Michigan's Defense is Key Against Indiana, But Joel Klatt Worries About Offense

Indiana lost its first game since the 2024 season this past weekend when the Hoosiers were inches away from knocking off Ohio State in Bloomington. Not only does Michigan get to host the national champions, but Curt Cignetti's team is going to march into Ann Arbor angry, looking for a win.

While this game isn't going to be easy for Michigan whatsoever, and could be the toughest game left on the Wolverines' schedule with quarterback doubt with Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State, Michigan's defense could be a major factor in this showdown.

The Hoosiers have one of the best rushing attacks in the Big Ten, but Nebraska and Ohio State have shut down Indiana's run game. The Hoosiers have run for 65 and 73 yards, respectively, in the last two games. As for quarterback Josh Hoover, Ohio State put pressure on Hoover, and he made some errant throws.

Fox's Joel Klatt finds this game fascinating because of the Wolverines' defense.

"I think this is a fascinating game and not just because I'm calling it," Klatt said. "I'm fascinated by this game because I don't think there's a huge difference in play between Michigan's defense and Ohio State's defense. And we just saw Ohio State's defense play pretty well against Indiana and challenge them in areas, force Hoover to make great throws, in particular, late in the game.

"And now here's this Michigan defense and they're number one in the country in yards per play allowed. And they're going to have a similar style where they're going to be aggressive up front, try to stop the run, play a lot of man coverage on the outside, challenge Becker and Marsh, force Hoover to make tight window throws."

Michigan's offense is a different story

Michigan quarterback Tommy Carr (14), left, celebrates a first down against Penn State with wide receiver JJ Buchanan — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While Klatt is confident in what Michigan's defense can provide, it's not the same with the Wolverines' offense. It's not official, but all signs point to Michigan making a quarterback change this weekend. Tommy Carr should receive the first start of his career this weekend after he replaced Bryce Underwood last weekend against Penn State.

Klatt believes that's the right move, but can Michigan's offense move the ball on Indiana if it needs to? That remains to be seen.

"Then the question comes like, well, what happens when Michigan has the ball," asked Klatt. "And that's when we just kind of everybody throws their arms up. I don't know. My biggest question would be for Michigan. Can you win the game by driving the football on the Indiana defense? I don't know about that. I think that they're going to need to create some short fields, create some special teams opportunities in order to get an advantage over that Indiana defense."

After the Iowa debacle, anything is possible

Michigan defensive end John Henry Daley (90) and defensive end Dom Nichols (8) sack Iowa quarterback Hank Brown — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Klatt questioned whether Michigan could move the ball if it needed to. Everyone said the same thing about Iowa when the Hawkeyes had to drive the ball 90 yards to beat Michigan. With help from the Wolverines' defense, Iowa did just that and scored a game-winning touchdown against Michigan.

The Wolverines' defense is clearly better than the Iowa offense, but Zeke Berry committed a bad foul, and some luck was on the Iowa side. But the result was the result.

We don't know what Tommy Carr is or isn't capable of yet, either. He looked good in a small sample size this season, but this will be his first major start against a great defense. Carr sparked Michigan's offense in the second half, and if the Wolverines can continue to run the ball downhill effectively, that could be the mojo Carr needs to roll this weekend.

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