Joel Klatt talks Michigan Football at Big Ten Media Days

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt was at Big Ten Media answering questions from media members about the conference as a whole. During his chat, Klatt spoke about Michigan, their rivalry with Ohio State, Michigan’s new offensive scheme, and their 2019 schedule.

Ohio State’s 2018 win over Michigan

“Last year I thought Ohio State was uniquely suited from a match-up standpoint to beat them, and beat them handily because of the speed they can put on the field. I think the evidence of that was the eye-opening combine that those wide receivers had from Ohio State that were graduating going into the NFL running in the four-three’s and everybody was like ‘whoa! that’s why they scored sixty-plus points on Michigan’ who plays man-defense on almost every snap.”

A shift in schematics?

“When you get into a big crucial match-up at times you’re gonna have to come back or play some series where they know you need to throw and you still throw it efficiently. They haven’t been able to do that over the last few years and bringing in Josh Gattis I think with more of that style of football is a tip of the cap to that one area where I feel like they’ve struggled in those big moments.”

Michigan’s schedule

“They’ve got some tough road games, in particular Wisconsin, Penn State, those are difficult, Penn State’s gonna be ready to go obviously. They do have some breaks in the schedule, Notre Dame and Ohio State at home, Michigan State at home. But I’m telling you guys, that seven straight weeks against Power Five and Notre Dame, that is a tough deal.”

The Spot

“I thought that they got a really bad call two years ago at Ohio State, I thought it was a bad spot (J.T. Barrett’s first down in overtime)), and then I thought the camera angle was insufficient to overturn it. That’s a raw deal, they’re probably in the playoff and we’re not having this conversation about what they need to do to have a tipping point moment.”