Not much went right for the Wolverines in their 24-13 loss on the road against Oklahoma. Here are the few players who we believe stood out the most and deserves to take home a game ball for their performance.
Justice Haynes
Running back Justice Haynes was bottled up by Oklahoma’s defensive front for the first half of the game. For a minute, it was looking like the Wolverines weren’t going to be able to ground and pound like they’d prefer, but the junior set the tone for the offense in the second half, making a sorely-needed
big play by taking his first carry for 75 yards to get Michigan on the scoreboard.
As we saw last week, getting Michigan’s lead running back into a groove is the key to getting the whole offense in a groove. That didn’t happen in the early going of the game and the Wolverines went scoreless in the first half as a result. His offensive line didn’t do him many favors by not giving him many clean holes to run through, but credit to Haynes for making the plays that he could.
Cole Sullivan
Sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan had been getting some buzz throughout the week with Jaishawn Barham missing the first half due to his targeting penalty last week. Sullivan was in line to get a big uptick in his workload and took advantage of the opportunity, as he registered a sack on John Mateer in the first half and finished the night with three total tackles.
In addition to his play on defense, Sullivan made a big play on special teams in the third quarter. Needing to chip away at Oklahoma’s lead, he made a hustle play and jumped on a muffed punt to set Michigan’s offense up with good field position. It only netted the Wolverines a field goal, but it was still the type of play you love to see out of someone that’s going to be part of the equation for Michigan going forward.
Donaven McCulley
We didn’t really see him do much against New Mexico, but Donaven McCulley made a few big plays in the passing game on Saturday night to help out his young quarterback. Furthermore, he showed some of that verticality and jump-ball ability that fans had been excited about over the course of the offseason.
McCulley finished with three receptions for 91 yards. Arguably his biggest play of the game came in the third quarter when Michigan was in need of a splash. Bryce Underwood dropped back and floated a deep ball into coverage. Luckily, McCulley was there to make the grab over the top of a defender and give the Wolverines a gain of 41 yards. The verticality in the passing game isn’t something that Michigan featured a year ago, so it was encouraging to see on Saturday. Hopefully, he’ll continue to make splash plays for the offense as the season progresses.
John Mateer
We’d heard about how special of a dual-threat talent John Mateer was all week – and Oklahoma’s quarterback absolutely showed that ability on Saturday night. He was undoubtedly the MVP of the night and made big play after big play for the Sooners, especially in difficult downs and distances.
Mateer finished the night completing 21-of-34 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown. Perhaps his biggest impact was with his legs, as he had 74 yards and two touchdowns for the Sooners. He additionally extended several plays by avoiding sacks and finding receivers downfield to frustrate the Wolverines all night long. Great players make great plays in games like this, and Mateer is a great player indeed.
