Week 2 of the college football season features just one matchup between ranked opponents, as No. 13 Michigan heads south to square off with No. 24 Oklahoma.
In the week leading up to the game, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, …. and quarterback John Mateer shared their impressions on Michigan and what they expect in the showdown with the Wolverines.
Here’s what each had to say:
Opening statement — “Good afternoon. We’ve got a great opportunity this week with Michigan coming into town. It’s gonna be a really cool matchup — two incredible programs that represent all the excellence in college football for a long, long time. Gonna be really exciting from an environment standpoint. Game day will be here, that’s cool. Some of the best talent in the country will also be on campus from a recruiting standpoint. And for our football team, most importantly, it’ll be an opportunity for us to match up with what’s been the last several years one of the best teams in college football. Michigan returns 51 lettermen. A very experienced football team. A team two years removed from winning the national championship. A team that’s 31-5 in their last 36 conference games in the Big Ten conference.
“They’ve had a tremendous amount of success for a long time and certainly this is a roster that they have, it’s elite. They’re really good in the trenches on both sides of the ball. They have elite playmakers. The quarterback looks to be mature beyond his years with his decision making and certainly his skill set. He’s got a very live arm, very athletic. And a defense that for the last several years has been one of the gold standards in college football for playing great defense. It’s gonna be a great, physical matchup and a great litmus test to where we’re at. I know our guys are looking forward to the challenge of the game.”
What he remembers about Sherrone Moore as a player while he was the DC at Oklahoma, and if he thought Moore would be a coach one day — “I mean, that’s hard to say. Obviously, he was a great player, great leader, ultra consistent. He was a guy that loved to compete, super physical. One of the linemen that just, man, he did the methodical very, very well. Day in and day out, ultra consistent. Really smart. Guys gravitated to his leadership style.”
On Michigan QB Bryce Underwood — “He’s a guy that, man, he’s — as I said to open up — he’s a little different. And again, it reminds me again a lot of Trevor Lawrence. Just quick, decisive, accurate, poised, tough, consistent, and there’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America. And he’s got a maturity and a work ethic and a leadership ability to go along with that.”
On SEC vs. Big Ten — “It fits somewhere in the equation. You have pride. This is Oklahoma and Michigan. Oh, we happen to be in the SEC. They happen to be in the Big Ten. Respectfully, that’s how I see it. That’s big enough in itself. The byproduct is the recruiting potential, opportunity there. Then a long history and tradition. Right now, they’ve won a couple of national championships recently. There’s that, too. That’s for a lot of other people outside of the locker room, to be honest, to talk about it. I think both conferences have tremendous quality. That is on the line as well. But it’s more of a big deal to me because it’s our guys against their guys. It’s Oklahoma-Michigan.”
On what stands out about Michigan’s front seven on defense — “The depth is probably the first thing. They lost several players but still have so many good players up front. They’ve got seven players on defense who’ve 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. They’re culture comes off tape.”
On Michigan RB Justice Haynes — “He’s got a great offensive line, really physical group of guys. He’s a very instinctual player, very powerful and explosive. He had great success in high school and at Alabama, I know he played. He had a role. He ended up probably looking for a little bit more of a role at Michigan, and certainly he found it. But a really good player, I know I’ve heard some of his interviews, a mature, wise young guy that has got strength as a leader as well. So he’s tough to tackle. Got great speed. Both of their backs are really, really good players. So we’ve got our hands full when it comes to stopping the run.”
On the historic matchup — “It’s really exciting. Both programs just rich in tradition. For the outside fan and the outside viewer, this is what college football is all about…On film, (Michigan) is physical, the play hard, they’re well-coached.”
On the challenge of facing Michigan’s front seven — “They’re physical, they’re stout, they’re well-coached. They understand their gap-integrity, and they do a really good job at the point of attack, whether it’s in shedding run blocks or rushing the passer, they do a really good job. So, they’re sound so we have to bring our best. They’re really good players, so we have to bring our best in those moments and situations too. When you look at it, I think their linebacker position group is really good, I think they’re really veteran players out there, they show up on film, they strike you, they show up in space. They’ve been really impressive, and you know they’re really impressive whenever you watched them from last year’s tape too.
“On the inside, they have the ability to throw a whole bunch of different guys out there. Last year, it was mainly those two defensive tackles (Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant) who ended up getting drafted were in there, I don’t know, 500 snaps last year. Where, this year, they’re able to cycle in more guys, keep their guys fresh. So, it’s a really good thing for them, but they’re stout. They’re well-coached and they’re going to bring their best, so we’ve got to bring ours.”
On preparing for Michigan, compared to Week 1 opponent Illinois State — “The preparation’s the same, no matter the opponent. Same process. We obviously don’t have like two weeks and then a week in fall camp to like we did last week to prepare for Illinois State, but we’ve got six days, seven days to prepare and that will start tomorrow. Watching film every morning, and then at night and having a good practice week.”
On what he knows about Michigan — “It’s a good team, and they’re real physical up front…They play with a lot of pride. It’s a blue-collar program, and we’re excited to [face them].”
