Joel Klatt: 'There's deep concern for Michigan' after loss to Texas

The Wolverines' performance against the Longhorns raises questions and lowers the floor for Michigan in 2024...

Matt Lounsberry | Sep 9, 2024

Dec 4, 2021; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt during the Michigan Wolverines game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Conference championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Michigan Wolverines

Fox Sports' college football analyst Joel Klatt was pretty high on Michigan throughout this past offseason. While he didn't expect the Wolverines to win the Big Ten Conference for a fourth consecutive season, Klatt routinely said "nothing has changed at Michigan, even though everything has changed."

"At the beginning of the year, I thought to myself, 'You know what, Michigan, even with all this newness, it's their culture, it's their ability to develop. I still love their defense. I think their floor is 9-3.' That's kind of what I thought," Klatt said on the latest episode of his podcast.

However, after the Wolverines were manhandled for the better part of four hours on Saturday against No. 2 Texas, Klatt has some concerns over the way Michigan looks in its first year under new head coach Sherrone Moore.

"I think that there's some deep concern for Michigan," he said. "I do think that it's a development team and that they will be better, over time, during the course of the season...To be fair, this Texas game was always going to be a difficult win for them, because Texas comes in with all the experience. They are at the top of college football. Michigan is in a rebuilding year, so it would have been a massive upset. But, the way that it happened, that's the deep concern."

Where is Michigan's ceiling for the remainder of the season? @joelklatt shares what Michigan needs to adjust moving forward this fall ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/zKamwSoa1a
— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) September 9, 2024

The Wolverines' vaunted defense was picked apart by quarterback Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns. Michigan's secondary has clearly taken a step back following the losses of Mike Sainristil, Josh Wallace and Rod Moore. Furthermore, the Wolverines' pass rush was undisciplined on Saturday, allowing Ewers to escape pressure when they did generate some and make plays down the field.

As disappointing as the defense has been thus far, Michigan's offense has been far worse, ranking dead last in the Big Ten in terms of production. Trailing 24-3 at halftime against Texas, the Wolverines abandoned the run game, the offense's bread and butter, in an attempt to get back in the game. If Michigan can't get back to the style of play that led to so much success over the past three seasons, Klatt sees the potential for a very big drop off in total wins for the Wolverines.

"This floor of 9-3 to me, all of a sudden went to 7-5," he said. "Because, it doesn't even take a great opponent to beat that Michigan team, that doesn't play by their blueprint. If they're going to play games that are not by their blueprint, and they've got to win by other means...I don't know. Because, then all of a sudden, they're going to be in a lot of one-score games and it's a bounce of the football there, it's a penalty here or there, and now all of a sudden you're a five-loss team."

Michigan Wolverines football vs. Texas Longhorns

Michigan running back Jordan Marshall (23) returns a kickoff from Texas during the second half at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on Saturday, September 7, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Klatt sees a world in which Michigan rebounds from this loss, rediscovers its identity and still manages to win 10 games and reach the College Football Playoff. However, the Wolverines' remaining schedule is still daunting, and the margin for error has shrunk dramatically.

"I'm concerned about them," Klatt said. "Now, you're staring at a USC team that looks like they are for real...that's just in a couple of weeks. You still have Oregon — maybe that game looks easier now, the way that Oregon has played. You still have Ohio State down the road. So now all of a sudden you're like, well man, 8-4 is certainly in the question. And what happens if you don't play by the blueprint in any one of the other games? Illinois just beat Kansas. So, that's kind of why I say a floor for me is more of a 7-5.

"Michigan's got to get better. They have to get better, and they've got to go back to the drawing board and they have to understand the way that they win games. Because, following zero percent of the blueprint is not going to do it."

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