Michigan Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham stood at the podium Saturday afternoon and talked like a coach who had just watched his team punch above its early-season weight.
Michigan beat No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 at Michigan Stadium, sending the Wolverines to 2-0 in Whittingham’s first year on the job. A week earlier they had barely survived Western Michigan, 13-12, on a last-second Hail Mary after officials put one second back on the clock.
That messy win knocked them out of the AP Top 25. This one felt different.
“One touchdown allowed in eight quarters of football. They’re a good football team. In my opinion, they’re deserving of their ranking,” Whittingham said of Oklahoma.
The defense did most of the heavy lifting. Michigan held Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer to 189 passing yards and limited the Sooners to 3.4 yards per carry. An interception flipped field position and led to a touchdown. Through two games the Wolverines have allowed just one touchdown.
It was not a clean afternoon. Michigan was flagged 11 times, the most for the program since a 2018 game at Northwestern. Drives stalled. The offense still needed work. But the Wolverines ran the ball with more physicality than they had a week earlier and won the time-of-possession battle.
Bryce Underwood completed nine of 17 passes for 111 yards. He also carried 18 times for 87 yards and a touchdown. Michigan did not turn the ball over.
“Great, great response by Bryce. Thought he played an excellent game,” Whittingham said. “I don’t think we turned the ball over. I think it was zero turnovers for us, so that was huge. And defense was lights out pretty much the entire game.”
The first-year coach said he was fine with a tight score.
“I’m comfortable winning any way we win,” Whittingham said. “I always maintain that mentality, stress that.”
Asked whether Saturday felt like a must-win after the opener, he pushed back a little.
“Well, I don’t know if it was a must-win, but it was a game where we had to play a heckuva lot better, and we did.”
He also addressed the noise that followed the Western Michigan game. Whittingham said he does not read media coverage.
“If we were treated badly, we probably deserved it because we didn’t play very well.”
The week after that opener, his comments about Underwood’s job security created a stir. On Saturday he tried to close the door.
“No job is ever etched in stone. … I don’t agree that I opened that can of worms, Bryce is our quarterback.”
He said it again later: “Bryce is our quarterback and that’s where we are.”
Whittingham pointed to a players-only meeting last Sunday as a turning point for a young roster that does not have many upperclassmen. Passion and energy, he said, were missing against Western Michigan and showed up against Oklahoma.
“Hopefully a big springboard. There’s a lot of confidence in that locker room this afternoon. We have to get back to work Monday.”
He repeated the idea in slightly different words: “Hopefully a big springboard — get back to work on Monday with the same resolve, same determination.”
The schedule will not ease up. Michigan still has five more current top-25 opponents on the slate, including road games at Oregon and Ohio State late in the year. Next up is UTEP at home.
Whittingham, 66, spent 21 seasons at Utah before taking the Michigan job. He is now 2-0 in maize and blue. He knows one win over a ranked team does not finish the job.
“Still got a lot of things to clean up,” he said. “Way too many penalties, but you know that’s every week you got things to clean up. But very proud of the way they responded after our performance last week.”
For one Saturday in September, that response was enough.
