Michigan Football: Shea Patterson looks the part vs Western Michigan

Shea Patterson looked like a star in the 49-3 win over Western Michigan for Michigan football Saturday and that was the most encouraging part of UM’s win.

When you win a game by the score of 49-3, it’s safe to say a lot of things went right. For the Michigan football team, a lot of things went right Saturday against Western Michigan, but maybe the biggest thing was the stellar play of quarterback Shea Patterson.

Patterson, who was starting just his second game as a Michigan football quarterback, looked in complete control. He was 12-of-17 for 125 yards and more importantly, he threw three touchdown passes, each of which might not have been complete if John O’Korn was still throwing the football.

Yet, the most exciting throw of the day was a 44-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins, which ended a 364-day streak with a touchdown catch by a UM wideout. It was fitting that Collins was the one to break it.

That was a good throw by Patterson and it was perfectly on a dime. However, it wasn’t even his best effort of the day. That throw came in the third quarter, with Michigan football in front 35-0.

Donovan Peoples-Jones, who came to Michigan as the top-ranked wide receiver in 2017, hadn’t caught a touchdown pass until Saturday when Patterson dropped this beautiful pass into him in the corner of the end zone.

Outside of that, Michigan didn’t need to throw the ball a whole lot. Patterson attempted 17 throws and probably could have got away with around 10. But he made a nice pass to Sean McKeon in the first quarter on a rollout, hitting McKeon in stride and giving him a chance to reach the pylon, which he did for the Wolverines first touchdown.

The third throw was the easiest but Patterson makes it seem much simpler. If he doesn’t hit McKeon perfectly in stride and right in the numbers, he doesn’t score. It’s a small thing but it’s the difference between a first down and a touchdown.

The dime to Peoples-Jones was also impressive. It was one of a number of throws that caught the eye of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who said this to reporters after the game:

“A couple throws he made out of the pocket — those are big-time plays. He was really accurate again, playing cool and making the tight-window throws like last week. He’s ascending, playing really well.”

Patterson also took care of the football and he was sacked just once. He also ran for a first down on a zone read, which is a good look to give opposing defenses. Truthfully, he did it all and hopefully, he’s just scratching the surface.

The Wolverines still have a ways to go but with just one more non-conference game before the start of Big Ten play, it looks like Patterson and the offense are rounding into form. Finally.