Why Oklahoma-Michigan is a 'Big Time' Historic Matchup That 'Gets Emotions Going'

ANN ARBOR, MI — When the sun rises over the Great Lakes on Saturday morning, college football history will begin to unfold.

That’s when an anticipated crowd of nearly 110,000 Michigan fans will descend on Tree Town, USA, to cheer on the Maize and Blue.

It could be the largest gathering ever to watch the Oklahoma Sooners play a game.

At worst, Saturday’s official attendance number will rank No. 2 in OU football annals.

The all-time record biggest crowd ever to watch the Sooners currently resides with Ohio State — er, That Team to the South — when Baker Mayfield planted his flag and the Sooners left Columbus with a 31-16 knockout of the Buckeyes.

A total of 109,033 showed up to Ohio Stadium that evening.

Michigan’s listed capacity is 107,000, but their official tally for last week’s season opener was 110,879. The Wolverines averaged 109,971 in their national championship season three years ago.

“Since it was announced that we'd be going to Michigan is something that gets everybody’s emotions going — in the right way — for the last couple of years,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Tuesday.

SPECIAL: Read Sooners On SI's deep dive into the first OU-Michigan meeting that produced Barry Switzer's second straight national championship

Thanks to random matchups in bowl games, the grandest of college football’s lions have crossed paths only occasionally, if not rarely.

For example: OU and Penn State have met just twice; the last was the 1985-86 Orange Bowl for the national championship. OU-Alabama have played eight times, five of those in the postseason. OU-Georgia have faced off just once — in the 2017-18 Rose Bowl — and will play again in two weeks. OU-USC have staged nine regular-season meetings but just one in the postseason.

OU and Ohio State have met four times, but never outside the regular season.

The Sooners and Wolverines are two of the biggest brands in the game — UM is currently the only college football program with 1,000 wins all-time (1,022), while OU ranks No. 6 with 961 — and yet Saturday will mark just the third time they’ve ever faced off.

Oklahoma won last year’s game 24-13 in Norman.

The only other meeting between these two juggernauts: the 1975-76 Orange Bowl, a 14-6 Sooner victory.

“Everybody's really looking forward to the matchup,” Venables said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “Going to be a great, great challenge. The largest stadium in college football. A place that they've been incredibly successful at home. A very experienced football team — 62 lettermen coming back. One of the best rosters in all of college football.

“One of the most historic programs in college football history — much like Oklahoma.”

Since his playing days as a linebacker at BYU ended, Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham had coached at Utah for 32 years and has been in the game now 42 years in all — and has now been in the big chair in Ann Arbor for less than nine months.

One of the first phone calls he got after “retiring” from Utah in December was from Michigan. The Wolverines were looking for a new leader after Sherrone Moore — a former Oklahoma offensive lineman — cratered his coaching career with bad personal choices.

So Whittingham’s first big-time job is Michigan — which just won the national championship three years ago.

And his first big-time opponent is Oklahoma.

The national focus and attention on this game, as well as its historical impact, is not lost on Whittingham.

“No, I think the magnitude is something that I appreciate and understand,” Whittington told Sooners On SI Monday during his weekly press conference. “The bar has been raised in pretty much every area at Michigan from my last stop.

“So, high profile? This certainly is high profile. There's another big one (this weekend) in Texas and ... somebody. Ohio State. Ohio? That wasn’t a shot. But yeah I do appreciate it and understand, and it comes with the territory. This is big-time ball.”

Historically, OU has won its last four games against Big Ten opposition, and has beaten five straight Big Ten teams on the road.

More to Saturday’s point, these Sooners have won their last four road contests, sweeping Temple, South Carolina, No. 14 Tennessee and No. 4 Alabama away from home last season. This OU squad knows how to buckle down, focus and execute in a hostile environment.

“As a competitor, as a coach, you enjoy going on the road and having an opportunity to help control the environment,” Venables said. “Going into these hostile places, you talk about adversity and poise under pressure every single day, whether it's home or away. The chaos of game day is very real.

“You like the new challenge of what it can do for your team on the season. We're going to have to be a team that plays well on the road, and (there's) not a better opportunity to go in the biggest stadium in college football that just three years ago won a national championship.

“See where you're at as a football team, and find out what you're made of. See if some of the things that you learned last year — going on the road, being battle-tested — can carry over. I believe that some of it will, but this is a new team, and that's a new challenge. So it's exciting.”

Last year, Oklahoma beat Michigan with poise at home in a game that was sealed by a 16-play, 78-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Now the Sooners will try to replicate that in one of the most uncomfortable settings in America.

“Last year's game is very applicable,” Whittingham said. “I haven't seen a whole lot of it (as of Monday).

“ … But I can tell you right now, studying the personnel, they’re very talented. Defensive line is outstanding. Quarterback (John Mateer), we did a really deep dive on him when he was at Washington State in the portal, because we would have liked to have him at Utah.

“Haven’t watched the (UTEP) game itself yet, but he’s a dual threat — a guy that can beat you both ways. Got an outstanding receiver, game-breaking receiver, strong run game. Special team are outstanding. Got the Groza Award winner and the All-SEC punter. Kick return, they brought one back 90 yards. So, they are very talented in all three phases and we got our work cut out for us, big time.”

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