Michigan
Joel Klatt rips Michigan Football for ‘awful’ 4th quarter vs. Washington
Michigan held a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter at Washington on Saturday, but the Wolverines were outscored 13-0 in the final frame and dropped their second game this season.
In wake of Michigan’s defeat, Fox Sports’ college football analyst Joel Klatt ripped the Wolverines’ for their poor execution and scheme in the fourth quarter and explained what went wrong for U-M on his podcast, The Joel Klatt Show.
“The fourth quarter starts, and Michigan reverts to a version of Michigan that, quite frankly, I haven’t seen for the last three years.” Klatt said. “It was a team that was undisciplined, they were not fundamentally sound, the structures and the schematics were bad and the decision-making was bad. It was all bad in the fourth quarter.”
Film for @UMichFootball & @UW_Football was fascinating…Washington gets better every week & I really like Will Rogers…Michigan was awful in 4th quarter — Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) October 7, 2024
– bad structures on 6 man pressures
– missed tackles
– Losing the edge
– turnovers led to short fields for UW
– bad routes
Klatt specifically broke down one fourth quarter defensive play, in which Michigan rushed with six defenders and left five players in coverage against four Washington receivers. The problem was, the Wolverines’ pre-snap alignment was wrong, and Michigan was in zone coverage with the five non-blitzing defenders. Klatt explained what went wrong on the play, which can be viewed below:
The result is predictable. pic.twitter.com/j73MDRJPZK
— Due# (@JDue51) October 6, 2024
“The defense lines up, and before the snap of the football, I pause the film and I’m like, ‘Well, that’s wrong.’ They have a single-high safety, they have two corners and then they have three linebackers and one of the linebackers is walked out towards the single receiver, towards the wide side of the field…So, I’m looking at this and I’m like, well this isn’t very good, because now all they have is one corner and kind of a linebacker over [Washington’s] three-receiver structure. And then they blitz! Six guys!
“The two linebackers that were lined up inside, and the four down lineman, all blitz…and there is a supprt player walked out to the field, [nickelback Zeke Berry], with no one to defend. And there’s only two players that are possible left to defend the three-receiver side. And they just have a nice completion there because they can’t get to the quarterback in time, and he just throws it over there because no one’s defending him.
“One, you can’t play zone if you’re going to blitz six guys. You better be in man-to-man defense, and you have two players over three? It blew my mind. Maybe it’s just a missed assignment, but that’s not a structure you can win with.”
While that is just an example of one play, it’s representative of many of the schematic and execution errors that Michigan has suffered from this season, particularly in the fourth quarter. Klatt pointed out that the Wolverines have surrendered 63 points in the final frame this season, the sixth-most in all of college football. This comes one year after Michigan allowed just 47 points total in the fourth quarter in 15 games last season.
“I’ve told you before, this Michigan team does not have a margin for error,” Klatt said. “So they’ve got to play sound, everything. They’ve got to do…everything right. You’ve got to play with great technique, you’ve got to play with great game-management, decision-making, fundamentals. And all of that fell apart in the fourth quarter. If you turn the football over and you lose the field position battle as a Michigan team, you will lose the game, and they did. They gave up two short fields in the fourth quarter, and gave up 10 points because of it, and they walked into that fourth quarter with a 17-14 lead. You can’t win like that.
“When you walk through the film and you watch that, here’s what you see: You see a team that, structurally, on some of these defensive blitzes is not sound…After one of the turnovers, they lose the edge on defense [resulting in a long run]. You run a bad route on the interception, Colston Loveland is drifting down the field, and I’m like, none of this is right. Bad structures, bad fundamentals, bad decisions, all of it bad. That’s why they got beat in the fourth quarter. They don’t have a good enough team to do that.
“Last year, that team was insanely detailed, insanely fundamentally sound and they had J.J. McCarthy to bail them out on third down when needed. And they had Roman Wilson and some wide receivers that could actually go get it, which is another big third down thing. This team doesn’t have that, so they better be buttoned up, and they weren’t, and they got beat.”
– Enjoy more Michigan Wolverines coverage on Michigan Wolverines On SI –
Michigan vs. Illinois kickoff time, television provider announced
REPORT: Former Wolverine, NFL cornerback suffers season-ending injury
Recruiting: Fast-rising defensive lineman puts Michigan Football in ‘Top 5’
For additional coverage of University of Michigan athletics:
The supreme court on Wednesday sided with Michigan in ruling that the state’s lawsuit seeking to shut down a section of an ageing pipeline beneath a Great Lakes channel will stay in state court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for a unanimous court that the Enbridge energy company waited too long to try to move the case to federal court.
The case is part of a messy legal dispute about a pipeline that has moved crude oil and natural gas liquids between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, since 1953.
Dana Nessel, Michigan’s attorney general, sued in state court in June 2019 seeking to void the easement that allows Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4km) section of pipeline under the straits of Mackinac, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Nessel, a Democrat, won a restraining order shutting down the pipeline from Ingham county judge James Jamo in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to continue operations after meeting safety requirements.
Enbridge moved the lawsuit into federal court in 2021, arguing it affects US and Canadian trade. But a three-judge panel from the sixth US circuit court of appeals sent the case back to Jamo in June 2024, finding that the company missed a 30-day deadline to change jurisdictions.
The pipeline at issue is called Line 5. Concerns over the section beneath the straits rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.
