The No. 15 Michigan Wolverines couldn’t get it done on the road in Norman, coming up short in a 24-13 loss to No. 18 Oklahoma. John Mateer looks the part and had some help from a well-rounded and well-coached team.
Here are four winners and three losers from the game.
RB Justice Haynes — Winner
Justice Haynes gets credit for scoring Michigan’s only touchdown of the evening, taking it 75 yards on the first play of the second half
and giving the Wolverines a massive boost. He finished the night with 19 carries for 125 yards and one touchdown. Here’s to hoping Haynes continues to find running room as Michigan’s offense and Bryce Underwood work to get more comfortable together.
OC Chip Lindsey — Loser
It didn’t look like the Wolverines had a great offensive plan of attack for dealing with Oklahoma. The Wolverines went away from the run early on and didn’t take enough pressure off Underwood in the first half. When you’ve got a true freshman starting on the road in a game like this one, I would’ve liked to have seen the offense go to the run game a little more in an effort to open it up for Underwood to throw it more.
Cole Sullivan and TJ Metcalf — Winners
Michigan won the turnover battle, with a major fumble recovery by Cole Sullivan on special teams and a TJ Metcalf interception. Each play put the Wolverines in a good spot and helped swing the momentum in Michigan’s favor, too. Unfortunately, winning the turnover battle didn’t matter much because the offense just couldn’t capitalize when given the opportunity, as Michigan scored zero points off those two turnovers.
Tackling — Loser
Give it up to the Sooners for their performance, but the Michigan defense had some issues tackling in this one. It would look like the defense had the stop, but then Oklahoma players would go for three or four more yards and get a first down. Oklahoma was 9-of-17 on third down, 1-of-1 on fourth down and had 22 first downs on the night, and managed a total of 408 yards against Michigan’s defense.
WR Donaven McCulley — Winner
Wide receiver Donaven McCulley didn’t have a lot of catches — just three of them — but his catch over the top of the defender was certainly impressive. He ended the night with 91 yards, with the long going for 44. The Wolverines will need more from him if they’re going to compete in the Big Ten this season, but it’s a start.
Injuries — Loser
Heading into the game, Michigan already had some notable losses. Tight end Marlin Klein missed the game with an apparent lower-body injury. Then, during the game, left guard Giovanni El-Hadi went down with an injury. It’s tough to adjust to losing experience on the offensive line for any team, but Michigan doesn’t exactly have a ton of depth there.
We know the team wins and loses together, but who would you say won the day and who could use some improvement heading into next week? Let us know in the comments!
