Joel Klatt breaks down why Michigan is able to avoid struggles

The off-field noise around Michigan has been in a crescendo the last few weeks to the sign-stealing investigation looming over the program that some of the on-field accomplishments of the team have flown under the radar. The Wolverines entered their bye week this week with an 8-0 record and a margin of victory of +37.8.

That’s a full touchdown ahead of Oklahoma, which ranks second.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt on a recent episode of The Joel Klatt Show broke down what has made Michigan impervious to bad games this season.

“I started thinking to myself, Why is this so different?” Klatt said. “Why does everybody else struggle on this Saturday and why does Michigan not struggle? They rely on things that are reliable, not dissimilar from what Ohio State did with Marvin Harrison Jr. What’s the most reliable commodity for Ohio State? Marvin Harrison Jr. As a team, Michigan is built to rely on toughness, physicality, tackling, blocking well, being great at the line of scrimmage, their disciplined. They don’t commit penalties. They play the field position. They’re good on special teams. It’s like they do everything well. They limit your possessions. They run the clock. They know what they’re doing. They know how to win and they know why they win.”

The Wolverines defense has allowed a maximum of 10 points this season with no team managing to score more than one touchdown against them. Two weekends ago, Indiana led them 7-0 after the first quarter before Michigan dropped 52 unanswered points.

The team has averaged 49.5 points the past four weeks.

“It’s a suffocating experience to play Michigan,” Klatt said. “You can see it. I’ve said the analogy. Let’s face it, I created the analogy, we created the analogy, they are a boa constrictor. But why is it so much more consistent than all these other teams? Well, what they rely on is available to them every single week.”

The way Michigan is built — on defense, a strong line of scrimmage and a dominant run game — has made the team’s level of consistency much higher than other teams, Klatt explained.

The things they do really well can travel to any environment. And with J.J. McCarthy pulling the strings, the team has a veteran operator who can deal with a variety of situations.

“They don’t rely on things like rhythm,” Klatt said. “They’re not a 3-point shooter. Three-point shooters and teams built on the 3-pointer, they have off nights. You always see that. But what made the Warriors so good is that they were great on defense as well. They could do what they did on offense and still be a great team because they were solid on defense. Well, similarly, Michigan is solid in the areas that travel. Every night you can play with effort, every single night I’m gonna say night but every Saturday you can play with effort. By the way that travels on the road. It’s totally weatherproof. Physicality, that’s weatherproof.

“When you play that way, you’re gonna have less off days. Now it doesn’t mean that you might not have one but you’re gonna have far fewer than a team that’s built on rhythm. That’s built on passing. That’s built on timing. Those things are hard. They’re very hard, and that’s why Michigan doesn’t struggle.”