Klatt: Good Luck with Michigan... Who Can Stop Them?
It's such a pleasant day for Michigan content. The good guys were extremely good this weekend. They're also extremely good guys, which I love. "Buttery and sweet" is the positive adjective du jour for me right now.
I enjoy Klatt. His analysis is very good—not only in clips like this one, but impressively so in real time on telecasts. He's understandably a little over-excited for Colorado. The first three minutes of this are his raving praise of the real good guys.
Michigan is his new number one.
He even says that Georgia would have a hard time beating us.
The second part of the quote in the title is given specifically in the context of the run game, after noting that the run defense that we just crushed was previously #2 in the nation.
But the first part, he says over and over again. Man, is that enjoyable to listen to/watch!
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:06 PM ^
Good question. ND won the toss and elected to receive the first half kickoff.
The announcers merely state without explanation at the start of the second half: "Michigan to kickoff." Maybe Moeller decided to roll the dice with his defense? IDK. In the old days (pre-WWII), teams would sometimes elect to kickoff because they felt that it would somehow help them win the field position war. But I don't think that was a thing in 1992.
Weird.
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:42 PM ^
I remember absolutely pulling my hair out watching us lose a possession against ND like that.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
How many legit NLF players did 1997 did Sadbraska f/k/a Nebraska have? IIRC, not many. And if you went by games played in the League (even adjusting downward for one of our backup QBs), we also had many more games logged.
So, Sadbraksa, I know all you have right now are your memories, but shove that 1997 Sport Information Director poll championship right up your cornhole.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:56 PM ^
Nebraska players fizzled out in the NFL. Tougher rules on steriods.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:18 PM ^
The dynamic QB (run or pass) that is accurate and can actually run is wonderful. Drew Henson shouldnt be our last QB to hit those marks. Allar gives me Henne vibes and PSU 2006 vibes. Strange that they match up so well as far as hype, defense, and QB. Im glad we dont have the statue QB anymore.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:51 PM ^
The Best, most talented UM teams I remember are
1999 - Lloyd blew it with his best all around team
2006 - Was a Jai Eugene away from playing for the title
2016 - Newsome injury dominoes into Speight injury then loss @Iowa and robbery in the Shoe.
2023 UM - Whats missing?… a 2nd lockdown man corner, edge death rusher, 1st round left tackle.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:17 PM ^
You think the 2016 team is better or more talented than the 2022/2023 teams? On defense maybe, but 2016 had a relative dearth of offensive talent.
October 2nd, 2023 at 7:41 PM ^
A dearth of offensive talent? If you want to argue 2022 should be on the list ahead of 2016, that's fine, but don't sell 2016 short. That team averaged 40 points per game.
Speight was good. There were five (!) backs that had major contributions (Smith, Higdon, Isaac, Evans, Hill). Receivers were Darboh and Chesson. TE was Butt.
And Peppers was used on offense.
I'm not saying any of those guys (other than Peppers) is an all-timer, but they were no slouches.
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:13 PM ^
Yes, they were like 40th in offensive SP+. They scored 40 ppg because the defense and special teams either contributed to the scoring or gave the offense a lot of short fields.
None of the guys you mentioned did anything after college except Evans (Butt probably would have if not for his injuries). Peppers is primarily a defensive player. The offensive talent on 2016 doesn't compare to 2022/2023.
October 3rd, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
Yeah, no argument there. 2022 should get a mention before 2016. I just wanted to talk about Peppers.
October 3rd, 2023 at 8:53 AM ^
I dont think youre giving Darboh, Chesson, and Butt enough credit, they had more receptions than Nico Collins and DPJ both their junior and senior years.
The problem is that offense had a bunch of okay to good backs but none like we've had the last 3 years.
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:54 AM ^
I think if they were able to have Rudock back for a 2nd year then JT never has a chance to be short that game. I have a soft spot for Jake because he did pretty damn good on a team coming off a disastrous season with a new coach, new playbook, and only a short period of time to adapt to the system.
October 2nd, 2023 at 8:50 PM ^
21-23 are all better than 16 team. Speight and Deveon Smith were so so at best.
October 3rd, 2023 at 12:45 AM ^
Stringer, I wasn't listing in any order, just the best overall UM teams I've can remember.
97 won the national title, but some of these other teams were probably more stacked and just didn't get the job done.
October 2nd, 2023 at 9:53 PM ^
1999 had two issues: cornerback and backup tailback. We lost to MSU because we couldn't cover Plaxico Burress, and lost to Illinois after A-Train got hurt.
If William Peterson (later William James) hadn't gotten in trouble off the field, and Justin Fargas's leg hadn't blown up, that team could have run the table.
October 2nd, 2023 at 3:54 PM ^
I think this team is nowhere near their actual peak yet. I have to hope that things continue to gel. The running game is just starting to get going.
Only thing that scares me right now is the penn state game... road games there are not usually kind to other teams.
Have to hope we do what we did to osu on the road last year. Get by Maryland (ill be there!) and then boom... get lazer focused.
October 2nd, 2023 at 3:58 PM ^
I had the Happy Valley away game as a L for us however it is not a night-game and we are showing some promising signs that our D could truly be 'elite' this year.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:01 PM ^
Could be, but this is why we play. Everyone last year said we were the best team... we got super full of ourselves (figuratively) and then took a month off and looked like it. I think the hype train will go into overdrive if/when we beat PSU.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:46 PM ^
I've been to Happy Valley. The best case scenario is the 12 o clock start. This game at night would be a totally different story. They will have home field advantage until we go up by 10. Then it will become,"The Big House!"
