OK, we’ve heard a lot from both FOX Sports color commentator Joel Klatt and Ohio State coach-turned-analyst Urban Meyer about why they’re impressed by Michigan after Big Ten Week 1, but what’s a little more, right?
Or, how about a lot more?
On Klatt’s YouTube series, Breaking the Huddle, he welcomed on Meyer to talk about the state of college football after he revealed his new Top 10 — he had Michigan at No. 8, the second-best Big Ten team at the moment.
As the duo started by talking about Ohio State, even Meyer sees greatness brewing up in the state of Michigan — and he isn’t talking about MSU.
“The team that’s going to be challenging now is in Ann Arbor,” Meyer said. “That was a much improved looking team than last year.”
“I felt like Michigan was flying under the radar a bit this year,” Klatt added. “They were gonna have a new quarterback, we had several opt-outs, they were missing a bunch of their really talented wide receivers, and yet, they came out, it was the best Michigan looked – at least for me offensively, maybe since the year you had to beat them in overtime? They looked really good.”
Meyer went even further than he did in his film breakdown on BTN this week, sharing how much he loves what he’s seen from both quarterback Joe Milton and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.
“I think even better than that,” Meyer said. “You have a quarterback – my gosh, it’s so early and I don’t want to fall in the trap, everyone starts anointing people the savior. But I remember watching him two years ago, I’m thinking, ‘My gosh, look at this talent!’ He didn’t have a great high school career – I don’t know the whole story there, I’m sure that will come out at some point. But I’ll tell you what – Josh Gattis called a helluva game. I went back and watched it. A good majority – we talked about this the other day on the phone – they threw for I think 240, something like that. I’d say 180 of it is on RPOs and screens and getting the ball out fast. The viewer needs to understand: that’s not easy. When I hear people say ‘easy throws,’ that’s not true. That’s gotta come out – matter of fact, you don’t even get the laces sometimes, they come out so fast.
“Very impressive playcalling and execution by the offense.”
While the offense was rolling, there’s still some concern about the defense.
That’s what Klatt wants to see moving forward, while he hopes that the offense will continue to take strides towards being elite.
He’s not ready to crown any of the above as being on that level, but he sees the progress of a Michigan program that’s long been above average, but not yet on the level of the Clemsons and Alabamas of the world.
“Will be interesting to see how their defense continues to play, because they’re missing some of the talent in the back end,” Klatt said. “Daxton Hill got banged up, that safety. We’ll see if he’s back this week as they take on Michigan State. They’ve got a good pass rush – which I know you’ve leaned on for years at Ohio State with those great pass rushers. Now, I’m not saying they’re in the class of the Bosas and the Youngs, but Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye can get after it on the outside, and I think that pays huge dividends for Don Brown’s defense.
“But Joe Milton is the X-factor as the quarterback. He is really good. He’s got a huge arm. As good of an arm as I’ve seen in college football in quite some time. So we’ll see how that manifests itself moving forward for Michigan.”
At that point, Meyer left, and Klatt spent seven-plus minutes doing a film breakdown on what the Wolverines were able to do.
We’ve segmented it below, where you can watch and/or read his comments on what Michigan did well in Big Ten Week 1 against Minnesota, and why he feels like the success could be sustainable.
