Oklahoma fans should actually be grateful for Michigan's miracle Week 1 win

Hail to the Victors! The Oklahoma Sooners and their fans shouldn't have wanted it any other way after Week 1 of the 2026 college football season.

Michigan's literal last-second Hail Mary heave to the end zone that was caught for a game-winning touchdown against Western Michigan on Saturday night and delivered a miraculous 13-12 victory not only saved the 16th-ranked Wolverines from the ultimate Week 1 embarrassment, but also helped out Oklahoma, which is hoping to add a quality win to its 2026 resume when it takes on Michigan at the Big House on Saturday.

Many argue, though, that instant replay showed the game should have been over on the play before the winning Hail Mary. On the previous play, the game clock showed triple zeroes before the desperation deep throw to the end zone by Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood touched the hands of any player and fell harmlessly to the ground. Game over, right? Until it wasn't. The officials conferred and ruled that there was still one second remaining in the game. The rest, as they say, is history.

A Michigan loss in its season opener would also have resulted in a negative outcome for the Sooners

Next, it will be Oklahoma's turn to face the Wolverines, as the Sooners travel to Ann Arbor in Week 2 for the second half of a home-and-home series between these two college football blue bloods that began last season with a 23-14 Oklahoma win in Norman. It will be Oklahoma's first game ever at Michigan Stadium, which seats 107,000-plus.

The Sooners are sure to see a much more motivated Michigan team this weekend that will be determined to atone for its underwhelming performance against Western Michigan and also avenge its loss last season to the Sooners. Regardless, the much-anticipated marquee matchup between the Sooners and Wolverines certainly has lost some of its glimmer after Michigan's near upset. The challenge to the Sooners may not be as daunting as once anticipated, but Oklahoma cannot afford to approach the game with anything less than its best effort.

Oklahoma received a brief reprieve in terms of an immediate negative impact on its 2026 strength of schedule, but the Sooners still must beat the Wolverines and hope Michigan has a strong season the rest of the way to get the full benefit of what a win over Michigan on Saturday could ultimately provide. Had Michigan lost to Western Michigan, however, an Oklahoma win there on Saturday would be viewed much differently than it might have been otherwise come the end of the season.

Talk about seizing victory from the jaws of defeat, the football gods must have been looking down on the home team Wolverines, who were nearly 28-point favorites over their season-opening opponent out of the Mid-American Conference, one of the Group of Six conferences. Unfortunately, Michigan, in its first season under former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, didn't come anywhere close to living up to the preseason hype about its 2026 season prospects and projected fifth-place finish in the Big Ten.

The Michigan offense committed three costly turnovers in the game and was held to just 276 yards of total offense by an aggressive Western Michigan defense that was relentless in pursuit and flying to the ball. The reining MAC champions have a lot of returning starters from that conference's second-best defense a year ago, but it is nothing like what they can expect to see when the Wolverines face Oklahoma. The Sooners, led by healthy second-year starter John Mateer at quarterback, will also pose a stronger challenge on offense.

The Oklahoma offense accumulated 401 yards of offense in the Sooners' 51-0 shutout over UTEP to open the season. OU had 400 or more yards of offense just three times all of last season. Meanwhile, the elite OU defense limited UTEP to just 198 total yards in the shutout.

Despite what the final score and stats indicated, head coach Brent Venables was not satisfied with the overall performance of the defense in the win over UTEP.

"There's plenty of things we got to clean up," Venables said during his postgame press conference. "Thought we were sloppy tackling on defense. I didn't like that at all. We got a little loose in coverage as well. They didn't make us pay, but good teams are going to make us pay moving forward."

The Wolverines were credited with 276 yards of total offense against Western Michigan, but 170 of that yardage came on the first and final drives of the game. Michigan marched 75 yards on 11 plays to take a 7-0 lead on its opening possession of the game and was held scoreless until the Hail Mary touchdown strike on the final play of the game.

Michigan undoubtedly will be scrambling this week to find answers to its offensive and defensive problems. Meanwhile, the Sooners will head to Ann Arbor brimming with confidence and with a loaded arsenal on both sides of the line of scrimmage, as well as on special teams.

Saturday's game at Michigan is arguably the most important game on the Oklahoma schedule in terms of setting the tone for the remainder of the season. And it's coming at a good time for the Sooners and what appears to be not so good a time for the Wolverines.

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