Michigan Wolverines and Oklahoma Sooners Locked in Defensive Battle at Halftime

These are two high level defenses facing off

Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer passes the ball under pressure from Michigan Wolverines defensive line Enow Etta | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Michigan is hosting Oklahoma in a big time matchup with several highly rated recruits in attendance. It was a very defensive minded game early with both teams exchanging punts in the first several possessions of the game. Both teams were also making costly penalties as well, which is becoming a trend for Michigan through two games.

On Michigan's last drive of the 1st quarter, Bryce Underwood finally broke through and opened the scoring with a really nice 38-yard touchdown run. Oklahoma came back and started to march right down the field after that though, but the drive ended with a Michigan fumble recovery by Troy Bowles after Chris Bracy punched it out of Parker Livingstone's hands after a 7-yard completion.

Neither team was exactly lighting it up offensively in this game but Michigan did hold a huge edge in time of possession in the first half, holding onto the football for just shy of 19 minutes compared to Oklahoma's 11. The only other score of the first half was a Michigan field goal just before the 2-minute timeout, so the Wolverines held a 10-0 advantage at the break. Let's dive into some halftime takeaways below.

Michigan's Offense Shows Signs of Life

Bryce Underwood looked much better in the first half of this game than he did last week against Western Michigan, as he completed 7/13 passes for 96 yards, and also carried the ball 6 times for 52 yards and the one long touchdown run. Most importantly he didn't turn the football over, although he did fumble once on a rush attempt.

Michigan's running game outside of Underwood was still not able to really get going against this Oklahoma defense. That will likely have to change in the second half of this game if the Wolverines want to hold on to their one-score lead.

Michigan Defense Shines

Michigan's defense looked every bit the part of an elite unit in this first half. They held Oklahoma to just 115 total yards in the first half, and John Mateer in particular was just 7/16 passing for 52 yards. They were able to put pressure on John Mateer several times in this first half, and the Sooners were struggling to run the football as well.

Michigan's secondary looked highly impressive, often blanketing a good group of Oklahoma wide receivers in man coverage. If Michigan's secondary can keep up the tight coverage and Michigan's defensive line can keep putting pressure on John Mateer, that might be all Michigan needs to hold on and win this game.

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