Previewing, predicting Michigan versus Oklahoma with a Sooners insider

By Clayton Sayfie

TheWolverine.com caught up with Sooner Scoop‘s George Stoia for insight on Oklahoma ahead of Saturday night’s matchup with Michigan Wolverines football. Stoia broke down the Sooners and made a final score prediction. We begin with the projected starting lineup for Oklahoma:

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Oklahoma projected starters on offense

• #10 – Redshirt junior QB John Mateer (6-1, 224) — The Washington State transfer had a stellar debut as a Sooner, completing 30 of his 37 passes for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception in a 35-3 victory over FCS Illinois State. A team captain both at Wazzu and in Norman, Mateer connected on 64.6 percent of his passes for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns with 7 picks as the starter in 12 games for the Cougars in 2024. Mateer isn’t afraid to air the ball out, but he does put it in harm’s way, too. He had 14 turnover-worthy plays, per PFF, last season, including 8 that came on passes of 20-plus air yards. Mateer is also a productive runner, having rushed 178 times for 826 yards and 15 scores at Washington State last season. He ran 7 times for 24 yards and a 7-yard touchdown on a quarterback sweep versus Illinois State, taking 1 sack.

• #0 – Senior RB Jaydn Ott (5-11, 208) — The California transfer played just 4 offensive snaps, rushing once for minus-3 yards and dropping a pass that was thrown behind him, in Oklahoma’s season-opener versus Illinois State. Returning to full health, he was limited with the Sooners taking cautions, but is expected to play a much bigger role against Michigan. A first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023, Ott rushed for 1,315 yards and 12 touchdowns and caught 25 passes for 169 yards and 2 scores. He dealt with injuries at Cal in 2024, totaling 385 yards and 4 touchdowns on 116 attempts, adding 24 receptions for 222 yards and a score. Ott was ranked as the No. 4 running back in the transfer portal this offseason.

• #4 – Redshirt senior WR Deion Burks (5-9, 188) — The Inkster, Mich., native transferred from Purdue to Oklahoma ahead of last season, when he played in only five games due to injury. He’s healthy now and had a big game against Illinois State, hauling in 7 receptions for 88 yards and 1 touchdown and adding 1 rush for 12 yards — the longest of the game for the Sooners — on an end-around. Burks caught 47 balls for Purdue in 2023 and 31 for Oklahoma in 2024, and he entered this season with 1,049 yards and 10 touchdowns for his career.

• #6 – Redshirt senior WR Keontez Lewis (6-2, 197) — Began his career at UCLA (2021) and has made stops at Wisconsin (2022-23) and Southern Illinois (2024) ahead of his final season of college football at Oklahoma in 2025. Lewis was productive and prone to make big plays at Southern Illinois a season ago, grabbing 49 passes for 813 yards and 10 touchdowns with 10 rushes for 121 yards and a score. He was Mateer’s favorite target (11) in the opener, with 9 catches for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns.

• #5 – Redshirt junior WR Isaiah Sategna III (5-10, 182) — The Arkansas transfer totaled 37 receptions for 491 yards and 1 touchdown with the Razorbacks last season. He caught 2 passes for 16 yards versus Illinois State.

• #12 – Senior TE Jaren Kanak (6-2, 233) — Converted from linebacker to tight end ahead of the 2025 season — he’s made 103 career tackles — and had a big outing as a pass-catcher to open the season, notching 5 receptions for 90 yards. He has great speed, having run a 10.37-second 100-meter dash in the 2021 conference championships, ranking as the sixth-fastest time in Kansas high school state history.

• #78 – Junior LT Luke Baklenko (6-6, 313) — Entered this season with 14 career starts, all at Stanford, and opened the game against Illinois State at left tackle. He allowed 1 pressure on 38 pass-blocking snaps and posted a 75.0 overall PFF rating.

• #77 – Redshirt sophomore LG Heath Ozaeta (6-5, 311) — Made eight starts last season and missed the season-opener this year with injury but is expected to return. He registered a 57.3 overall PFF rating last year, allowing 15 pressures and 4 sacks.

• #52 – Redshirt senior C Troy Everett (6-3, 315) — Started 11 games over the last two seasons at Oklahoma, including seven at center in 2024. He recorded a 68.2 overall PFF grade in 2024, giving up 7 pressures and 4 sacks. He split time at center in the opener, sharing duties with redshirt junior Jake Maikkula, a fellow Stanford transfer, and graded out at 59.7 overall on PFF.

• #54 – Redshirt senior RG Febechi Nwaiwu (6-4, 326) — Opened all 13 games at right guard last season, and he has the ability to play on the left side of the line, as well. He started at right guard in the opener but played only 16 snaps there, logging 54 at left guard. Where he lines up is something to watch this weekend. Last season, Nwaiwu recorded a 59.6 overall PFF grade with 16 pressures and 4 sacks given up. Freshman Ryan Fodje played the majority of the Illinois State game at right guard.

