Keys to the Game: Michigan football at Oklahoma

This week Michigan football’s real season begins, with all due respect to New Mexico. The Lobos were better than advertised, confident, and played hard in a loss at U-M, but they were never a threat to beat the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.

RELATED — Staff Predictions: Michigan football at Oklahoma 

Oklahoma in Norman, though? This is a test, especially for an offense with a revamped line and a freshman quarterback with unproven wide receivers. Defense travels, so we expect Michigan to hold Sooners quarterback John Mateer and Co. somewhat in check (as long as the secondary does its job), and we know Dominic Zvada and the kicking game are going to be fine if it comes to that, so it’s about putting up enough points. 

Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore understands the challenge ahead of his team heading to play his alma mater. 

“It’s a really good football team; a complete football team in all three phases,” he said. “The return game, they’re dangerous. Offensively, obviously, it all starts with Mateer, the quarterback, and what he does …

“They do a good job of spreading the field and playing with a little tempo, playing not with tempo. So … really good. And defensively, they’re fast. I know [Oklahoma coach] Brent [Venables], known him for a long time, and much respect to a lot of people on their staff.”

Here are the Michigan keys to beating them and picking up a huge road win Saturday night:

Michigan Key No. 1: Keep the mistakes to a minimum  

We’re talking turnovers, of course, but not just that. False starts can be prevalent in a loud environment, and there can be communications issues. This will be a tough enough game without those, so limiting them is a must. 

The Wolverines got away with a fumbled kickoff that turned into three New Mexico points and a muffed Semaj Morgan punt return they somehow got back. That simply can’t happen on the road against a top-20 opponent. It will be interesting to see if they turn freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood loose the way they did against the Lobos, too, or play it closer to the vest with more of a ground game. 

“Any change of pace that you can have in tempo is going to help,” Moore said Monday. “We always want to be the aggressor and keep defenses off track and on their heels. So, we want to dictate the tempo however it is, whether it’s jumping to the ball as fast as we can, spreading people out, moving people around. 

“We want to be able to dictate tempo, and that’s something [O.C.] Chip [Lindsey] has done with a lot of success in the past. We want to continue to do that.”

In short, it seems like we could well see more of the same from last Saturday this week in Norman. 

Michigan Key No. 2: Make John Mateer uncomfortable and keep Oklahoma one-dimensional

We didn’t see much of a ground game in watching Oklahoma last week, and there’s fan concern about the offensive line in Sooners country. Mateer was very good at times, but this is a different animal he’ll be facing Saturday night in the Michigan defense. The Wolverines hit New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne 20 times in a 34-17 win despite playing an offense designed to get the ball out extremely quickly — if they can rattle Mateer (and we think they can), it could be a long night for the Sooners’ offense. 

“The depth is probably the first thing,” Venables said of the Michigan front seven. “They lost several players but still have so many good players up front. They’ve got seven players on defense who have started at least 10 career games. That’s a lot for (a team) that was supposed to graduate a lot of guys. 

“They’re very well coached. They’re long. They’re athletic. They’re physical. They play with great effort, a lot of confidence. Their culture comes off on tape.”

If they get help from the back end — a big “if” — this could be a good night for the U-M defense against a questionable Oklahoma line.

Michigan Key No. 3: Improve special teams and win the hidden yardage battle

If we’re honest, this continues to be a concern. Special teams should be a strength at Michigan as it was for so many years under Jim Harbaugh, but the mistakes here continue to add up. There’s been next to nothing in the return games, there have been fumbled punts … it needs to improve. 

Short fields lead to points, and punter Hudson Hollenbeck had a tough time turning the ball over Saturday. That also needs to get better. We trust Zvada implicitly, but that’s about all we’re confident in right now as it pertains to special teams.  

This could well be the difference in a tight game, which we expect this one to be.

The breakdown: Michigan football at Oklahoma

There’s something special about non-conference games between bluebloods, and we’ve missed it over the last several years. Somehow, Fresno St., New Mexico, etc. just don’t instill the same feelings in the gut that Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, etc. do, especially when you’re traveling to another stadium with the world against you. The Sooners have won over 90 percent of their games at home over the last 25 years, impressive no matter the competition. It will be loud, possibly a bit intimidating for a typical freshman quarterback …

But there’s not much typical about Underwood. This will be a much bigger challenge for him, sure, against a defense with a lot of athletes, but we expect him to embrace it. If he plays well, Michigan will have more than a puncher’s chance, even in that environment.

“It’s just going to be loud,” Moore said. “It’s a night game in an SEC environment, so it’s going to be loud. But … we’ve played in loud environments, so we’re going to have to prepare for the noise.”

Everything points to a lower scoring game here, and the team with less mistakes winning. The Sooners are favored for a reason, but we like this Michigan defense and the possibilities … again, as long as the back end holds. Either way, we’ll know a lot more about these Wolverines late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.