Deion Burks grew up in Michigan dreaming of wearing maize and blue, but on Saturday night, he wore crimson and cream — and helped send the Wolverines home with a loss.
The redshirt senior wide receiver from Inkster, Michigan, hauled in seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown as No. 18 OU (2-0) defeated No. 15 Michigan (1-1) 24-13 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Burks’ performance marked his first 100-yard game as a Sooner and came against the team he once admired as a kid.
“That’s definitely my hometown,” Burks said. “I grew up, went to the Westland Meteors; we wore blue and maize. (I) definitely looked up to Michigan; it’s a great team.”
Burks played at Belleville High School, where he was teammates with current Wolverines quarterback Bryce Underwood.
“All respect for the players — Bryce, that’s my dude too,” Burks said. “We went to the same high school.”
Despite starring at Belleville, Michigan never recruited Burks. He began his career at Purdue before transferring to OU in 2023, where he has emerged as a reliable target. His touchdown against the Wolverines was the 12th of his career, fifth at OU and second this season.
“Deion Burks (is) a guy that was overlooked in the state of Michigan,” OU head coach Brent Venables said. “There’s a lot of guys in the state of Michigan, but it was personal for him. And he had over 100 yards, and that was awesome.”
The Sooners leaned on Burks and redshirt junior quarterback John Mateer to control the game from the start. OU opened with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped by a toss to Burks, who rushed the 9 yards into the corner of the end zone.
Mateer's performance was instrumental in the game, finishing 21 of 34 for 270 yards and a touchdown with one interception. He added team highs of 19 carries, 74 yards and two rushing scores. Specifically, he scored on a 2-yard keeper with 22 seconds left in the first half to give OU a 14-0 lead before another rushing touchdown from inside the 5-yard line early in the third quarter to push the advantage to 21-7.
Mateer now has 21 career rushing touchdowns — three this season — to go along with 36 career passing scores. Through two games as a Sooner, he has completed 72% of his passes for 662 yards and four touchdowns. That total is the second-most passing yards through the first two games of an OU career, trailing only Josh Heupel’s 773 in 1999.
“He’s got great strength, great skill. He's a tough guy; he’s fearless. He believes in the guys around him; he plays within the system,” Venables said.
Burks credited his growing connection with Mateer for the wide receiver’s breakout night.
“I feel like it’s definitely a good connection,” Burks said. “We practice a lot. We’re in the film room together, trying to get on the same page constantly. I’m glad it showed today. It’s going (to) get better and better (with) the more we practice together.”
Mateer praised Burks in return.
“He’s a really good football player,” Mateer said. “He gets to where I need him to be. I’m really proud of him and his work.”
For Burks, though, the night was about more than just the numbers.
“I feel great,” Burks said. “It felt good to get off my chest.”
This story was edited by Josh McDaniel.
