College football analyst says it’s ‘panic time’ for Michigan

FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt was a stanch supporter of Michigan throughout its 2023 national championship season and the sign-stealing saga that engulfed the program.

But with the Wolverines currently in a tailspin under first-year head coach Sherrone Moore, Klatt’s outlook on the program isn’t as rosy.

“I think it’s time for some alarm bells here,” Klatt said on his podcast about Michigan’s 4-3 start. “I think that this is panic time. Michigan is in a dire spot right now, not only this season, but maybe even looking forward.”

The main reason for Michigan’s bleak start to Moore’s tenure, according to Klatt, is the team’s passing game, which ranks No. 129 among 134 Football Subdivision teams. It is on its third starting quarterback of the season with seventh-year veteran Jack Tuttle, but he, Alex Orji and Davis Warren have all been underwhelming.

“They’re getting no contribution from the quarterback position,” Klatt said. “They’re getting no contribution from the passing game. By the way, their turnovers are up. They don’t convert on third down. It’s far too predictable. Their offense, its run, and then throw it to Colston Loveland. That’s all they’ve got. And Colston Loveland is double covered in the majority of those scenarios.

“There’s just no ability for them to have sustained offense right now unless they pop a big run. I don’t think that they’re a bad running team. I do think that they’re physical at the point of attack. They’re doing some quality things in the run game, but they’re not throwing the football well enough to win.”

Jim Harbaugh didn’t depart for the Los Angeles Chargers until January, and Moore didn’t finalize his staff until March. That curtailed Michigan’s window to add reinforcements through the transfer portal, but Klatt still believes the program deserves criticism for not addressing needs after losing nearly 20 players with starting experience from 2023.

“Bottom line is that they did not accurately evaluate their own position groups on their roster, and they overvalued them,” Klatt said. “And when you do that, it doesn’t work out.

“More than anything, in modern college football, I think that a coach’s ability to clearly evaluate his own roster and then build a roster moving forward, whether that’s roster retention or construction from outside, I think that’s the most important thing going on, and they didn’t do it.”

The Wolverines’ defense also has taken a step back in 2024, going from No. 1 in points and yards allowed last season to ranking outside the top 30 in both categories this year. The schedule has been tougher, but Klatt is concerned with the team’s depth.

The team returned several stars, including projected first-round picks in cornerback Will Johnson and defensive tackles Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, but it hasn’t had the luxury of rotating in as many guys without a steep drop off in performance.

“When I would sit with (last year’s defensive coordinator) Jesse Minter, we would talk a lot about what they had from a depth perspective in the front seven, and he thought that that was key,” Klatt said. “Not because he got to play a lot of good players, which is which is true, but it was the freshness aspect. For instance, when I’m preparing last year for the Big Ten championship as Michigan was about to face Iowa, you go through and you looked at like the average number of snaps per game for any of their defensive linemen – edge players or interior defensive tackles — none of them played much more than over 30 snaps per game. The depth allowed them to stay more fresh, and then they were able to rush the quarterback with much greater effectiveness, in particular later in games.”

Meanwhile, Klatt sees a Michigan team trying to play a similar brand of football during its three-year run as conference champions, but it doesn’t have the personnel to execute effectively. It also is tied for 118th in the country in turnover margin.

“This is not a team that blew people out a year ago,” Klatt said. “It was a boa constrictor. When you use the boa constrictor philosophy, you are creating a small margin for error where you’ve got to do everything right. It matters if you’re able to hold on to the football because you don’t play a style that’s going to be able to come back from behind. You’ve got to win the turnover margin, you’ve got to win the field position battle, you’ve got to win the time of possession battle. You’ve got to be good on third down. They were last year. In fact, in a lot of those categories, they were the best in the country. They were the boa constrictor. They did it great. Nobody better. But the key is, like, J.J. (McCarthy) on third-and-long, keeping the defensive line fresh. There’s these little ingredients that they don’t have this year.”

With three more ranked opponents on Michigan’s schedule this season: No. 1 Oregon (Nov. 2), No. 13 Indiana (Nov. 9) and No. 3 Ohio State (Nov. 30), Klatt said the Wolverines would be “fortunate” to go to a bowl game this year. He doesn’t believe there are any easy fixes for next year and beyond, either.

“It will get worse before it gets better,” Klatt said. “I do not believe that Michigan can turn this around quickly just through internal development. That might be what they want to do, but I do believe they are going to have to go out and address this roster from the exterior, get the right guys and bring them in.”

• BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.