Michigan Football: Shea Patterson proves he can deliver in the clutch

Michigan football found out that when it comes to clutch drives at the end of the game, Shea Patterson is good enough to deliver.

A key reason the Michigan football team went 8-5 a season ago was the poor play at the quarterback position and while Shea Patterson wasn’t great in last Saturday’s 20-17 win over Northwestern, he proved he can produce in the clutch.

Facing a 17-0 deficit in the first half and still down 17-13 in the fourth quarter, Michigan football took over the ball at its own 44-yard line, with just under 10 minutes left.

With the quarterbacks who played for Michigan a year ago, it would have been hard to be optimistic in that scenario. But with Patterson, needing 56 yards, it was hard not to feel confident. Yet after he failed to deliver, on the last drive against Notre Dame, there was still a question of whether or not he could get it done.

And with an 11-play scoring drive that capped the largest comeback in the Jim Harbaugh era, Patterson showed he doesn’t back down from the clutch. While Karan Higdon was a key part of the offensive attack all game and eventually scored the game-winning touchdown, on the final drive, he ran the ball six times for 11 yards. His first five touches on the drive yielded six yards.

So make no mistake, the most important drive of the game was all about Patterson. He opened it with a nine-yard completion to Jared Wangler, getting it off to a positive start. Following two Higdon runs, Michigan football faced a second-and-nine.

Michigan Wolverines

Harbaugh has been criticized for being too conservative with the play calling this season, but on second-and-long, he put his trust in Patterson, who delivered a strike to Zach Gentry for 13 yards. It wasn’t a super long gain but Patterson threw him open and found him in a tight window. In short, it was a pass few college quarterbacks could complete.

More than that, it was the kind of throw Michigan football wouldn’t have gotten last season. The next turning point happened three snaps later, with UM facing a third-and-six at Northwestern’s 37.

Patterson ran seven times for 31 yards in his best rushing effort of the season, however, his nine-yard gain on third down was one of the key plays in the comeback. The conversion gave Michigan a fresh set of downs, instead of facing a long field goal attempt for a fourth down. Two plays later, Patterson hit Gentry to 22 yards and right after that, Higdon scored.

It was the definition of a game-winning drive and it capped a performance that saw him go 15-of-24 for 196 yards. More than stats though, he was essential in picking up seven third downs and engineered three scoring drives of 11 plays.

Ultimately, what stood out was the fact that Patterson found a way to win a game Michigan football would have lost last season. Dylan McCaffrey is capable of doing the same thing, but there is no doubt, if the quarterback was the same as last season, the Wolverines would have lost.

To me, that’s progress. Some are pointing to the Northwestern game as an example that Michigan isn’t among the Big Ten elite. Yet, I don’t see it that way. For one, Northwestern is better than its record. Two of its three losses were to Top-25 teams and last season, the Wildcats won 10 games, plus they were off a bye.

And beyond that, every win isn’t going to be easy. But now at least, the Wolverines know they have a quarterback that can deliver in the clutch and that’s not something they had, at least not last season.