Michigan falls in AP Poll ahead of Oklahoma showdown

The Michigan Wolverines have moved down one spot in this week’s AP Poll following the 34-17 win over New Mexico in the season opener. U-M came into the season ranked No. 14 and is now the No. 15 team in the nation.

With the poll now set for the week, it means Michigan is traveling to Norman to take on the No. 18 team in the country in the Oklahoma Sooners. ESPN’s College GameDay will be on hand for the proceedings with ABC on the national broadcast, set to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Oklahoma is led by transfer quarterback John Mateer, who has Michigan on high alert this weekend. Mateer went 30-for-37 for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win over Illinois State.

“He’s an electric quarterback,” head coach Sherrone Moore said Monday. “He’s a gunslinger. People keep comparing him to Baker Mayfield because he’s a shorter quarterback, but he’s got his differences. He’s a quarterback who can make every throw, off-schedule throws. He can run the football. So we got to do a good job of keeping him off schedule, but not making sure that he can’t just have free windows and covering guys up when they’re downfield, because they do have speed on the outside lanes to run, and the O-line is good.

“Have a great plan to keep him rattled and change the picture on him so he’s not comfortable. I know they’re going to be fast. I know they’re going to be physical. They’re going to be fundamentally sound and they’re going to try to tackle as well as they can. So, but our job is to try to make a miss and be explosive on offense. So we’ve got to do things to counteract his thought process and how he puts together the plan. So that’s what we’re going to attempt to do.”

Michigan is one of six Big Ten teams ranked this week, along with Ohio State – who is the new No. 1 after defeating Texas in the opener – followed by Penn State (No. 2), Oregon (6), Illinois (11) and Indiana (23). The Wolverines play only one of those teams this year, with the Buckeyes coming to town on Thanksgiving weekend for the regular season finale.

Here is the full poll released on Tuesday afternoon following the Labor Day weekend slate of games. Next week’s poll will be released on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

AP poll: Where Michigan stands in Week 2

1. Ohio State
2. Penn State
3. LSU
4. Georgia
5. Miami
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Clemson
9. Notre Dame
10. South Carolina
11. Illinois
12. Arizona State
13. Florida
14. Florida State
15. Michigan
16. Iowa State
17. SMU
18. Oklahoma
19. Texas A&M
20. Ole Miss
21. Alabama
22. Tennessee
23. Indiana
24. Texas Tech
25. Utah

What’s next for U-M?

Michigan and Oklahoma do battle on Saturday night as the game of the week in college football. The two storied programs have met only once on the gridiron, a 14-6 Sooner victory in the 1975 Orange Bowl. Saturday’s game will also be a homecoming of sorts for head coach Sherrone Moore, who went to Oklahoma and played offensive line from 2006-07.

Saturday’s game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC. ESPN’s College GameDay will also be live from the Norman in the morning. The trip down to Oklahoma will be the first road game U-M has played against an SEC opponent.