Joel Klatt — 'This May Be Jim Harbaugh's Best Michigan Team'
FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt appeared on Colin Cowherd's 'The Herd' today to discuss a variety of topics, including head coach Jim Harbaugh and his Michigan Wolverines team.
Klatt has always been a supporter of Harbaugh's at U-M and has broadcasted several of the Maize and Blue's games over the past two years, and had significant praise for the team following their 49-24 beatdown of Minnesota in Minneapolis on Saturday night.
Cowherd kicked the conversation off by discussing Michigan's place in college football and how dedicated the program is to the sport, before Klatt took over from there by explaining the way Harbaugh is beginning to make appropriate offensive adjustments to get his club to the next level.
“He’s done a good job," Klatt said of Harbaugh. "Here’s one thing to really understand about Jim Harbaugh — he’s just now adjusting. This adjustment has been a little bit late, although if it comes to fruition, watch out.
"In college football, you can’t win at the top end unless you can score 35 points against a really good team. You just can’t and that’s the sport now. Alabama has had to adjust — [head coach] Nick Saban has adjusted offensively and is scoring 35, 40 points in big games.
"[Head coach] Ryan Day goes to Ohio State and guess what you have to do against them now … you can’t beat them with [Michigan defensive coordinator] Don Brown’s defense and out-defense and out-tough them.
"Michigan came close a few years ago when they had that overtime game [in 2016]. Ryan Day then steps foot in Columbus, Ohio, and that offense goes through the roof. If you’re Michigan, you have to score to beat Ohio State.
"They haven’t been able to even come close to the offensive efficiency. What I saw last week was the corner being turned offensively. [Redshirt sophomore quarterback] Joe Milton is an incredibly talented guy.
"He’s huge, first of all, and has a quick release and one of the strongest arms I’ve seen in college football in the last four or five years. It’s stronger than [former Wyoming quarterback] Josh Allen’s or even [former Oregon quarterback] Justin Herbert’s.
"He throws lasers and can run it pretty well."
Milton shined in his first collegiate start, completing 15 of his 22 passes (68.1 percent) for 225 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. To compare, Shea Patterson connected on at least 68.1 percent of his throws in a game just twice in 13 tries last season.
The redshirt sophomore chipped in 52 rushing yards and a score on the ground as well against the Gophers, helping lead an offensive attack that posted 481 yards and 49 points.
"Here’s the other part: Michigan hasn't gone pure spread like they tried to do last year with Shea Patterson and run those soft, zone schemes in the run game," Klatt noted. "They went back to what Harbaugh does well in the run game — pull guards and pull tackles in run power-oriented schemes.
"It all has to stem from No. 42 — [senior fullback/tight end] Ben Mason. Mason was a fullback under the old offense and Josh Gattis came in last year to be a spread coordinator.
"Mason goes to defensive tackle last season and now this year, they're like ‘Out of the shotgun, let’s be a more power-oriented run game.’ Mason is now back on offense and they’re lining him up all over the place.
"He had several key blocks on the big runs and they’re back to getting downhill. They now have the power-oriented run game and a quarterback who can throw it, and a defense I still think can be efficient and certainly rush the quarterback."
With a complete team seemingly in place and showdowns against Penn State and Wisconsin looming that don't appear to be as challenging as they once did, the analyst said he likes what this Wolverine squad could accomplish this year.
“This may be Jim Harbaugh’s best Michigan team," Klatt exclaimed. "I’m not saying they’ll beat Ohio State, but I’m bullish on Michigan after watching them last week.”
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