Joel Klatt to Panicking Michigan Fans: ‘Relax! The Offense Is Fine’

Michigan’s 24-22 victory over Northwestern in Week 12 gave fans plenty to think about. Joel Klatt, FOX Sports’ lead college football analyst, says that a victory like this is good for the Wolverines.Klatt, on the “The Joel Klatt Show”, said that “a game such as that was exactly what Michigan needed. You would rather win than lose.”Even in a victory, there will be opportunities to learn, especially for a young QB.”If you only looked at Saturday’s box score, you’d think that Michigan cruised to a victory. The Wolverines outgained Northwestern by more than 250 yards (496–245) and dominated on third down, converting 9 of 14 while the Wildcats managed just 2 of 12.However, Michigan committed five turnovers — quarterback Bryce Underwood threw two interceptions and the team lost three fumbles. Wolverines kicker Dominic Zvada needed to hit a 31-yard field goal as the clock expired to give his team the victory. There has only ever been one game in the past 25-years where a team won when they lost the turnovers battle by five points and missed two fields goals. Klatt said he was impressed by the fact that this team, which had little experience, managed to win despite these circumstances.”It requires a lot of grit, he said. It takes a lot to bounce back from everyone on the team, even the coaches. … They have freshmen everywhere, six starting on offense. Jordan Marshall is injured, so they’ve had to bring in a third-string runningback. Jordan Young, an absolute freshman, is playing safety at a critical moment and batting the ball. Andrew Marsh will be the offensive player’s target. He’s an absolute freshman. Youth is everywhere. Inexperience comes with youth. With inexperience you will ride the roller coaster. There will be peaks and valleys. Underwood, of course, is at the forefront of Michigan’s groupings leading freshmen. The team is by a large margin the youngest in the Big Ten. While the 18-year-old QB didn’t have the best finish to Saturday’s game (two interceptions and a fumble on an exchange in the fourth quarter), Klatt made a pretty bold statement about the signal-caller’s play. No. Klatt: 18 Michigan Wolverines Highlights vs. Northwestern Wildcats “Bryce is a microcosm for this roller coaster that I am talking about,” Klatt stated. “For the first two and a quarters of his career, he was playing at his best. … The true freshman came in there, and I think he developed multiple different paces on the ball [with his throws].” Klatt was right, Underwood had a career high of 280 yards passing. Klatt believes that Underwood locked on to a receiver when he made a mistake on one of the interceptions. Klatt thought that Underwood should have handed the ball over on the RPO-play when Northwestern’s Robert Fitzgerald picked it up. Klatt stated that Underwood’s pass should have been more fluid on the play of fourth-and-1, in the last minutes. Bryce Underwood was able to have some positive moments during Michigan’s victory over Northwestern, but he also played a part in three of the team’s fourth-quarter mistakes. Underwood was able revenge those three fourth quarter turnovers with a clutch 21 yard pass to Marsh in the game’s finale to put Michigan within field goal range for the win. “The throw he made to Andrew Marsh on the game-winning drive … that play and throw was incredible,” Klatt said. “And this was after all the mistakes. Trajectory. This is why I decided to take a more optimistic view instead of a pessimistic one.”The shaky loss nearly cost Michigan College Football Avoiding the dreaded third loss, which is said to knock teams out of contention. Michigan might not be confident that it can beat the No. Michigan is 8-2 and looks much better than last year. Klatt urges fans to stay calm and to not compare the team with that of 2023, which was a national championship winning squad.Klatt stated that the team was being unfairly criticized, especially on offense. “Relax. Michigan’s offensive is a vast improvement over what it was a year ago. I understand they were bad … but they’re vastly better. They are averaging more than 400 yards in offense. They nearly had 500 yard of offense against Northwestern. That is not a bad defensive performance. The quarterback’s improving. … They’ve got three redshirt freshmen on the offensive line.”Relax. The offense is good.” Want to receive great stories in your email? Follow leagues, players, teams, and more to receive daily personalized emails!
2025-11-18 00:54:33