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OU 24, Michigan 13: Takeaways from the win

NORMAN — The Sooners snagged a marque and much-needed win in the Brent Venables era.

The 18th-ranked Sooners beat 15th-ranked Michigan, 24-13, Saturday night at Owen Field. The offense struck first with a touchdown on the opening drive and did just enough to keep extending the lead, while the defense put on a mostly-stellar performance against Bryce Underwood and the Michigan offense.

Here’s a few takeaways from the win:

John Mateer does it all

The Sooners’ quarterback showed exactly why he was the centerpiece of OU’s transfer portal efforts.

Mateer was more than the centerpiece of OU’s offense. He was the whole thing. Mateer finished with 257 passing yards while completing 19-of-32 attempts. He was explosive and aggressive attacking down the field, completing seven passes of 15-plus yards and five passes of 20-plus yards.

He routinely improved and made things happen outside the pocket. Arguably his biggest highlight came in the third quarter, when he scrambled to his right before delivering a pass to Isaiah Sategna for 30 yards.

Mateer wasn’t perfect. He threw a few questionable passes into tight coverage, and his interception in the first quarter came when he overthrew a wide-open Will Huggins. But he made up for it with his rushing ability — he led the Sooners in both carries (18), yards (75) and rushing touchdowns (2) while averaging over four yards per carry. It’s clear the Sooners were hesitant to show Mateer’s rushing ability in last week’s win over Illinois State.

There are things to improve, but he carried the Sooners to victory and was impressive while doing it.

Deion Burks (7 receptions, 101 yards, 1 touchdown) and Jaren Kanak (5 receptions, 69 yards) again established themselves as reliable and explosive targets for Mateer in the passing game.

OU’s defense makes things difficult on Bryce Underwood

It was clear Venables and the Sooners wanted to rattle the true freshman quarterback in his first road start.

Mission accomplished.

Underwood completed just 9-of-24 passes for 142 yards (38% completion). His lone passing highlight came on a 44-yard connection to Donaven McCulley, who made a sensational grab. Outside of that, there was nothing for Underwood. The Sooners finished with just one sack — Sammy Omosigho and Jayden Jackson combined on it — but they routinely brought pressure and made Underwood get rid of the ball early.

It was the exact performance the Sooners needed.

Justice Haynes (mostly) a non-factor

An important part of slowing down Underwood? Not allowing Haynes to be a safety valve. Haynes ran for 159 yards and three scores last week against New Mexico.

The Sooners were stout against Haynes early. He had just 34 yards on 11 carries heading into halftime, and the Wolverines averaged just 2.3 yards per carry through the first two quarters.

The only miscue came on the first play of the second half, when Haynes broke threw for a 75-yard touchdown that cut OU’s lead to 14-7. But outside of that run, Haynes tallied just 52 yards on 17 carries.

Kendal Daniels led the way with 2.5 tackles for loss. The Sooners finished with eight as a team.

Special teams nearly cost the Sooners

There were a lot of positives for Oklahoma on both sides of the ball. But it’s back to the drawing board for special teams.

Doug Deakin’s unit was a disaster the entire game. It started with Sammy Omosigho committing a roughing-the-punter penalty in Michigan territory after OU’s defense forced a three-and-out, which gave Michigan a first down.

In the third quarter, Isaiah Sategna attempted to field a punt while backpedaling and muffed it, which Michigan eventually turned into a field goal. On the ensuing kickoff, Taylor Tatum fumbled the return and pinned OU inside its own 10-yard line. Tate Sandell missed a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter that would’ve given the Sooners a two-score lead, though he eventually made up for it with a chip shot late in the game.

Fortunately, those are learning lessons the Sooners can take from a win. But special teams kept Michigan in the game, and they have to be cleaned up moving forward.