Joel Klatt Questions Top 5 College Football Program's Ability To Stop The Run In Week 2

On Friday's episode of " The Joel Klatt Show " podcast, Joel Klatt previewed the Week 2 top ten clash between the No. 10-ranked Michigan Wolverines and No. 3-ranked Texas Longhorns from Michigan Stadium on Sept. 7, particularly questioning the Longhorns' ability to stop the Wolverines' rushing attack.

The Longhorns are coming off a 52-0 Week 1 victory over the Colorado State Rams; however, the Rams' "air raid" passing attack did not necessarily test Texas' run defense. As for the Wolverines, the program struggled to find run-game consistency in their Week 1 30-10 win over the Fresno State Bulldogs primarily due to their offensive line replacing four of five starters.

Klatt discussed how the Longhorns' defensive coordinator has the tendency to play two safeties deep in coverage which could hurt their ability to stop the run, especially with inexperience at the defensive tackle position.

"Texas wants, at least their coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, his history is he wants to be an open middle of the field coverage guy," Klatt said.

"He wants to have two safeties back and he doesn't want to give up the big play. A few years ago, it burned him because teams like Oklahoma State could just run the football on him, and they ended up beating Texas. Now last year, he could do that because he had great defensive tackles. So you can play two safeties back when you've got great defensive tackles. And without those guys, can you really stop the Michigan run game with two safeties back?"

Klatt continued by stating the Longhorns' ability to shut down the Wolverines' run game will be key to whether or not they can give Michigan their first home loss since Nov. 27, 2021.

"That, to me, becomes the game," Klatt added. "If Texas can sit there and stop the run, then it's going to be lights out for Michigan. But if they've got to drop their safety and get out of what they want to do, then it becomes a much bigger question because that's when Colston Loveland could get one-on-one coverage and Michigan can potentially throw the ball a little bit."

The Wolverines and Longhorns are set to clash from Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sept. 7 at noon ET. The game will be broadcast on Fox, with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt calling the game.

As the top ten matchup dominates the early slate of games, the college football world will undoubtedly have its eyes set on whether Texas is truly part of the elite group of programs this fall.

Related: Texas vs Michigan Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines