Saturday in Ann Arbor carries the kind of weight college football doesn’t hand out very often.
When Oklahoma walks into Michigan Stadium, the Sooners could be staring at the biggest crowd ever to see them play. With an anticipated turnout of nearly 110,000 Michigan fans, the official attendance could top Oklahoma’s previous high-water mark or at least finish second in program history. That old record belongs to the 2006 trip to Ohio State, when 109,033 packed Ohio Stadium to watch Baker Mayfield plant the flag in a 31-16 Sooners win.
Michigan Stadium’s listed capacity is 107,000, but the Wolverines announced 110,879 for last week’s season opener. They also averaged 109,971 during their national championship season three years ago.
For Brent Venables, the buildup has been building for a while.
“Since it was announced that we'd be going to Michigan is something that gets everybody’s emotions going - in the right way - for the last couple of years,” the Oklahoma coach said Tuesday.
It’s the kind of game that only happens when the sport’s biggest brands get matched up by the schedule gods. Oklahoma and Michigan have met just twice before, and the only previous showdown came in the 1975-76 Orange Bowl, a 14-6 Sooners victory. That puts this one in rare company, even for a program that has crossed paths only occasionally with other bluebloods like Penn State, Alabama, Georgia, USC and Ohio State.
The Sooners’ place in the sport’s upper tier is part of what makes this so notable. Michigan is the only college football program with 1,000 wins all-time, sitting at 1,022, while Oklahoma is sixth at 961. And yet Saturday will be just the third meeting between them.
Venables called it “a great, great challenge” and pointed to the setting, the home success, and the experience on Michigan’s roster. He also made clear he sees the matchup in the same historic lane as the program’s biggest tests.
“One of the most historic programs in college football history - much like Oklahoma.”
On the other sideline, Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham is still settling into the job after leaving Utah in December. He spent 32 years at Utah and has been in coaching for 42 years, but this is his first big chair in Ann Arbor, and it comes after Michigan moved on from Sherrone Moore, a former Oklahoma offensive lineman.
Whittingham said he understands what this game means.
“No, I think the magnitude is something that I appreciate and understand,” Whittington told Sooners On SI Monday during his weekly press conference. “The bar has been raised in pretty much every area at Michigan from my last stop.
“So, high profile? This certainly is high profile.
There's another big one (this weekend) in Texas and ... somebody. Ohio State.
Ohio? That wasn’t a shot.
But yeah I do appreciate it and understand, and it comes with the territory. This is big-time ball.”
Oklahoma’s recent road work is part of the reason this trip feels so intriguing. The Sooners have won their last four games against Big Ten opponents, and they’ve taken five straight on the road against Big Ten teams.
They also closed last season with four straight road victories, beating Temple, South Carolina, No. 14 Tennessee and No.
4 Alabama away from home.
Venables says those experiences matter when the noise is relentless and the environment is hostile.
“As a competitor, as a coach, you enjoy going on the road and having an opportunity to help control the environment,” Venables said. “Going into these hostile places, you talk about adversity and poise under pressure every single day, whether it's home or away. The chaos of game day is very real.
“You like the new challenge of what it can do for your team on the season. We're going to have to be a team that plays well on the road, and (there's) not a better opportunity to go in the biggest stadium in college football that just three years ago won a national championship.
“See where you're at as a football team, and find out what you're made of. See if some of the things that you learned last year - going on the road, being battle-tested - can carry over.
I believe that some of it will, but this is a new team, and that's a new challenge. So it's exciting.”
Whittingham, meanwhile, said last year’s Oklahoma game offers something useful as he prepares for this one, even if the challenge now is different.
“Last year's game is very applicable,” Whittingham said. “I haven't seen a whole lot of it (as of Monday).
“ … But I can tell you right now, studying the personnel, they’re very talented. Defensive line is outstanding. Quarterback (John Mateer), we did a really deep dive on him when he was at Washington State in the portal, because we would have liked to have him at Utah.
“Haven’t watched the (UTEP) game itself yet, but he’s a dual threat - a guy that can beat you both ways. Got an outstanding receiver, game-breaking receiver, strong run game.
Special teams are outstanding. Got the Groza Award winner and the All-SEC punter.
Kick return, they brought one back 90 yards. So, they are very talented in all three phases and we got our work cut out for us, big time.”
This one has the feel of a measuring-stick game in every sense: crowd size, history, and the question of how a new Michigan coach and a battle-tested Oklahoma team handle the biggest stage in the sport.
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