The Michigan Wolverines face a pivotal game this weekend as they host the USC Trojans at The Big House.
With one embarrassing home loss already this season, Michigan can’t afford another slip-up as they open Big Ten play. (That’s right, USC is in the Big Ten, remember??)
Complicating matters, the Wolverines will be starting a new quarterback for the high-stakes showdown.
Davis Warren initially won the starting quarterback job, but after a rough outing that included three interceptions against Arkansas State, head coach Sherrone Moore has decided to make a switch. Alex Orji will now take the reins, fundamentally altering the dynamics of Michigan’s offense.
Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt claimed the Wolverines are facing a full-blown identity crisis.
“Now this team [USC] faces a Michigan team that is in full identity crisis,” Klatt said. “They’re changing the quarterback, and it’s not just like one for another, it’s an entire philosophy for another. Yeah, they don’t know what they are.
“What Davis Warren provides is vastly different than what Alex Orji provides at quarterback in terms of what their skill set is and what the offense’s philosophy will likely be when they’re in at quarterback.”
This was a great point by Klatt. However, he did make sure to mention that the 180-switch could spell trouble for USC’s defense.
“I don’t envy D’Anton Lynn and USC, because they’re going into this and it’s basically an opener,” Klatt continued. “It’s like, ‘well, what are we going to see from from Michigan offensively?’ Probably a lot of run. And if I’m Michigan, guess what I’m going to do? Probably run it 50 or 55 times.
“I want to shorten the game, keep Lincoln’s offense off the field, and I want to put Alex Orji in the best possible situation to succeed. Why not test the USC defense in terms of their physicality?”
The Trojans’ defense, however, has shown significant improvement under new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. Coming into the season, Michigan was listed as a 10-point favorite in this matchup largely due to doubts about USC’s defense.
Surprisingly, the much-criticized Trojan defense has actually emerged as a strength.
“USC needed to answer for me one specific question. Could you play average defense?” Klatt said. “Because I thought average defense would make them a pretty good football team. Yeah, it’s better than average. D’Anton Lynn, their defensive coordinator, has come in and made that a strength of theirs.”
Lynn’s defensive system draws parallels to Michigan’s recent defensive schemes, as Lynn, along with former Michigan defensive coordinators Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, all came up through the Baltimore Ravens’ style of defense.
This approach has been key to USC’s defensive turnaround.
“I thought that USC had far too many defenders that were in one-on-one situations in space in previous years, not just like trying to defend, but trying to tackle in space one on one, what you see from this structure of defense is a very different style of defense,” Klatt continued.
“This is the Baltimore Ravens style of defense. So D’Anton [Lynn] under that Baltimore Ravens staff. So he was in the room with Jesse Minter and Mike Macdonald when they were all learning this defense.
“He [D’Anton Lynn] goes off onto his own and what this defense does in its structure and why it’s been so successful, wildly successful everywhere it’s been, by the way.
“Here’s what it does: Leverages the football well, and what they do is they force teams to drive 8, 9, 10, 11 plays, versus creating big plays, because they don’t expose their players to one-on-one situations.
“They build a run wall up front with their interior defensive line. They have hard edges on the outside, and then they leverage the football with their structure of defense in the secondary, in order to have hybrid athletes go and pinch the football and leverage the football.
“So what does that mean? … That means that they don’t have as many one-on-one situations in space where one guy has to make the tackle. That’s what killed, decimated USC in previous years, and now you don’t find that as much.”
Needless to say, tomorrow’s battle at The Big House is certainly one of the highlights of the day.
Kickoff is set for 3:30pm EST as the nation anxiously waits to see if Michigan can muster up enough pride to pull off the upset.
What are your thoughts on Klatt’s take?
More importantly, what is your prediction for the matchup???