Halftime Huddle: OU leads Michigan 14-0
NORMAN — The Sooners wasted no time on Saturday night.
The offense marched on a 12-play, 75-yard drive and capped it off with a touchdown to open the game. John Mateer added a late touchdown on a two-yard run to give the Sooners a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.
OU is just two quarters away from snagging arguably the biggest win of the Brent Venables era. Here’s a look at where things stand.
The boxscore
The number to know
2.3
That’s how many yards Michigan is averaging per carry.
The Sooners have done well to average running back Justice Haynes, who has 34 yards on 11 carries (3.1 yards per carry).
The highlights
John Mateer flicks it to Deion Burks for a nine-yard touchdown to open the game. Watch the block from Jovantae Barnes.
The score capped off a 12-play, 75-yard drive that lasted five minutes.
Kendal Daniels absolutely blows up a screen pass late in the first quarter. The Sooners eventually forced a punt.
John Mateer cashes in a two-yard run late in the first half.
Key players, offense
John Mateer: 12/18 completions, 160 yards, 1 TD, 9 carries, 30 yards, 1 TD
Deion Burks: 6 receptions, 92 yards, 1 TD
Jaren Kanak: 1 reception, 31 yards
Key players, defense
Kendal Daniels: 4 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss
Kobie McKinzie: 3 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss
R Mason Thomas: 1 tackle for loss
The positives
— The Sooners have had no issues moving the ball. The offense has 219 total yards is averaging nearly six yards per play. Mateer is averaging 13.3 yards per completion.
— After running the ball just seven times last week, Mateer already has nine carries for 30 yards in this one. His rushing ability has been a huge part of the offense.
— Deion Burks has been absolutely stellar to start this season. Moving to the perimeter has paid off in a big way.
— The defense has surrendered just 118 yards on just 4.2 yards per play.
— Bryce Underwood has completed just five of 10 passes for 76 yards. The Sooners have made life incredibly difficult on him.
The negatives
— The only thing that has really hurt the offense has been self-inflicted mistakes. Isaiah Sategna dropped a pass on third-and-6 that would’ve picked up the first and forced the Sooners to punt.
John Mateer’s second interception at OU came late in the first quarter after he overthrew a wide open Will Huggins.
— Michigan has six first downs. Three of them came off of OU’s penalties.
Case in point: Sammy Omosigho committed a costly roughing-the-punter penalty that gave Michigan a first down. It came late in the second quarter after the Sooners had forced a three-and-out.