Joel Klatt questions whether Michigan can figure things out in second half

No. 24 Michigan returns to action on Saturday, hitting the road to take on No. 22 Illinois after being idle in Week 7.

Dropping their second game of the season against Washington during their last time out, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt doesn’t feel like they’re a top five team in the Big Ten after their most recent showing. Ahead of Saturday’s road trip, Klatt explained why there’s still room for improvement in Ann Arbor.

“Do we really know what Michigan is at this point in the season?” Klatt asked his audience. “You might argue that we don’t. Jack Tuttle comes in after the first quarter against Washington, and at the high end, with Jack Tuttle, it’s like, well, this team could be a playoff team. Watch out. They could win the rest of the games on their schedule. And then all of a sudden, the three series after that, when they’re turning the ball over, you’re like, ‘Oh, well, this isn’t going to work. Any team in the Big Ten can beat Michigan.

“Michigan has such a wild margin between what they could be at their best and what they are at their worst. Really, it all boils down to turnovers. If they can hold on to the football, they’re going to be tough to beat. But if they continue to turn the football over, then a lot of teams could beat them.”

Through Week 7, Michigan quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions (8) than they have touchdowns (6) in 2024. They’ve also turned the ball over at least once every game this season, including two or more times in four of the last five games.

Klatt pointed toward the rest of the schedule that Michigan has left this season, saying the Wolverines will “easily” have two or three more losses this season if they continue to turn the football over. That would leave Michigan with four or five losses the year after being crowned undefeated national champions.

However, Klatt believes the Wolverines can turn their fortunes around in the coming weeks.

“Something inside of me believes that we’re going to see the best version of Michigan in the second half of the season than what we saw in the first half,” Klatt said. “[That’s] when we saw three quarterbacks and a lot of turnovers and just not a lot of stability from that program. But we’ll see. As of now, they weren’t in my top five.”