GO BLUE
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:58 AM ^
It will be louder than shit at PSU the first 10 minutes of the game but with some lethargic drives and some scores they'll quiet the pace down to where the fans start doubting things like osu did last year.
I said last spring this Michigan team has too much experience and too many weapons to panic at psu.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
I get less worried about Penn State (still worried, but lesser amount) the more I watch them play.
Against bad teams (Illinois, NW) they struggle until those teams realize their own talent level
October 3rd, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
I’m with ya. Allar looks serviceable right now with a high ceiling. But going up against our D and OSU prior to will have him second guessing everything he thinks he’s seeing. I look for Minter to mind fuck the shit out of the young man.
October 2nd, 2023 at 10:03 PM ^
Only thing that scares me right now is the penn state game... road games there are not usually kind to other teams.
We're 2-2 there under Harbaugh and in one of the losses, we dropped the game-tying pass in the final minute.
October 2nd, 2023 at 11:01 PM ^
Penn State doesn't scare me, but the grass field does. We have not played well on grass. And the wins we did have there recently were all close games.
I'm actually glad the game at PSU is in November because it gets cold at night and firms up the ground under the grass, making it play closer to turf.
October 3rd, 2023 at 6:36 AM ^
I think we dominate Penn State. No doubt we have that game circled and the team knows the importance of those final three games. I can see Penn State going our way like Judgement day in 1997.
I am more worried about them overlooking Maryland than I am playing Penn State.
October 3rd, 2023 at 9:38 AM ^
the way Maryland is playing right now I don't see them getting overlooked.
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:02 AM ^
Yeah I dont think anybody is overlooking Maryland. That stopped a few seasons ago when they improved. I'm sure osu has used the bye week to try prepare for them because they had their own scare at Maryland last year.
October 2nd, 2023 at 3:56 PM ^
Having a lockdown D that can shutdown multiple type of offenses could be the difference just like in 1997. I had thought we had that D last year however TCU exposed minor weaknesses compounded by the JJ pick-6's.
....also Kalel Mullings is RB2 until further notice
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
Klatt loves Harbaugh, and loves to promote Michigan. I wish he'd ignore us, because I like flying under the radar and/or hearing the "they haven't played anyone" narrative.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
Well let me tell you, you're gonna love this guy called Urban Meyer.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:00 PM ^
I do love him knocking us on national television every chance he gets. More fuel for The Game. I recall that he said Michigan wasn't going to be able to run against the Buckeyes last year, too.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
"They WILL stop the run!"
252 rushing yards later... not to mention the 278 passing yards...
*chef kiss*
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
Our d line looked like they checked out of that game. I didnt like our run d at all in that game. If TCU knew how to grind down a clock like we do that game couldve ended with a lot less points for us.
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:05 AM ^
That TCU game was to weird and sloppy I don't think the defense really had a fair chance to get settled. Had the offense not made so many damn mistakes and not been robbed a TD the defense wouldn't have been under pressure the entire game.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:13 PM ^
Really appreciate Joel specifying that he didn't mean that Brock Bowers was literally naked during the game.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:39 PM ^
Agreed. Because at first I thought, well it makes perfect sense that he was wide open, Joel!
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:53 PM ^
Brock Landers would literally be naked.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:33 PM ^
Fun to hear, good fan stuff, but thats all it is right now .... fan stuff. But I do agree, they look very complete.
Sorry, debby downer lol
October 2nd, 2023 at 11:03 PM ^
Klatt is no "fan". Best analyst in CFB, IMO.
October 2nd, 2023 at 4:36 PM ^
This really is great to hear. Thank you for posting. Face it. We are looking at potentially great season and even winning the national championship. Of course it can always go sideways. We are in the hunt and have a great shot if everyone stays healthy. Also like the chemistry I keep reading about on this Michigan team.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:00 PM ^
Team looks great. I'd feel a bit better if our secondary was sharper but maybe it's just that they need injury recovery time. In this era of college football one is going to come up against some juggernaut passing offense and we do have to face the Harrison/Egbuka combo this year.
And I'd feel better if we had just 1 more top flight receiver for JJ to be able to depend on but hopefully the presence of Loveland/Donovan will mitigate that.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:17 PM ^
Klatt proving once again why he is the best analyst in the country next to Danielson.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:31 PM ^
Fuck joel klatt, dont need him or anyone else in the national media to blow up our balloon. They're gonna be the first ones tearing us down at any perceived weakness.
This team is great because they play great football, and I dont need no mercenary sports charlatans to tell me so.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:59 PM ^
That's certainly...a take.
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:43 PM ^
(guess I shoulda put this on 11W, not here. oops)
October 3rd, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
Tough Tough Tough
Yeah, oh, do da do da
I've got something to tell you
I've got something to prove
Tired of hearing my team is too soft
We gotta show everyone we can beat Blue
Darlin, we'll hang 100 on youuuu
Darlin, with only 10 defensemen
Oh (oh) rip their helmet off (rip their helmet off)
When we can't score on you
Oh (oh) Gonna headbutt ya (gonna headbutt ya)
Meltdown like we always do
Ohh ohh when the goin' gets tough the tough get going
October 2nd, 2023 at 5:49 PM ^
The same hype was said about #1 Michigan in 1976 and #1 Michigan in1977.
We were unbeatable until we weren't.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
Rat Poison.
October 2nd, 2023 at 6:08 PM ^
On a side note, mods can we please add this to the sites CSS?
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