Shea Patterson key to unlocking Michigan’s national title hopes
The Michigan Wolverines have one road to a national championship and it goes through quarterback Shea Patterson.
Expectations and reality rarely travel the same path in the college football landscape. If they did, every program would be hoisting a national championship at season’s end and coaches would be receiving lifetime contract extensions. However, that’s not how things work in college football or any sport for that matter.
Just ask the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan has been the poster child for expectation since Jim Harbaugh stepped foot back in Ann Arbor again and began recruiting the nation’s best players in a variety of entertaining ways. After the success Harbaugh had with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, pundits began setting the bar high for the Wolverines.
After all, Harbaugh was immediately changing the way programs recruit by doing things his way. If you were just to take a glance at Michigan on paper through the Harbaugh era to date, it would feel a tad underwhelming, especially on the heels of last year’s five-loss season. They’ve had their chance to shine in big games and have fallen a foot short seemingly in most situations.
From the blocked punt against Michigan State, the failure to stop J.T. Barrett on fourth down and costing themselves a playoff spot, all the way to a key special teams gaffe against Florida State in the Orange Bowl, the Wolverines haven’t quite yet pushed through under Harbaugh to get to that National Championship contention point.
Enter Shea Patterson.
The Wolverines are without a doubt coming off of their most agonizing season under Harbaugh yet. They suffered their third straight loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes under their head coach and they also were the only Big Ten program to lose a bowl game.
Patterson comes to Michigan with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The former top quarterback recruit in his class and a five-star recruit, Patterson is no stranger to feeling the weight of expectations. While the 2017 version of the Wolverines was plagued by injuries, inefficiency and inexperience at the quarterback position, Harbaugh won’t have those problems with a healthy and eligible Patterson.
Wilton Speight and John O’Korn are gone, but Brandon Peters and Dylan McCaffrey will compete for the job with Patterson, but that’s just an inevitability because Patterson didn’t leave Ole Miss to sit on the bench at Michigan.
Having a game-changing quarterback can cover for many of the other shortcomings faced by Michigan last year. Patterson comes in with eligibility intact after his transfer from Ole Miss and certainly knows that the Wolverines will go as far as he takes them.
Before he suffered a torn PCL this past season, Patterson was on fire in the SEC. He had amassed 2,259 yards in seven games and was well on his way to an incredible year in a conference full of stout defenses and NFL prospects.
Life in the Big Ten isn’t much easier, but Patterson carries the confidence that the Wolverines sorely need from their man under center. If they are to put themselves in a spot to reach the College Football Playoff, they need a quarterback who can not only put up big numbers but be a leader in the locker room.
Patterson can do both.
The relationship between the quarterback and the head coach is key to success for any program. Patterson is now Harbaugh’s guy and entering his fourth year back at his alma mater, he knows this has to be the year to see big results from his efforts on the recruiting trail.
Harbaugh’s 28-11 record in three seasons certainly isn’t terrible, but it’s not going to cut it either over the next three. With plenty of recruits now having playing experience and a star quarterback transferring in, this is where the road between expectation and reality will either travel the same path or split off once more in agonizing fashion for the maize and blue.