• #71 – Redshirt sophomore RT Logan Howland (6-6, 322) — Started six games at left tackle last season but began this year as the right tackle. In 2024, he had a 67.9 overall PFF grade with 19 pressures and 2 sacks allowed. Redshirt senior Derek Simmons, a Western Carolina transfer, missed the last game with injury but could be in the mix at right tackle this week. He started 16 games over the last two seasons at his previous school.

Oklahoma projected starters on defense

• #52 – Senior DT Damonic Williams (6-1, 323) — An honorable mention All-Big 12 selection at TCU in 2023, Williams had a strong season as a starter at Oklahoma in 2024, posting 35 tackles — including 4.5 for loss and a sack — with 1 forced fumble. He had 1 pressure versus Illinois State.

• #65 – Sophomore DT Jayden Jackson (6-2, 322) — Named a freshman All-American by FWAA, ESPN and On3, Jackson was also tabbed as an SEC All-Freshman Team honoree. He played in 13 games with 10 starts, totaling 30 tackles, 3 stops for loss, 2 sacks and 1 pass breakup in 2024. He had 2 stops last week.

• #32 – Senior DE R Mason Thomas (6-2, 249) — Posted 12.5 tackles for loss and 9 sacks last season, adding 2 forced fumbles and leading the team with 35 pressures. He was named second-team All-SEC a year ago. Thomas generated 2 tackles, 1 pressure and a pass breakup last week.

• #97 – Senior DE Marvin Jones Jr. (6-5, 262) — Oklahoma rotated heavily at defensive end last week. While Jones started, he played the fourth-most defensive snaps at the position. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Wein (jersey No. 44) is another to watch; he had the hit that injured Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse. Jones, meanwhile, is a Florida State transfer who registered 6 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 1 forced fumble for the Seminoles in 2024, after beginning his career at Georgia (2022-23).

• #11 – Redshirt junior LB Kobie McKinzie (6-2, 236) — Made 30 tackles, including 3 for loss and 1.5 sacks, playing primarily as a backup last season, but has been thrust into a starting role in 2025. He made 4 tackles, including a half-stop for loss, and a quarterback hurry in the opener.

• #10 – Redshirt junior LB Kip Lewis (6-1, 227) — Has appeared in 31 games with 17 starts, and made 133 total tackles, 8 stops for loss, 1 sack and 2 interceptions in his career. He made 4 tackles and 1 pass breakup last week.

• #5 – Redshirt senior cheetah Kendal Daniels (6-5, 242) — The safety/linebacker hybrid transferred in from Oklahoma State, where he was a two-year starter and made 240 career tackles with 22.5 for loss, 7.5 sacks and 5 interceptions, a true impact player. He made 3 tackles, a half-stop for loss and a pass breakup in his debut as a Sooner last weekend. He was also targeted 4 times in coverage, giving up 3 receptions for 18 yards.

• #4 – Freshman CB Courtland Guillory (6-0, 183) — Ranked as a three-star recruit and the nation’s No. 409 overall player in the 2025 class, Guillory has earned a starting role to begin his college career. He was targeted 3 times in coverage last week, giving up just 1 catch for 6 yards and adding a pass breakup, but did commit 1 pass interference penalty. He added 1 tackle.

• #9 – Redshirt junior CB Gentry Williams (5-11, 187) — Coming back from a season-ending injury that held him out of all but two games last season, Williams posted 3 tackles, including 1 behind the line of scrimmage, in the opener. He’s made 37 career tackles and 4 interceptions, and was a full-time starter in 2023.

• #22 – Junior S Peyton Bowen (6-0, 201) — The former five-star recruit posted 2 tackles and had a big hit on the quarterback last weekend. Entering this season, he had appeared in 26 contests with seven starts, registering 80 tackles, 1 sack and 5 pass breakups.

• #25 – Sophomore Michael Boganowski (6-2, 207) — A reserve a season ago, Boganowski became a breakout player this offseason. He recorded 1 tackle in the season-opener, making his first career start.

Oklahoma specialists

• #29 – Redshirt junior K Tate Sandell (5-9, 182) — The UTSA transfer went 19-of-23 on field goals and 35-of-36 on extra points last season, with his longest kick coming from 54 yards. He went 2-of-5 from 50-plus yards in 2024, but was perfect from inside 40 and 7-of-8 from 40-49 yards. He made all 5 of his PATs but didn’t attempt any field goals last week.

