ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If Broc Lowry was a handful for Michigan football in Week 1, it's about to get a lot more difficult with John Mateer and the Oklahoma Sooners coming to town.
But, coming off his 1.5-sack performance against Western Michigan, junior edge rusher Dom Nichols has this game circled, because he has a list of quarterbacks he's determined to get to.
"Yeah, this is one of them, for sure," Nichols said. "I mean, yeah, there's always a few. I don't -- yeah, we're worried about Mateer right now."
Nichols is confident in his abilities, as he signed up to play in a winged helmet for Jim Harbaugh and has a similarly relentless mentality. He's gone about his entire offseason looking to maximize his game, in part to be able to get quarterbacks
like Mateer to the ground.
Even with his confidence, he's aware of the challenge that Mateer presents, with his ability to be slippery once he escapes the pocket.
"I mean, I go about it the same way; he's not getting away from me," Nichols said. "He's a game changer, just is what it is, I mean, he's good with the football, and he's a smart guy. He's a fifth-year dude; he knows what he's doing out there, he's got experience, he's a good football player."
Nichols is likewise driven by the fact that he was at the Oklahoma game in Norman last year, and he remembers what it was like to see his brothers struggle against Mateer and the Sooners. He vows that they cannot let a reprise of 2025 happen again now that they're playing OU at home.
"Yeah, I definitely feel a certain way about this game," Nichols said. "Just watching the older dudes last year, how they felt after taking that one to the chin, definitely sits with me still a little. And I'm hoping I just can kind of relay that to the rest of the defense, like we don't want to be in that position -- I mean I'm sure we had that feeling last week, bro, like I said, sick to my stomach. Just not again."
If anyone has the capability to make noise in this game, it might be Nichols. Dubbed both 'a psycho' and 'a pitbull' by his teammates, Nichols embraces the monikers, noting that he yearns to solve his problems with aggression, and he craves the contact that only football can provide.
"I have no problem being called that just because the way I carry myself on the field," Nichols said. "Like it's the only time you're allowed to hit somebody, playing football. So I mean, why not act like that when you're out there? You're allowed to, so that's what I do."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Dom Nichols has Oklahoma QB John Mateer on his sack list
