Oklahoma-Michigan: LIVE In-Game Observations

John Hoover and Ryan Chapman offer their real-time observations from the Sooners’ massive Week 2 battle with Michigan.

Oklahoma defensive back Robert Spears-Jennings brings down Michigan running back Jordan Marshall | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — Sooners on SI offers real-time observations from Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as the No. 18-ranked Sooners take on the No. 15-ranked Michigan Wolverines. 

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10:12 p.m.

OU beats Michigan 24-13.

Final stats:

10:03 p.m.

That's probably gonna do it. Tate Sandell's 21-yard field goal puts the Sooners up 24-13 with 1:44 to play. Tory Blaylock nearly scooted to the end zone with that third-down pass from Mateer, but OU has to (almost) finish it with a field goal. It was a 16-play, 78-yard drive that ate off 8 minutes, 27 seconds. Really patient stuff there from Mateer and Ben Arbuckle.

— JH 

9:47 p.m.

Brent Venables’ defense comes up with another stop. 

Courtland Guillory showed off his physicality with a pass breakup on second down, and then Owen Hienecke followed that up with a tipped pass on third down. 

Sategna wisely calls for a fair catch on the punt, and Mateer and the offense will set up on their own 19. 

— RC 

9:34 p.m.

Tate Sandell’s first field goal attempt at Oklahoma is a miss from 42 yards. He pushed it to the left.

Michigan takes over down by eight on its own 24 with 12:32 left. 

— RC 

9:30 p.m.

Another great call by Arbuckle. 

The Sooners get Barnes for an easy pitch-and-catch into the teeth of a Michigan blitz on third down. 

The Sooners are 7-of-12 on third down tonight. 

— RC 

9:28 p.m.

Keep it simple, stupid. KISS Method saw Arbuckle run Mateer full speed ahead on third-and-3 to start the fourth. And it was the perfect call. 

Sooners move the chains to start a massive 15 minutes of football in Norman. 

— RC 

9:25 p.m.

Third-quarter stats:

9:21 p.m.

A 35-yard field goal pulls the Wolverines that much closer. 

Oklahoma holds a 21-13 lead, but the Sooners lost the most recent exchange of special teams mistakes. 

Ben Arbuckle needs to dial up a nice drive here to settle things back in for OU.

— RC 

9:10 p.m.

With 6:33 to go in the third quarter, OU leads Michigan 21-10 after Dominic Zvada’s 42-yard field goal.

That’s three free points after the Sooners had stopped the Wolverines on third down and forced a punt, but Isaiah Satenga fumbled Hudson Hollenbek’s 55-yard punt, giving the Wolverines the ball at the 31. OU’s defense turns back UM again, but this time resulting in three points.

— JH

9:05 p.m.

Oklahoma bails out Michigan. 

After getting a stop deep in Wolverine territory, Isaiah Sategna muffs a punt. 

Questionable decision to even try and field that ball, and the Wolverines take over at Oklahoma’s 31-yard line. 

Even a field goal for OU’s offense would have put Michigan in the danger zone after that defensive stop. Now the visitors have a chance to cut this back to a one-possession game. Rough. 

— RC 

9:00 p.m.

There’s a big-time response from the Sooners. 

John Mateer finished off a five-play, 51-yard drive with a touchdown run from the 10.

It’s his second touchdown run of the night, and he’s also added a pass to Burks. 

If the Sooners are real this year, that throw to Sategna on third-and-8 will be played plenty as a part of a Heisman Trophy campaign by the OU media team. 

Oklahoma up 21-7 with 10:05 left in the third quarter. 

— RC 

8:59 p.m.

John Mateer does it again, this time with a 10-yard touchdown run behind a devastating pull block from left guard Heath Ozaeta.

It’s 21-7, and the OU hype crew has dusted off House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”

Been waiting for this.

— JH

8:56 p.m.

John Mateer may not love the constant Baker Mayfield comparisons. Understandably, he wants to write his own story. 

But if he’s gonna spin out of a sack and find Sategna downfield like that, the comparisons will come. 

Think he’ll have to be okay with that. Very Mayfield-coded. 

— RC 

8:52 p.m.

We got a review: they’re looking to see if Isaiah Sategna ever stepped out of bounds, or if he didn’t before making a catch — and if he didn’t, where he ultimately did step out.

Either way, Sategna has saved this drive on back-to-back plays, first by breaking up a sure interception by Jyaire Hill on a throw to Keontez Lewis, and then on that bailout of Mateer after Mateer was nearly sacked. Mateer escaped a blitz in the backfield, then found Sategna with a brilliant throw down the right sideline for a gain of 36 yards.

— JH

8:45 p.m.

David Stone and Peyton Bowen were on hand to make that last third down tackle. 

If that sounds familiar, it’s because Bowen leads the team with five tackles, and Stone is tied with Kip Lewis and Kendal Daniels with four tackles. 

Stone’s been right in the mix on some of the biggest snaps for the OU defense tonight. 

— RC 

8:39 p.m.

Well, this game certainly has taken on a different tone in the last four snaps.

Justice Haynes takes the first snap of the second half 75 yards for a touchdown, and then OU goes a very quiet three-and-out, with Mateer’s third down throw being batted in the air at the line of scrimmage.

It’s 14-7 and now the Wolverines have all the momentum.

— JH

8:36 p.m.

Game on in Norman.

The Wolverines get a 75-yard sprint from Justice Haynes on the first play of the second half to cut the deficit to 14-7. That quickly sucked some energy out of OU’s crowd. 

— RC 

8:35 p.m.

After Mateer outplays Underwood and OU’s defense outplays the Wolverines, the No. 18-ranked Sooners start the third quarter up 14-0.

— JH

8:15 p.m.

Halftime stats:

8:09 p.m.
After Michigan missed a chip-shot field goal, here are few highlights from that masterful OU drive to end the half:
* OU converted a third down on two defensive penalties.
* Mateer’s next third-down conversion was a tight throw over the middle to Keontez Lewis for 11 yards.
* On the next play, senior Jovantae Barnes might have had the best run of his career, busting through three Michigan defenders to pick up 10 yards.
* Burks turned Mateer’s short throw into a 22-yard gain to the red zone.
* Mateer scored easily on a 2-yard keeper on second-and-goal, giving the Sooners a 14-0 lead and all the momentum for the second half.
— JH

7:59 p.m.

Michigan’s best drive of the night somehow comes up in no points. 

The Wolverines’ excellent kicker, Dominic Zvada, shanks a 32-yard chip shot. 

Mateer and the offense take over at the 20. 

Also, a fun little tidbit. 

While the officials were debating whether there was a pass interference on the third down before the kick, Venables was lobbying for the flag. 

Once the call was made, Venables directed his attention back to special teams and seemingly handed the official off to analyst Kevin Wilson to continue making the point abotu the flag. A pretty good sideline system if you ask me. 

— RC 

7:51 p.m.

OU fans showering the officials with “Ref you suck!” chants while the game is stopped for an injury to Michigan’s left guard. 

The Sooners have been flagged twice on this drive, including on the punt, and the Wolverines were given that first down right before the injury timeout. 

Michigan will be set up with first-and-10 at the OU 47 when the game returns. 

The Sooners have been stout defensively so far, but if Michigan can cash this in for points, there will be pressure on Oklahoma to go score before halftime since the visitors will get the kickoff in the second half. 

— RC 

7:47 p.m.

Well that’s a smack in the face. After a 3-and-out defensive stop, Sammy Omosigho gets flagged for roughing the punter. Mistakes like will kill any team.

And that penalty is followed up by a defensive holding on a run up the middle. Questionable, to say the least.

— JH

7:46 p.m.

Wow, Sammy Omosigho is hit with a personal foul for roughing the kicker. 

OU was close to knocking Michigan’s punter down earlier, but this one was definitely a flag. Could have probably been running into the kicker, but either way, the Wolverines have new life at their own 30.

— RC 

7:44 p.m.

Oklahoma’s drive stalls out at midfield. 

Miller’s punt does the job, however. Michigan will take over at its own 14-yard line. 

The Sooners still ran four and a half minutes off the clock to help the defense out despite being unable to score on that last drive. 

— RC 

7:39 p.m.

Michigan may be down two starting safeties now. Rod Moore did not suit up, and now Brandyn Hillman left the game after tackling Blaylock.

— JH

7:38 p.m.

It seems Ben Arbuckle is trying to get the running game going this drive, and the Michigan defense is accommodating him by not overloading the box. But it’s two really good runs by freshman Tory Blaylock (especially the second one, when he broke two tackles on third down to get the first down on an option-pitchout from Mateer) and a really nifty run by Mateer on which he juked a defender while actually in the hole. He changed to a secondary running lane and gained 5 yards.

— JH

7:32 p.m.

Mateer’s interception didn’t prove to be costly. 

Oklahoma has allowed only 17 rushing yards total on the first three drives. Michigan got 18 yards on one rush. 

Sooners will take over at their own 23-yard line. Let’s see if Mateer can shake off the pick.

— RC 

7:28 p.m.

First quarter stats:

7:24 p.m.

The first big mistake comes courtesy of John Mateer. 

He overthrows Will Huggins. Huggins would have had a nice gain, but instead it floats slowly into the hands of Michigan safety TJ Metcalf. 

The Wolverines take over at their own 38-yard line. 

— RC 

7:23 p.m.

A defensive slip-up by either Gentry Williams or Reggie Powers or both lets through a 38-yard reception (nice play by Underwood to get away from pressure and deliver a good ball), but then Kendal Daniels and the OU defense rise up yet again. 

Brent Venables’ defense is looking more and more legit.

— JH

7:14 p.m.

Deion Burks’ 34-yard catch on the Michigan sideline will only help OU dig out of bad field position. 

Isaiah Sategna drops the ball on third-and-6 and that forced an OU punt. Grayson Miller boomed it 47 yards to pin Michigan at its own 12-yard line. 

Jovantae Barnes had a nice blitz pickup on that third down, but Sategna wasn’t able to pull it in. 

