Michigan football has scored four touchdowns through two games.
One came on a Hail Mary to end a game. Another came when it was handed a goal-to-go situation.
That leaves just two times across 19 other drives – nineteen! – in which the Wolverines have created a legitimate drive concluding in the end zone. That's 10.5% – not a great rate. And yet, that's not the stat that matters. This is: No. 24 Michigan is 2-0. That means the Wolverines are still on track for all their goals this season, thanks to their 17-10 upset of No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Michigan Stadium.
How is that happening, given an offense that – to put it politely – is far from a finished product?
"Shoot, [we've] allowed
what, one touchdown allowed in eight quarters of football? That's outstanding," coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Did a great job bottling up their quarterback. ... The thing that concerned me most going to the game was letting the quarterback, you know, not letting the quarterback run the football for a ton of yards. And Bryce [Underwood] actually doubled him up.
"So, yeah, shoutout to [defensive coordinator] Jay Hill and the defense for for the plan they put together. And of course, it always comes down to execution by the players, so they did a really good job."
It was a performance that looked akin to the best from the Wolverines' golden era of 2021-23. The defensive line got pressure – eight tackles for loss, with three sacks. The linebackers didn't miss many tackles and wrapped up when they had chances; for the second straight week, Troy Bowles led the team with nine tackles.
The secondary featured coverage so sticky it likely left the Sooners in need of a shower. Those defensive backs also made Saturday's two biggest plays. First, there was Chris Bracy punching the ball out and forcing a fumble in the first quarter, when OU was on the fringe of field goal range. Then, there was Jyaire Hill making up for a major mistake.
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Late in the third quarter, Michigan had OU pinned on its own 1 yard line. The Wolverines stuffed a Sooners run for no gain, but Hill had a late hit away from the play to give Oklahoma a free 15 yards. One play later, QB John Mateer found tight end Rocky Beers for a 43-yard gain, and Oklahoma was on its way to tying the game at 10-all with 11:43 to play.
Hill didn't let it bother him. After Michigan's offense went three-and-out, U-M forced OU into a third-and-9 in its own territory. Hill jumped a crossing route and high-pointed Mateer's pass to nab Michigan's first pick this year, taking it back 24 yards, to the Oklahoma 6.
Two plays later, Michigan took a 17-10 lead.
"Yeah, I messed up a little bit on the penalty," Hill acknowledged. "But you know, we got a little thing with DBs, with the whole team; you know, next-play mentality. Just get about and go to next play."
The defense was suffocating all day, holding Oklahoma to just 100 rushing yards, with just one carry of more than 12 yards on the day (which came in the final minute). It held Oklahoma to just 3-for-14 on third and fourth down and made Mateer's life miserable all afternoon.
Last year, Mateer racked up more than 340 yards of total offense, with three touchdowns. On this day, he had just 234 and one touchdown, lessened by a back-breaking interception.
Defender John Henry Daley, who said he was still "knocking the rust off," had a team-high three tackles for loss, which included a sack of Mateer on third-and-3 on the opening drive. His other two stops behind the line came on first downs to put Oklahoma's attack behind schedule.
Still, the defense was probably merely tied for U-M's best unit: Kerry Coombs' special teams group forced long fields all afternoon. Punter Cam Brown had a nearly perfect day, pinning Oklahoma inside its 20 on six of seven punts (including two perfect pooch punts that forced OU to start from its own 1).
With special teams and the defense dominating, the offense didn't have to be remarkable.
It simply needed to avoid catastrophic error.
That's probably why Michigan threw the ball just four times in the final 30 minutes. Those drives weren't pretty, with five punts in six possessions, and just one possession that lasted more than three plays. But that's where Michigan is right now.
Whittingham has seen this script and senses there's a chance he will be pleased with the ending.
"I saw this happen last year with Jason Beck, and the offense," the first-year U-M coach said of his last season at Utah. "It just started getting more traction and more traction every week and becoming more productive and more prolific. What's really good right now is that the defense is holding down the fort while that maturation process takes place.
"So I guess the answer is yes for the moment, the defense is keeping us in games, but the offense was markedly better ... but I tell you what-if this team continues to work like they did last week, then I like our chances every single week."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: As Michigan football offense finds footing, defense proves rock solid
