ANN ARBOR, MI — Oklahoma’s first ever visit to Michigan was one for the history books. But not the win column.The Sooners looked lifeless offensively as they fell behind by 10 at halftime and never even sniffed the end zone.But in the second half, the OU offense came to life, the OU defense stiffened, and the OU special teams continued to make winning plays.Then, quarterback John Mateer made a critical error in the fourth quarter — an interception from deep in his own territory, picked off and nearly returned for a touchdown by Jyaier Hill — and the Wolverines quickly turned it into a 17-10 lead and a memorable interconference showdown between two of college football’s biggest and most successful programs.The Sooners won last year’s meeting — their first ever in the regular season after clashing in the 1976 Orange Bowl — in Norman 24-13. Against a couple of stout defenses, both quarterbacks from last year’s clash — Mateer and UM’s Bryce Underwood — returned on Saturday to duel it out before a crowd of 111,240 in The Big House.That’s officially the largest crowd ever to watch Oklahoma play a sporting event of any kind. The previous record was also set in a scintillating road game against a Big Ten Conference behemoth: OU’s 31-15 win at Ohio State in 2017 was witnessed by 109,088 in Ohio Stadium, aka The Horseshoe.Here’s the Sooners’ Stock Report from Saturday’s game.DOWN, then UP, then DOWN: QB John MateerEarly on, John Mateer’s feet looked every bit as messy as they did last year as he tried throw after throw off platform. And that sidearm release that was so cringy last year was just as bad.But that didn’t last.Mateer missed two open receivers early, and that seemed to diminish any confidence or rhythm he might have had.He completed just 7-of-16 throws in the first half for 52 yards. To make matters worse, he was badly outplayed by Michigan sophomore Bryce Underwood, who hit 7-of-13 for 94 yards, including a 36-yard gain on third down to spark the only touchdown drive of the first half.And it was Underwood who finished that drive with authority and a 38-yard touchdown run.Mateer started the second half with a huge 16-yard third-down pickup to Rocky Beers — his best throw of the day — and then outdid himself with an absolute bullet of a throw to former Washington State teammate Mackenzie Alleyne for a 23-yard touchdown and the Sooners’ first points of the day, cutting Michigan’s lead to 10-7.In the third quarter alone, Mateer was 7-of-7 for 125 yards and the TD.UP: TE Rocky BeersAfter another Michigan punt pinned Oklahoma inside its 1-yard line, and one play after Isaiah Sategna drew a personal foul penalty against a UM defender, Mateer feathered a perfect throw over the middle to Rocky Beers, who caught it just beyond the defender’s outstretched fingers and raced upfield with a 43-yard gain. Beers led the Sooners with six catches for 94 yards.DOWN: OC Ben ArbuckleWhile Michigan offensive coordinator Jason Beck was in his bag with Underwood keeping Brent Venables’ occasionally sloppy defense on their heels, Oklahoma OC Ben Arbuckle looked lost.At times, it looked like Arbuckle had a decent play dialed up, but Mateer missed his man or the blocking fell apart.But at the end of the half, with OU needing points and plenty of time on the clock, Arbuckle had Mateer run the football three straight plays — a draw and two power runs. The third one gained a first down, but 77 seconds ran off the clock and OU eventually punted.At halftime, Oklahoma had zero points, just 115 total yards and averaged 3.7 yards per play.Arbuckle seems to freeze up at times, defaulting to Mateer to bail him out as though his QB has magic feet. He doesn’t.To be fair to Arbuckle, Beck’s play-calling, while creative and diverse at times, also was just executed better by the Michigan players.Wide receiver Isaiah Satenga finished with three rushing attempt but just two catches. UP (but not enough): RB Lloyd AvantWhile Mateer was struggling to complete throws and Arbuckle was trying to figure out how to move the football, running back Lloyd Avant was having a productive first half.Avant ran five times for 33 yards — 6.6 yards per carry — but the Sooners couldn’t sustain that success. Why? Because Mateer had seven rushing attempts, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock combined for two, and even wideout Isaiah Sategna got a rush on a reverse.Avant was OU’s most effective north-south runner through the first six quarters, but didn’t get enough carries, finishing with just nine for 35 yards.Then in the second half, Michigan keyed on him, dropping him for a loss of 1 and zero yards on his first two carries.DOWN (well, sort of): Brent Venables’ defenseThe Sooners gave up just two scoring drives — a 91-yard TD march and a field goal late in the first half — but Venables will say there were way too many missed tackles (perhaps four or five on the first two drives), too many open receivers running through the secondary, and not nearly enough pressure at the point of attack.Michigan’s second touchdown came after Mateer’s near-pick six set up the Wolverines inside the OU 10. In all, Michigan finished with just two scoring drives to go with 263 total yards and averaged just 3.8 yards per rush. DOWN: OU pass blockingOne of the reasons Mateer struggled early could be laid at the feet of his protectors.RT E’Marion Harris whiffed on an edge block, contributing to an early sack that was actually attributed to John Henry Daley on the other side, who spun through and split blocks from LT Ryan Fodje and Eddy Pierre-Louis.A couple of times Mateer tried a QB draw and both times he was completely swallowed.Michael Fasusi is the usual starter at right tackle but missed this game with a shoulder injury. His status isn’t known but a source said the idea was to have him available in two weeks for OU’s trip to Georgia.Mateer got better as his blockers did.UP: WR Mackenzie AlleyneAlmost an afterthought of the transfer portal class by some, the former Washington State walk-on’s first catch as a Sooner was s 23-yard touchdown out of halftime that put the Sooners on the board.UP: TE Rocky BeersBeers nearly replicated his long touchdown last week against UTEP — this time without the score, and without the hurdle.Beers hooked up with Mateer on the play of the day, a 43-yard catch and run on third down that led to the Sooners’ first touchdown. Beers shook two Michigan defenders before a third ran him down on the sideline.UP: DE Taylor WeinTaylor Wein delivered a crucial defensive stop with 10 minutes to play, throwing Savion Hiter for a 4-yard loss on third-and-2, giving the football back to Mateer and the OU offense.Wein also forced a fumble from Underwood in the first half, which Underwood was able to cover himself.Wein finished with five tackles and 1.5 TFLs.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