Underwood will start his second drive right in front of the OU student section. 

— RC 

7:13 p.m.

After the deep ball to Burks, a couple of glitches in the OU pass game: Mateer locked onto Burks too long and the Michigan corner easily broke up the pass, and on third down, Isaiah Sategna drops a short throw from Mateer that would have picked up a first down. Those are missed opportunities.

— JH

7:09 p.m.

So let’s see how the revamped offensive line does on this drive. The running game didn’t exactly crush it on that last possession. Not off to a good start with the false start by Simmons, but Burks and Mateer get the Sooners off the goal line with a 34-yard pass. Wow.

— JH

7:05 p.m.

Oklahoma’s defense rallied after two positive plays by Michigan to start the game. 

The Wolverines had to punt from the Oklahoma 47-yard line. 

Michigan downed the ball at the 6-yard line.

Sooners will have to go 94 yards to go up 14-0.

— RC 

7:03 p.m.

Not sure what Oklahoma did wrong on that boot pass, but when Michigan came out in empty backfield, every OU defender waived it off because they knew they’d motion and shift into a heavy backfield. But they apparently didn’t expect the bootleg throw from Bryce Underwood, which gained 19 yards because literally nobody was covering it.

— JH

7:03 p.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on defense:

Wein - D. Williams - Jackson - Thomas 

Daniels - McKinzie - Lewis 

G. Williams - Spears-Jennings - Bowen - Guillory 

— RC

7:00 p.m.

John Mateer on that drive: 5-of-7 for 62 yards and the TD to Burks, plus 4 rushes for 14 yards. He converted two third-and-9 plays as well as a 4th-and-1 power run. Impressive start.

— JH

6:58 p.m.

Welcome to the party, Ben Arbuckle. 

He scripted a phenomenal opening drive after Mateer and Kanak’s connection.

That touchdown will go down as a 9-yard pass for the Michigan product, Deion Burks. 

The Sooners marched 75 yards in 12 plays, taking five minutes off the clock.

OU on top 7-0.

This crowd is about to become unglued. Welcome to college football, Bryce Underwood. 

— RC 

6:57 p.m.

What a block by Jovantae Barnes on that short jet-sweep pass from John Mateer to Deion Burks. Just obliterated a Michigan defender to give Burks a lane to get to the pylon. 

— JH

6:51 p.m.

You just have to wonder why Jaren Kanak played linebacker for three years. Wow, what a catch, what a play by the Sooners’ new tight end.

— JH

6:51 p.m.

What a third down grab. 

First, fantastic throw by Mateer to put some air underneath the ball to let Jaren Kanak run under it. 

Kanak made a fantastic left-handed grab. 

Also, Michael Fasusi stoned Michigan edge rusher TJ Guy. Massive first play from the true freshman in an obvious passing situation.

— RC 

6:50 p.m.

Oklahoma’s starters on offense:

Fasusi - Ozaeta - Maikkula - Nwaiwu - Simons 

Lewis - Burks - Kanak - Sategna

Mateer - Ott

— RC 

6:47 p.m.

Michigan wins the toss. 

The Wolverines will defer until the second half. 

John Mateer and the OU offense up first. 

Here we go. 

— RC 

6:31 p.m.

Fasusi got the biggest cheer from the fans in the starter’s video amongst offensive linemen. The people are juiced. Jaydn Ott was also announced as a starter at running back.

— RC 

6:14 p.m.

Pretty big shift up front, but it makes sense for Bill Bedenbaugh. 

Maikkula’s physical ceiling is higher than Troy Everett’s. Everett maximizes his size, but Maikkula is longer and better equipped to battle Michigan. 

We saw some freshman moments last week from Ryan Fodje after he took over at right guard, so don’t expect things to be perfect from Fasusi in his first start. Massive spot to toss the former 5-star recruit into, but with no Jacob Sexton, Oklahoma has to do it. Let’s see what he’s made of. 

— RC 

6:09 p.m.

Oklahoma’s starting offensive line — at least in pregame warmups — appears to be the following: LT Michael Fasusi, LG Heath Ozaeta, Jake Maikkula, RG Febechi Nwaiwu and KLT Derek Simmons.

That’s four new starters from last week. Fasusi replaces Jacob Sexton (who was injured last week), Ozaeta Eddy Pierre-Louis, Maikkula replaced Troy Everett (a captain) and Simmons replaced Logan Howland.

— JH

6:03 p.m.

Have not been able to spot Jacob Sexton in warmups, but both Derek Simmons and Michael Fasusi are dressed out and warming up. 

Running backs Jaydn Ott and Tory Blaylock are also dressed and rolling through warmups. Taylor Tatum was also dressed, but he wasn’t doing much while the other running backs were catching passes and getting loose. 

— RC 

5:35 p.m.

The atmosphere in Norman has been incredible all day. 

Credit the students, who completely filled out the student section 90 minutes before kickoff. Big one. 

As soon as the specialists start hitting the field, we’ll fill you in on the Sooners who are dressed out tonight. 

— RC