The Michigan department of natural resources under Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor, revoked the straits easement for Line 5 in 2020. Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging the revocation.
Enbridge won a ruling from a federal judge blocking the move, but Whitmer, a Democrat, has appealed to the sixth US circuit court of appeals. In March, the supreme court rejected Whitmer’s appeal claiming that she couldn’t be sued in federal court.
It was unclear how the federal ruling blocking Whitmer’s revocation attempt would affect Nessel’s case in state court. The company said in a statement that the judge in the Whitmer case had already decided federal regulators, not the state, are responsible for Line 5 safety and they had found no issues that would warrant shutting it down.
Enbridge also is seeking permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel. The Michigan public service commission granted the relevant permits in 2023, but a coalition of environmental groups and Michigan tribes has filed a lawsuit seeking to void state permits for the tunnel. The state supreme court is weighing that case.
Enbridge also needs approval from the US army corps of engineers and the Michigan department of environment, Great Lakes and energy.
The pipeline is at the center of a separate legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has appealed against the shutdown order to the seventh US circuit court of appeals, but it started work in February to reroute the line around the reservation.
The Bad River Band and environmental groups have filed a state lawsuit seeking to halt the work, arguing regulators have underestimated the damage the reroute construction will cause. That case also is pending.
Porter Martone becomes first teenager to score game-winning goals in his first two NHL playoff games.
Porter Martone becomes first teenager to score game-winning goals in his first two NHL playoff games.
Three Michigan State recruits will represent Team USA at the world U18 hockey championships in Bratislava and Trencin, Slovakia.
The U.S. opens against Czechia on Wednesday (10 a.m., The Hockey Network).
The future Spartans are: defenseman Nick Bogas (Royal Oak), defenseman Tyler Martyniuk (Washington Township) and forward Brooks Rogowski (Brighton).
Other local commits include: defenseman Abe Barnett (University of Michigan) and goalie Luke Carrithers (Western Michigan).
Team USA’s head coach is Nick Fohr (Dexter) with Kevin Porter (Northville) and Dan Darrow (Livonia) among the assistant coaches.
The tournament features 10 countries with the final scheduled for May 2.
Bruins tie series with Sabres
The visiting Boston Bruins scored three second-period goals and held off a late Buffalo Sabres rally to post a 4-2 win on Tuesday and even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series at one victory apiece.
Viktor Arvidsson scored in the last two periods, giving the Bruins 1-0 and 4-0 leads. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also lit the lamp for Boston, which heads home for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.
Jonathan Aspirot, Casey Mittelstadt and David Pastrnak each dished out two assists for the Bruins, and Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.
Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored as Buffalo climbed within 4-2 in the closing minutes.
Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on 19 shots before Alex Lyon entered in relief following Arvidsson’s second marker, which came just 16 seconds into the third period.
Buffalo had a 36-26 shot advantage, including 20-8 in the third period, but its power play went 0-for-5. Boston finished 1-for-6 on the man advantage.
The physical contest featured 47 penalty minutes for each team.
Following a scoreless opening period, the Bruins took over in the second, scoring on three of their 11 shots against Luukkonen.
Arvidsson broke the deadlock 4:54 into the middle frame, taking Aspirot’s lob pass in ahead of the defense and beating Luukkonen five-hole with a backhander from the left circle.
A gaffe by Luukkonen helped Boston double its lead with 3:31 left in the period, as Geekie’s high backhanded dump from the far side of center ice eluded him over the glove.
The Bruins’ power play got in on the action 1:41 later. After Geekie’s one- handed keep-in at the blue line extended the play, Zacha tipped in Pastrnak’s shot from the top of the right circle while stationed in the bumper position.
Arvidsson made it 4-0 early in the third, prompting Sabres coach Lindy Ruff to change goaltenders. Aspirot banked a long feed off the boards to set up the play, leading Arvidsson down the left wing to score on a 2-on-1 rush with Zacha.
The Sabres struck twice in a 1:14 span to make things interesting. Byram accepted Beck Malenstyn’s back pass for a wrister from the top of the right circle to break Swayman’s shutout bid with 6:06 left.
Krebs soon made it 4-2, batting down and scoring the rebound of a Rasmus Dahlin point shot that caromed off the post and back into the crease.
Detroit Red Wings received six A’s in The Detroit News’ final grades for the 2025-2026 season.
Grades and key takeaways for Finnie, Gibson, Seider, Larkin, Raymond and DeBrincat after the Wings’ late collapse.
-
Kentucky11 minutes agoSadiqa Reynolds removed from U of L board, as Kentucky Senate doesn’t confirm her
-
Louisiana17 minutes agoMom whose 3 children were killed in Louisiana mass shooting still has bullet lodged in face — and sometimes thinks kids are alive
-
Maine23 minutes agoThese are the Best Outdoor Dining Joints in Maine, According to Locals
-
Maryland29 minutes agoU.S. Air Force reverses course on retiring A-10 Thunderbolt planes, making way for potential Maryland return
-
Michigan35 minutes agoUS supreme court sides with Michigan in its fight to shut down ageing pipeline
-
Massachusetts41 minutes agoHeavy police presence due to ‘ongoing incident’ in Tewksbury
-
Minnesota47 minutes agoTikToker’s ban from St. Paul parks lifted after appeal, agent says
-
Mississippi53 minutes ago8 rivers, lakes are the most alligator-infested water in Mississippi