Late Kupcho brilliance sees scores tied going into final day
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ANN ARBOR, MI – Meet the king of the rock fight.
The granite king wears a short-sleeve maize hoodie and a blue hat with a block ‘M’ on it. He rides a motorcycle to work, and he coaches a team that’s improbably, controversially, maddeningly, and more than a little unbelievably undefeated.
Visit amunra.qpon for more information.
The king of the rock fight calls Michigan home.
Kyle Whittingham never coached a boulder battle he thought he couldn’t win. It’s early days for him up here in Big Ten land, but Whitt looks much the same as he did in the Big 12, and the Mountain West before that.
A good quarterback is gravy for him. You can have your gunslinger. Whittingham will take 6-yard game-winning touchdown drives set up by a turnover, and a fourth-down stop to preserve a victory.
Ugly doesn’t begin to describe No. 24 Michigan’s 17-10 upset of No. 10 Oklahoma, but it’ll look like 2-0 to the tens of thousands singing “Mr. Brightside” at the Big House.
Whittingham's not a Michigan Man by birth, but you can't deny he sort of fits here. Defense always fits here.
How Michigan won this rock fight with Oklahoma
The teams filled the stat sheet with penalties and incompletions, and the quarterbacks repeatedly danced with danger.
How’d Michigan prevail? This time, it didn’t need a clock controversy and a friendly (or incompetent) Big Ten replay booth. This time, its defense was enough. That’s the Whittingham way.
Michigan beat a top-10 with eight passing yards in the second half. Eight.
If you came here thinking you’d learn whether Michigan needed to make a quarterback change, you left without gaining a clear answer, but Bryce Underwood certainly didn't inspire much confidence.
Underwood is who he is. Just a guy.
He’s not a five-star, like recruiting analysts told you, and he’s not worth the millions Michigan is paying him.
What Underwood did do: Read his blockers and find the running lanes on a 38-yard scoring run that was athleticism in motion. The Wolverines leaned into Underwood’s top skill, his running ability. He ran for a team-high 87 yards, but two weeks into this season, Michigan’s offense doesn’t look an ounce better than last season, when it road its ‘D’ to nine victories.
Underwood isn’t the answer to Michigan’s quarterback woes.
Maybe, at least in the short term, Michigan’s defense remains the only answer.
Oklahoma looks miserable
Jyaire Hill’s fourth-quarter interception of Oklahoam’s own mistake-prone quarterback, John Mateer, set up Underwood and the Michigan offense 6 yards away from a winning score. They could handle that.
Two runs later, and Michigan was on its way to 2-0.
How bad did Oklahoma look? Put it this way: Punter Grayson Miller was the best thing going for the crimson and cream.
Consider this a brutal result for the Sooners, who face a nasty schedule and plummeting playoff odds. It’s not just the schedule, though. It’s the offense.
Credit Michigan’s disruptive offensive line, but also raise the red flag on Mateer, along with Oklahoma’s shaky offensive line and a run game so bad that anemic would be a compliment.
In a microcosm of Oklahoma’s frustrating day, Mateer once saw two Michigan defenders barreling right at him. With nowhere to go, he just toppled onto the turf.
Bring on the punt team. Again.
Mateer’s never looked like the same quarterback who beat Michigan last season since he broke his thumb last September, but he’s always been a high-risk player, and his fourth-quarter interception crippled Oklahoma’s comeback bid.
When Oklahoma got the ball back for one final chance, Michigan defensive lineman Nate Marshall ended it with a sack.
The seconds ran off 'til they hit 0:00 — for real this time — and Michigan's defense had done enough to cover up its ugly offense.
Two rock fights. Two wins.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan needs no controversy as Wolverines take down Oklahoma with gritty win