Oklahoma HC Brent Venables Excited to Play Michigan Team With ‘Storied History’

After battling FCS foe Illinois State in Week 1, Oklahoma will play host to a fellow blue-blood program: Michigan.

The Sooners and Wolverines will battle on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The matchup is years in the making, as OU and Michigan have played just once — in 1976 — in the storied programs’ histories.

“That game is coming quickly,” OU coach Brent Venables said at Thursday’s OU Football Coaches Luncheon. “Michigan has a long history and storied tradition, very much like Oklahoma.”

The 2025 game will be the teams’ first regular-season meeting. OU beat Michigan 14-6 in the 1976 Orange Bowl, as the Sooners finished that season 10-1 and won the national championship for the 1975 season.

OU and Michigan have both seen great success since then.

The Sooners have won two national titles since then, most recently in 2000. The Wolverines have also won two titles since that game, most recently taking home the 2023 crown in the final four-team College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma and Michigan are both coming off seasons of regression.

The Sooners followed up a 10-3 campaign in 2023 with a 6-7 overall record in their first season in the SEC. OU’s lone conference wins came against Auburn and Alabama, and the Sooners lost 21-20 to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl to clinch OU’s second losing season in three years under Brent Venables.

READ MORE OKLAHOMA SOONERS

Michigan, in its first season under coach Sherrone Moore, went 8-5 in 2024. The Wolverines, though, improved significantly toward the back half of the season, beating Ohio State — the eventual national champion — and Alabama (ReliaQuest Bowl) in their final two games.

“They might have been one of the hottest teams in college football the last four games of the season,” Venables said. “Great challenge to be on the biggest stage that weekend in college football, and our guys have been talking about the season and what's in front of us, the work that it requires.”

That game precedes all of the Sooners’ eight SEC games.

It will be the first major game for new quarterback John Mateer and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, both of whom came to OU from Washington State after the 2024 season.

“John was sitting in my office and he said, 'This is why you come play at Oklahoma. You're on the biggest stage. You want to play (against) the best,'” Arbuckle said. “And that's how I see it. Just what an opportunity. You come here for those opportunities, and our guys have been locked in all summer with it.”

Major non-conference games are nothing new for the Sooners.

In the last decade, Oklahoma has played home-and-home series against Ohio State, Nebraska and UCLA. The Sooners have series with Clemson, SMU and Nebraska — as well as the Michigan return trip in 2026 — on their future schedules.

Even with one game before and 10 games after the Michigan showdown, the home matchup against the Wolverines is one that Venables expects to feel like a bowl game.

“It's going to be a great litmus test for us, too, getting us ready for the SEC,” Venables said. “Great challenge to be on the biggest stage that weekend in college football, and our guys have been talking about the season and what's in front of us, the work that it requires. Certainly, that game is grabbing our attention, the excitement for our guys, they're really looking forward to that.”