• #87 – Redshirt sophomore P Jacob Ulrich (6-5, 206) — The Kennesaw State transfer was named first-team All-Conference USA last season, punting 75 times with a 45.4-yard average. He induced 18 fair catches and had 27 punts downed inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. He punted twice, averaging 47.5 yards per attempt, last week.

• #0 – Senior KR Jaydn Ott (5-11, 208) — Had a kick return touchdown as a California player in 2023. He didn’t have any attempts last week but was in on both kick returns. He brought back 4 kicks for 151 yards from 2023-24 at Cal.

• #5 – Redshirt junior PR Isaiah Sategna III (5-10, 182) — The Arkansas transfer returned 4 punts for 63 yards, averaging 16 yards per attempt, with a 21-yard long in the opener. He had a punt return touchdown at Arkansas in 2023.

John Mateer coming off big-time debut

It was Illinois State, but Mateer put together a strong performance to open the Oklahoma season. Like Michigan, the Sooners struggled at quarterback last season, but that’s in the past. The No. 1 quarterback in the transfer portal this past offseason, Mateer is coming off a breakout season with Washington State and is running that same offense under coordinator Ben Arbuckle in Norman.

“He’s got a gunslinger mentality,” Stoia said. “I hate comparing him to [former Oklahoma quarterback] Baker Mayfield, but his game is very similar. He’s a better runner than Mayfield, but not as good a thrower.

“He has a high-level understanding of the offense and what they are asking him to do. I am interested to see how well he reads a more complex defense and how he performs under pressure.”

That’s the kicker. Mateer hasn’t faced much Power Four competition during his career, much less a defense such as Michigan’s with a coordinator like Wink Martindale. Mateer completed less than 50 percent of his total passes against Big 12 (9-of-19; Texas Tech) and Big Ten (17-of-34; Washington) teams compared to 67.5 percent versus all others.

More on the Oklahoma offense

The strength of the Oklahoma offense is the passing game, Stoia believes. Not only did Oklahoma add Mateer behind center, but it also revamped its wide receiving corps. That group showed up last week, led by senior Deion Burks (7 catches, 88 yards, 1 touchdown) and redshirt senior Keontez Lewis (9 grabs, 119 yards, 2 scores).

“They rebuilt their wide receiver room and feel like they got a lot better there,” Stoia explained. “Mateer has also been sharp throwing the ball throughout preseason camp and obviously the first game.”

The offensive line is a question mark, though. Oklahoma was stuffed in multiple short-yardage situations versus Illinois State, and the men up front had a rough 2024 campaign. The Sooners played eight lineman in the opener and may even add to that total against Michigan.

“The offensive line as a whole is better than last year,” Stoia began. “But the bar was extremely low. They gave up 50 sacks last year.

“They desperately need to get healthy there. And they are likely going to rely on a couple five-star true freshmen to play a lot of snaps. There are a lot of questions on the offensive line that will likely get answered this weekend.”

It starts up front for Oklahoma’s defense

While Illinois State had some success running the football, the pass rush was outstanding, and the defensive line as a whole is expected to be very formidable.

“They return both starters at defensive tackle and one defensive end in R Mason Thomas, who had 9 sacks last season,” Stoia said. “They are a talented and veteran group with a lot of depth.”

At cornerback, Oklahoma is young and lacks proven players, which makes it a potential weakness.

“Or, at least that’s the biggest question,” Stoia pointed out. “They are starting a true freshman at one corner spot and a senior who is injury-prone at the other. Those two spots were up for grabs all camp. The staff feels good about the group, but they are widely unproven.”

Keys to victory for Oklahoma

Oklahoma has an improved passing game, but the rushing attack has to get going, Stoia said.

“They have to find at least some success on the ground,” he stated. “I’m not saying they have to run for 200 yards, but they have to have enough success that Michigan respects it. As much as I trust Mateer to deliver some big plays in the passing game, the offense can’t be one-dimensional in this game.”

Mateer threw 1 interception last game, and had 7 picks a season ago. There were a couple other instances where defensive backs got their hands on the football in the first game, too.

“Obviously, you can’t turn the ball over,” Stoia said. “This game reminds me a lot of the Tennessee game early last season. OU had a chance to win that game but [quarterback] Jackson Arnold turned the ball over three times before half. And the offense couldn’t take advantage of Tennessee’s turnovers. That can’t happen again.”

Stoia’s final score prediction

“I’m taking OU in a close, low-scoring game,” Stoia began. “The reason is because I trust Mateer more than [Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce] Underwood. I think both will have their mistakes in the game. I’m just betting on Mateer having maybe one less mistake. But I am worried about this Oklahoma offensive line. That could be the biggest issue for the Sooners if they don’t win.” 

Prediction: Oklahoma 24, Michigan 20