Oklahoma Sooners gritty win over Michigan by the numbers

The Oklahoma Sooners got one of the signature wins of the Brent Venables era on Saturday night, when they defeated the Michigan Wolverines 24-13 in Norman. It was a night when OU won the physicality battle, and could have won on the scoreboard by much more than 11 points, if not for some miscues along the way.

Oklahoma played really well on a national stage, with both the offense and defense stepping up in critical moments. With a rebuilt offense and a defense that returned a lot of talent from last year, the Sooners looked like Venables wants them to.

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As OU moves on to face Temple, let’s take a look at some of the numbers that defined the game against the Wolverines.

16 – plays on OU’s game-sealing drive in the fourth quarter

With a little over ten minutes left in the game, the Oklahoma defense forced a punt that was fair caught inside the OU twenty-yard line. From that point until there was just 1:44 left in the game, the Sooners embarked on a 16-play drive that chewed clock and resulted in a field goal that made it a two-score OU lead. Ben Arbuckle was able to sequence plays in a way that didn’t give the Wolverines the ball back until it was too late and the deficit was too much.

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Just four plays on the drive were passes, as Oklahoma was able to run the ball with John Mateer, Jovantae Barnes and Troy Blaylock (with a little help from Isaiah Sategna III), convert third downs and stay on the field to salt the game away. This was something the Sooners weren’t able to do a year ago, and something they weren’t in position to do much of anyway. In their first test of the season, OU’s offense put the Wolverines away when it mattered.

651 – Days since OU’s last game allowing 270 yards to FBS opponent

On the day after Thanksgiving in 2023, Dillon Gabriel threw for 400 yards in OU’s regular-season and Big 12 Conference finale, as the Sooners defeated TCU 69-45 in Norman. From that date until Saturday night, the Sooners failed to have a quarterback throw for at least 270 yards in a regular season game against an FBS team.

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In those 651 days, the Sooners played 11 games that matched that criteria (excluding bowl games and FCS opponents), and the highest yardage total was 225 passing yards in a 35-9 loss against South Carolina. In that timeframe, OU had games where the leading passer threw for 74 yards (Jackson Arnold vs. Missouri), 68 yards (Arnold vs. Alabama) and 110 yards (Arnold vs. LSU).

Then, Mateer came on the scene. He got to the 270-yard mark in his very first game that hits our criteria, and he’s got 662 yards passing through two games this season. Oklahoma’s leading passer last year threw for a total of 1,421 yards. Needless to say, the Sooners are in much more capable hands in 2025.

37.5% – Bryce Underwood’s completion percentage

Bryce Underwood will very likely turn into a star in Ann Arbor. However, Venables’ defense overwhelmed the true freshman on Saturday. The Wolverines tried to commit to the run, to no avail, and they didn’t have enough of a passing game to test the Oklahoma secondary down the field very often.

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Venables mixed up looks, and didn’t really bring much heat on Underwood until later on in the second half. While Underwood made some nice throws, the Sooners held for the most part on third downs and forced six punts. The Michigan passing offense was stuck in the mud, as Underwood threw for just 142 yards. While this game was mostly won up front, the OU defensive backfield was in position for most of the night.

71 – Michigan Rushing Yards without that 1 play included

To open up the second half, Michigan running back Justice Haynes had a 75-yard touchdown run that cut the Oklahoma lead back to seven points and stole away momentum for Michigan. Aside from that single run, the Wolverines managed just 71 rushing yards on 31 carries the rest of the night.

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Against a team known for controlling the line of scrimmage, the Sooners turned the tables on the Wolverines on Saturday night. Oklahoma allowed just 2.29 yards per rush outside of Haynes’ breakaway sprint, throwing a major wrench in Michigan’s plan of attack. With the entire country watching, Oklahoma shut down what Michigan has traditionally done best, and they made it very difficult for the Wolverines to move the ball at all.

2 – wins, against 0 losses, for OU so far this season

Venables, Arbuckle, Mateer and the other major players for Oklahoma this year would tell you that this is the only number that matters from this game. They’d also tell you that they’re locked in on getting that number to three by this time next week.

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The Sooners never wanted to just be 2-0; they’ve got much bigger plans than that. However, OU notched a big-league win on Saturday night, one they hope can propel them into their daunting schedule with confidence. Here’s how big the win over Michigan was: Every team the Sooners will play in their conference schedule for 2025 is ranked in the Top 25 in the latest Associated Press poll. If Oklahoma had lost to Michigan, we’d be looking at the hardest schedule in America with plenty of trepidation.

Instead, the Sooners can get back to work, knowing they passed the first of many more tests to come this season.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma Sooners win over Michigan by the numbers