ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Oklahoma’s first test of 2026 proved to be too much. Quarterback John Mateer’s fourth-quarter interception set Michigan up in the red zone, which proved to be the difference in a sloppy 17-10 defeat. OU’s offense struggled to move the ball in the first half, saddling the Sooners with a 10-0 hole to dig out of. The offense was able to put together a pair of drives to get Oklahoma back into the game, but Michigan punished Mateer for the misfire to upend the No. 11 Sooners 17-10 at Michigan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.OU (1-1) now heads home with plenty to clean up to take on New Mexico before traveling to Athens to take on No. 2 Georgia in the SEC opener. Here are three takeaways from the defeat in Ann Arbor:New Year, Same MateerOklahoma quarterback John Mateer drops back to pass in the first half against the Michigan Wolverines. | Carson Field / Sooners on SIMorale was about as low as it could be for the Oklahoma offense going into halftime. The Sooners seemed unable to string multiple positive plays together, bouncing between poor plays from Mateer and puzzling play calls from the sideline. OU seemed to be able to run the ball effectively, only to abandon the run, hunting for a big play in second-and-medium. The intermission was much-needed. The Sooners took their first play of the second half 90 yards down the field for a touchdown, courtesy of a 25-yard connection from Mateer to tight end Rocky Beers and then a 22-yard touchdown pass to Washington State transfer Mackenzie Alleyne. Oklahoma then got the ball back at its own 1-yard line, and the Sooners were able to push all the way into field goal range to knot the game back up at 10-10. Mateer started the second half with nine-straight completions before he finally sailed a ball just past the outstretched hands of Trell Harris in the fourth quarter. He followed his first incompletion of the second half with a dreadful decision, however. Mateer tried to find Harris again, but it was Michigan defensive back Jyaire Hill who ended up with the football. He returned it to the Sooners’ 6-yard line, and two plays later, the Wolverines were back on top 17-10.OU got the ball back with 3:05 left at midfield, but Mateer threw three-straight incompletions. Mateer finished 17-for-33 for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also carried the ball 13 times for 45 yards. Still Plenty to Clean UpOklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke tackles Michigan running back Savion Hiter in the first half at The Big House. | Carson Field / Sooners on SIThe problems that plagued Oklahoma’s defense early against UTEP popped back up in The Big House. Brent Venables’ defense took a few bad pursuit angles and missed a handful of tackles early, which allowed quarterback Bryce Underwood to settle in a bit after a poor showing against Western Michigan. Underwood didn’t shred the defense like Pat Mahomes by any means, but some of the early miscues, paired with the offense’s struggles in the first half, meant that Michigan got to play with a lead until the fourth quarter. Out of halftime, Venables’ group cleaned things up a bit. Michigan was still able to pick up a fourth-down conversion and another third down toward the end of the third quarter, but Reggie Powers’ sack backed the Wolverines out of field goal range. On the ensuing possession, the Sooners marched 83 yards to tie the game up with a Tate Sandell field goal. The touchdown the defense surrendered in the second half was hardly their fault, and OU held the Wolverines to 75 yards after halftime.Grayson Miller Holds Everything Together EarlyOklahoma punter Grayson Miller is showing no signs of the yips in 2026.He did his best to flip the field position in the first half while Ben Arbuckle’s offense struggled. Miller boomed a punt 82 yards, though it was ultimately wiped away by a penalty. After the drive stalled again, he pinned the Wolverines on their own 10. Later in the first half, he delivered a 52-yard punt despite having to punt from his own end zone. Miller’s biggest punt came deep in the fourth quarter. Oklahoma opted to kick it back to Michigan with five minutes left and two timeouts. Miller boomed the ball inside the 5-yard line, and it was downed by Jer’Michael Carter at the 1. That forced the Wolverines into a conservative game plan, and the Oklahoma offense got another chance to go tie or win the game.Miller averaged 48.6 yards on the punts that did count, and he was the main reason the OU defense had any room to work with when Michigan kept getting the ball back in the second quarter. Next weekend’s contest against New Mexico will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow