocking from start to finish, but the team was clearly ready to play when they stepped onto the field. The offense was focused, the defense was fired up. Special teams was mostly excellent.

There were some moments of conservative play calling. Usually, we would lean toward wanting to dictate things to the opponent, but the path to victory in this game was clearly by playing defense and field position while trying to find a few explosive plays on offense.

If there is one qualm, it is the predictability with some of their run concepts, especially late in the game. Michigan is spending too much time running side-to-side as opposed to getting downhill.

Those are things that Michigan can work on during the week, but the preparation this week was nearly flawless. Bravo to the coaching staff, specifically Kyle Whittingham and Jay Hill.

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