Oklahoma's Matchup with New Look Michigan Sets the Stage for the 2026 Season

Sooners On SI will break down Oklahoma's 2026 schedule, opponent by opponent, for a series dubbed "Know Your Foe." You can look forward to an opponent breakdown each day, beginning with the Michigan Wolverines.

The Michigan Wolverines had a tumultuous offseason that saw former head coach Sherrone Moore fired in disgrace with former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham coming to lead the Maize and Blue.

Offseason chaos shouldn't damper what was a fairly solid bounce-back season for the Wolverines in 2025. Their early season loss on the road at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners did little to detract them. Michigan won eight of their remaining 10 regular season matchups before losing to Texas in a back-and-forth affair at the Cheez-It Bowl.

First-year quarterback Bryce Underwood had a solid season for a freshman — 11 passing touchdowns to go along with six rushing. His inexperience showed itself in losses to OU, USC and Ohio State, but going into his second season should spell a different challenge for Michigan opponents.

How will the Sooners fare against the Wolverines? But first, some history.

John Mateer, Oklahoma Sooner — Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer celebrates | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Past Battles

Last season's 24-13 victory by OU was only the second time these two college football monoliths squared off against one another.

The other matchup came in the 1976 Orange Bowl, a 14-6 Sooner victory, that earned Oklahoma's its fourth national championship and first under head coach Barry Switzer. Miami's Orange Bowl field was saturated with big names like the aforementioned Switzer, the Selmon Brothers, Joe Washington, Steve Davis and Tinker Owens with Bo Schembechler, Dwight Hicks, and Les Miles.

With last year’s game marking the first regular-season matchup between OU and Michigan — and the first played on Owen Field — the 2026 rematch will be Oklahoma’s first trip to the Big House. It will also be the first time Oklahoma has traveled to the state of Michigan for a game since a 24-20 win over Detroit Mercy — Bud Wilkinson's first game as Oklahoma's head coach.

This will also be the first time that Brent Venables and Whittingham will face off against one another. Venables has also never faced a Whittingham team as a defensive coordinator.

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Returning Starters

Bryce Underwood, Michigan Wolverine — Michigan Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) throws the ball against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Camping World Stadium. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

UM will go as far as Underwood's second-year growth will take them. His passing ability and athleticism presents a challenge to anyone on their schedule.

Defensive tackle and All-Big 10 selection Trey Pierce stands tall amongst a rather thin defensive line. Pierce helped lead Michigan's run defense, holding opponents to just over 100 rush yards a game, while registering over 400 snaps in 2025 — was also UM's highest rated defensive lineman per Pro Football Focus

Freshman All-American and All-Big 10 Honorable Mention Andrew Marsh is poised to help his quarterback make leaps in 2026. Last season, Marsh had performances of 12 catches for 138 yards against Northwestern and a three touchdown game against Maryland.

Running back Jordan Marshall looks to pick up where he left off last season when he rushed for just under 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns.

New Faces

Jaime Ffrench, Michigan Wolverine — Mandarin receiver Jaime Ffrench Jr. speaks with CBS Sports after announcing his commitment to Texas at a pep rally before a high school football game | Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Texas Longhorn pass catcher Jaime Ffrench transferred to Michigan. The former UT player did not register many snaps last season, but was highly thought of coming out of Jacksonville, FL as a preps star.

With Whittingham's arrival, many of his former players at Utah followed along like All-American edge rusher John Henry Daley and disruptive interior lineman Jonah Lea’ea. Each player will be an instant plug-and-play guy with the Wolverines looking to rebuild its defense.

Former Sooner running back Taylor Tatum chose Michigan when he exited the program a few months ago. Reportedly, he is being worked out as a safety during the spring but remains a possible back if that doesn't work out.

Key Departures

Justice Haynes, Michigan Wolverine — Michigan Wolverines running back Justice Haynes (22) carries the ball for a touchdown against the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at Spartan Stadium. | Brendan Mullin-Imagn Images

Running back Justice Haynes — who rushed for the 75-yard score against the Sooners last year — transferred to Georgia Tech (allowing Marshall to have more opportunities in 2026).

Tight end Marlin Klein, who the Sooners were able to avoid last year due to an in-game injury, declared for the NFL Draft.

A name familair around Norman, Cole Sullivan, was thought to be one of the leaders of a rebuilding Michigan defense in 2026. He instead chose to play for Venables and Oklahoma after entering the transfer portal.

Schedule Placement

Oklahoma Sooners, Brent Venables — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables argues with an official in the CFP against Alabama. | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

This is the second game for both Oklahoma and Michigan. Each program will look to use this game as a spring board into the 2026 season.

For Michigan, this will be the country's debut of the program under new head coach Whittingham.

Oklahoma has this road date with the Wolverines, only to then have to travel to Georgia two weeks later — followed by the Cotton Bowl and the Red River Rivalry two weeks after that.

The Sooners will likely view this as a must-win considering their schedule whereas Michigan may still be dealing with new wrinkles as the team assimilates to a new coaching style. If you're going on the road against Michigan, OU appears to have found them in a good spot.