‘A team that has nothing to lose is always dangerous’: Joel Klatt breaks down Iowa-Michigan

The Iowa Hawkeyes battle the Michigan Wolverines for the second time in the past three seasons in the Big Ten Championship game tonight beginning at 7:15 p.m. CT on Fox.

Iowa (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) enters after a dramatic win at Nebraska where backup kicker Marshall Meeder booted through a walk-off, game-winning 38-yard field goal to down the Huskers, 13-10.

It was a historic victory for the Hawkeyes. With the win, Iowa secured its seventh 10-win regular season in school history and the fifth under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Meanwhile, Michigan (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) used a pair of rushing touchdowns from senior running back Blake Corum and one passing touchdown from junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy to topple Ohio State, 30-24. The Wolverines’ junior defensive back Rod Moore came away with the game-sealing interception of Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord in the final half minute.

It sets the stage for a win-and-in scenario for Michigan to the College Football Playoff tonight. But, can Iowa spoil those plans?

Set to call the game alongside play-by-play voice Gus Johnson and sideline analyst Jenny Taft, Fox color analyst Joel Klatt shared his final thoughts on the matchup on his podcast “The Joel Klatt Show.”

“This conference still has divisions, so is it the best two teams in the conferene? No, it’s not the best two teams in the conference, but I will just say this: Iowa is the type of a team that you don’t want to see in a scenario like this, because they’ve got nothing to lose and a team that has nothing to lose is always dangerous. In particular, a team that’s going to be so fundamentally sound and not make mistakes,” Klatt said.

Klatt touched on how well Michigan’s players and coaches handled the pair of suspensions for their head coach Jim Harbaugh and how they’ll need to do the same to capture the Big Ten crown tonight.

“This is the type of focus that they’re going to need now in this game. You’ve got a championship game environment, you’ve got a team that’s obviously well coached and well versed in Iowa. They need to come in, speaking of Michigan, and just try to handle their business,” Klatt said.

Though the Hawkeyes bring the nation’s worst total offense (246.3 yards per game) into this game against the country’s best scoring defense (10.25 points per game) and No. 2 total defense (246.8 yards per game), Klatt admires what Iowa has accomplished this season.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Iowa. I know they can be the punching bag at times, in particular their offense, but think about what this team has done. They’ve got the last ranked offense in the country and yet they’re 10-2. That doesn’t happen. That doesn’t happen without unbelievable coaching and Kirk Ferentz is one of the best coaches out there. They have dealt with an enormous amount of adversity, in particular when it relates to their injury situation,” Klatt said.

After touching on how Iowa will be without original starting quarterback Cade McNamara, tight ends Luke Lachey and Erick All and star cornerback and punt returner Cooper DeJean, Klatt discussed the Hawkeyes’ situation entering tonight’s championship game.

“So where does that leave them? Well, it leaves them with a backup quarterback, Deacon Hill. He’s 6-1 for Iowa. And it leaves them with one of the best defenses in the country. Iowa’s defense is in a lot of ways almost perfectly built. I’m a big believer in the philosophy of you force the offense to execute more times than you feel like they can execute.

“OK, so what you don’t want to do is just give cheap touchdowns and long touchdowns and Iowa doesn’t do that. They force you to earn your way down the field. They maintain their levels of defense, they keep their eyes in the backfield,” Klatt said.

Getting into some true football jargon, Klatt dissected some of Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker’s wizardry.

“And then the two things that they do really well and here’s where we’ll get really technical. Iowa leverages both people and the football as well as anybody in the country. OK, so when it comes to people, just playing with leverage, right? It’s a physical game. You’ve got to be lower than your opponent. How do you play with leverage?

“You play with great hand placement, you play with great strength. Their ability to do that is uncanny and then their ability to leverage the ball. So, the angles with which they take on defense, the way that they squeeze, the way that they pursue and do all of those things on the defensive side is one of the reasons or the big reason why they’re so good,” Klatt said.

So, does Iowa indeed have a puncher’s chance?

“They’re one of the best in the red zone and Michigan will have to play well to beat them. There’s no doubt. Their blueprint in this one is going to be defensive scores, special teams scores, possible short field here or there. And if they can do that and get the turnover game going, then there’s a chance that they could be Big Ten Champions,” Klatt said.

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Story originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire