There's no way to sugarcoat what happened to Michigan football on Saturday night in Norman. The Wolverines got whipped by the Oklahoma Sooners
The final margin was 24-13. It wasn't that close. Oklahoma made numerous mistakes that allowed Michigan football to hang around, but victory never felt realistic, especially after the third touchdown by the Sooners in the third quarter.
The missed tackle on what should have been a sack but turned into a big play was a backbreaker. There were some weird calls and strange decisions from a coaching perspective, but the biggest problem was that Oklahoma owned the trenches on both sides of the ball.
Michigan rushed for more yards than the Sooners. But Bryce Underwood struggled. He completed 9 of 24 passes in the face of what felt like constant pressure. The defense has issues, too, along with special teams.
It was a failure on all levels and here are five things we learned.
The offensive line isn't any better
Of all the issues with this Michigan football program under Sherrone Moore this is the biggest. Moore coached the Wolverines to back-to-back Joe Moore Awards. His introductory press conference was all about "smash," but that only works if you can block people.
Maybe having Andrew Babalola would make a difference, and there was an injury to Giovanni El-Hadi, but frankly, I didn't notice much difference when he was in or out.
There was the one 75-yard run. That was exceptional. Outside of that, Michigan running backs averaged less than three yards per attempt. Underwood was running for his life. There were often play-action fakes, even though the running game wasn't working, and by the time Bryce pulled the ball to look down field, he had guys in his face.
That's not to give Underwood a pass. He could have played better. But he's a freshman quarterback. He needs support, and the offensive line failed to offer it.
Beyond that, this offensive line looks average. It has popped some big plays in the running game. The consistency hasn't been there. Improvement is possible but there is a startling lack of improvement from a group that coaches and players swore was better.
It's not and that's on the head coach.
Bryce Underwood can look like a freshman
Saturday's game doesn't change the long-term outlook for Underwood. Brent Venables is an exceptional defensive coordinator who has done that to numerous elite quarterbacks over the years.
There were always going to be growing pains with Underwood. He missed throws and failed to connect with a few open receivers. Those things are going to happen.
Rarely did Underwood have time to set his feet and scan the defense without pressure. The Sooners were in his face all night. Michigan also threw a bunch of pointless screens, ran the ball way too much on first and second down, and didn't really give Underwood a great chance to be successful.
Despite being 6-foot-4, 228 pounds, the Wolverines won't run him, but keep trying to use RPOs and zone-reads, even though it's clear he can't really keep the ball. Defenses are responding, too.
There was no creativity in the game plan. Underwood still completed a pass of over 40 yards, a 44-yard strike to Donaven McCulley between two defenders. He also threw a 25-yarder to Channing Goodwin.
The receivers could have played better. It hurt not having Marlin Klein, but Underwood looked like a freshman, which is to be expected because he is one.
The front seven is overrated
Michigan football was missing one of its best defenders for the first half but things didn't change drastically when Jaishawn Barham returned.
Sherrone Moore said leading up to the season that this was one of the best front sevens in all of college football. Through two games, it hasn't looked like that.
Oklahoma tallied over 400 yards. John Mateer accounted for 333. He killed Michigan with his arm and his legs (what a concept). Even on the one interception, he had a guy wide open, maybe even for a touchdown if he hits him in stride.
Instead, he air-mailed the pass and it turned into an interception. A third-down drop by one of his receivers also cost Oklahoma points.
The bottom line is that Michigan was fortunate to only give up 24. U-M looks overmatched in the secondary and the pass rush, which was supposed to be elite, yet has been anything but.
Wink tried to compensate with blitzes and Michigan got roasted. The defense felt like the one we saw in the first half of last season, not at the end.
The offense hasn't changed enough
There was a joke going around on social media that Kirk Campbell was still calling the plays but in a Chip Lindsey mask.
However, what we probably saw was the Sherrone Moore influence in the offense. He's the head coach and was the play-caller for Michigan football in 2022 and 2023.
Moore did a stellar job; however, he ran on early downs too often and was criticized for being a little too conservative. Those critcisms came back on Saturday night. On one possession in the second half, Michigan ran three straight times before punting, including on third and six.
The Wolverines also ran on third and six before kicking a field goal on fourth-and-two to cut the lead to 21-10. It didn't make much sense. it's hard to be critical of individual play calls. The mindset was the bigger issue, especially the predictability.
You can't throw away downs against a defense like that. Brent Venables is too good on third down, and way too often, Michigan played right into their hands by being predictable on early downs.
Michigan football has a lot of work to do
Before the season, many felt like Michigan football could win 9-10 games. That is still possible. One game doesn't define a season, unless it's Ohio State, but it's clear this team has to work to do.
You're never as good or as bad as you think. I believe that. Michigan isn't as bad as it looked on Saturday night.
That being said, the words playoff and Michigan shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence for a while. Rod Moore's eventual return should help the pass defense. The defensive line should get better, especially if it doesn't need to be on the field all day.
Still, some of the "strengths" of the team haven't looked like strengths.
It's easy to overreact. Bryce Underwood is going to improve. He will learn from this experience. The question is how much can the offensive line improve? It feels like we overestimated the pieces around the freshman, and now, in order for a 10-win season or a playoff berth to come true, he's going to have to do even more than expected.
And as we saw last night, it might be asking too much.