Michigan football’s savior: QB Shea Patterson

Shea Patterson has given many Michigan Football fans hope for the future and aspirations of a national championship this year

To everyone’s surprise, Shea Patterson decided to leave Ole Miss and take his talents to the Michigan football team. Patterson was unhappy with the transition of coaches, scheme changes, and the postseason ban at Ole Miss. With the ongoing questions about the quarterback situation at Michigan, it seemed like the perfect fit for all parties involved.

Jim Harbaugh has earned a reputation as a quarterback guru ever since his coaching days in Stanford. Turning Andrew Luck into a first overall pick and developing Colin Kaepernick into a Super Bowl quality quarterback. Unfortunately, that transition hasn’t been so kind to Harbaugh since coming to Michigan.

The experiments of John O’Korn, Brandon Peters, and Wilton Speight last year didn’t go as well as everybody had hoped for. Patterson, who has a better pedigree than all of the mentioned quarterbacks, could help turn things around for Harbaugh.

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Patterson showed he can produce against SEC defenses. In his two seasons, at Ole Miss he threw for 3,139 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions through ten games. In comparison, Michigan quarterbacks threw for less than 10 all of last season. One would think with a quarterback like Patterson being under Harbaugh’s wing is the step needed to get over the hump for not only a Big Ten Title but possibly a national championship.

So far he has earned the respect of the majority of Michigan coaches. Here is what Michigan’s defensive coordinator Don Brown had to say about Patterson. “He’s a veteran guy. He’s a confident guy,” Brown said. “He has the ability to do things with his legs. He’s got a quick release. I just like the guy. I just like him. He’s a good guy. He’s a confident guy as I said and a very good athlete. When you couple the ability to throw, the ability to maneuver and move around as an athlete and a guy that has experience.”

Technically, he is still in competition for the starting quarterback spot. Competing against Brandon Peters, Dylan McCaffrey, and Joe Milton. Everyone knows though that this is Patterson’s job to lose. He has the most starting experience of the quarterbacks and he is also in the Heisman consideration as well according to Kevin McGuire of Athlon Sports.

The expectations for Michigan are as high as they ever have been this season. For Wolverine fans, the measure of success has always been how well Michigan played against fellow Big 10 teams especially Ohio State and Michigan State. If the Wolverines want to win the Big 10, the roads lead through those two teams.

The weight is on both Patterson’s and Harbaugh’s shoulders to produce this season. From Patterson, he seems like he has the confidence fans want in their quarterback. “It’s not pressure to me; it’s second nature,” Patterson told B/R. “I watched Michigan play last year. I saw the talent on the team. I came in here thinking if I can help them out, maybe I can be that missing piece.”

The Wolverines will get their first test early playing against Norte Dame at South Bend. This will be a good test for not only Patterson but for the Michigan Wolverines as a whole. If things go in the right directions maybe the Wolverines can get over the hump and see if Patterson is truly the savior everyone is hailing him to be.