Joel Klatt: ‘Michigan looks lost’ this season

The reinging national champions continue their search for an offensive identity entering Week 6 of the college football season.

Michigan has a new coach, a new quarterback(s) and a slew of new obstacles in the form of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA all seperate the Wolverines from once again obtaining College Football Playoff glory for a second-straight season.

Despite rattling off three consecutive victories since losing to Texas 31-12 in Week 2, including a 27-24 win over an 11th-ranked Trojans squad in Week 4, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt is not sold on first-year head coach Sherrone Moore’s squad.

“Michigan looks lost right now. This is not anywhere close to the teams that we have seen over the last three years,” Klatt said on Wednesday. “Now, they want it to be similar, and the difference is that — I just don’t sense that they have a real deep understanding of who they are. This Michigan team in the first half against Minnesota looked very good. The entire game against Texas, looked totally lost.

“There were so many mistakes in the passing game, too many turnovers, and then they went to Alex Orji and there’s just no passing game to speak of. They get up big on both USC and then Minnesota in the first half, and then they totally fall apart with an inability to move the ball offensively in the second half. They allow the opposition to get back in the game.”

Klatt called Michigan’s struggle to stay consistent is surprising to him. The Wolverines’ identity has been stripped, he said. The college football analyst sees Michigan finding itself in more one possession games, further putting pressure on their offensive line and quarterback. Klatt specifically called on the passing game to improve if Michigan wants to find itself back in the College Football Playoffs.

“They have lost some of that Michigan identity, which means that they don’t have a blueprint to follow like they did in previous years, and there’s no margin for error,” Klatt continued. “If they’re not perfect, then all of a sudden they can be beat, and they can be beat in a hurry. So the rest of the year now, what Michigan is going to have to deal with is the fact that if they’re not perfect, they will be vulnerable to be beat.”

Despite the Wolverines’ woes, they’re still 4-1 and the No. 10 team in the country. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them back in the CFP mix down the stretch this season, but at the same time is heading into Week 6 as an underdog against an unranked Washington team as field goal underdogs.

Kickoff between Michigan and the Huskies is set for 7:30 p.m. ET live on NBC and Peacock.