Brent Venables calls Michigan trip a 'business trip'

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While the biggest game of the season for Michigan football is almost always the regular season finale against Ohio State, this season, there are a few headliners on the daunting schedule that stand out perhaps just as much. If nothing else, the 2026 Week 2 matchup against Oklahoma at The Big House is a tone setter — but it could be much more than that. It could be a springboard.

Such was the case for the Sooners a year ago, as the 24-13 victory for OU launched it into the College Football Playoff, where it gave Alabama a scare in the first round before succumbing to the Crimson Tide. At SEC media days this week, head coach Brent Venables discussed his excitement about playing in Ann Arbor.

"You're playing an early game against Michigan on the road," Venables said. "So there's some things that you're trying to do from a scheduling standpoint that can give you the best chance to recover and be ready to go play. But great challenge. And I think in the out-of-season program for us, it's worked to our benefit in regards to the motivation, the excitement, the enthusiasm, the quality of the work that our guys have put in. Couldn't be more excited about that. But again, you're not going to sneak up on anybody in Ann Arbor or going to Athens, Georgia."

It will be Venables' first trip to Ann Arbor, and it will be Oklahoma's first trip to The Big House, as well. The two programs have faced off twice now — both coming as a Sooners' advantage. The first meeting was in the 1976 Orange Bowl, while the second was in Week 2 last year.

This third meeting will be a bit different as it's on Michigan's home turf, and with Kyle Whittingham now overseeing the Wolverines, Venables knows that it will be a different type of game than it was with Sherrone Moore at the helm a year ago.

"I've never been to Michigan, and I know the challenge of it," Venables said. "But I know they won the national championship just a few short years ago. And they've recruited incredibly well. I know that. That's one that I'm really looking forward to, that trip. Just as a longtime loyalist and traditionalist to the game of football, the history, the tradition there takes a backseat to nobody. And so that part of it is cool. 

"It's not a nostalgic trip. This is a business trip. And you've got a championship staff in Michigan. And what Coach (Whittingham) has done there is, again, second to none. And, again, they've got a fantastic roster. We saw it up close and personal in Norman. They've got a tremendous challenge. They have some new coaches. So what changes that? New schemes. And probably some surprises along the way as well. But something we're really looking forward to."

Michigan and Oklahoma will kick off on September 12 at The Big House with the game set to be broadcast at noon EDT on Fox. It will be the first-ever meeting between Whittingham and Venables.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Brent Venables calls Michigan trip a 'business trip'

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