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Joel Klatt explains what he’s most concerned about with Michigan’s 1-2 start

Spenser Davis

By Spenser Davis

Published:

Michigan has struggled mightily since a dominant Week 1 performance against Minnesota, and Joel Klatt isn’t sure it can be fixed.

He sees concerns on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense.

“Here’s the thing I’m most concerned about from a Michigan perspective: If you look at Week 1 against Minnesota, and a team that I overvalued in Minnesota,” Klatt said on Colin Cowherd’s show on Wednesday. “The problem is, their defense has gone back and reverted to what we saw at the end of last year, which is a team that can’t get off the field on 3rd down and gave up way too many plays in the passing game.”

The numbers check out. Michigan is allowing 7.63 yards per pass attempt this season and opponents are converting on 43.5 percent of third-down attempts.

Offensively, it’s been inconsistent as well. Quarterback Joe Milton struggled in a loss to Indiana last week, completing just 52.9 percent of his passes and throwing two interceptions.

But even more so than the passing game, Klatt is worried about the rushing attack.

“They are not running the football,” Klatt said.  “This is a staple of Jim Harbaugh, at least his effective teams, has been their ability to run the football. Indiana, folks, this is not a defensive powerhouse, Indiana held Michigan to 13 carries for 12 yards. 12 yards! You’re not gonna win.”

Here’s Klatt’s full segment on The Herd:

Michigan will try to move back to .500 on Saturday against Wisconsin.

 

Spenser Davis

Spenser is the news manager at Saturday Road and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.