Michigan Football: Key to beating Ohio State is at quarterback

Why might Michigan football finally get over the hump against Ohio State in 2019? The answer lies at quarterback.

There are many reasons why Ohio State has dominated Michigan football for much of the last two decades, but the biggest has been the lopsided play at quarterback.

At one time, it was Michigan that had the advantage at quarterback. From around the time that Jim Harbaugh was the Wolverines starter, all the way up through Chad Henne, just about every UM starting quarterback got drafted. Scott Dreisbach even got picked in the draft after being a backup.

But since the era of Jim Tressel and really since the days of Troy Smith, the Buckeyes have had much better players at quarterback and it has made all the difference in college football’s fiercest rivalry.

Just look at some of the guys who have started for Ohio State. There was Smith. Then, Terrelle Pryor, Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Dwayne Haskins and even Cardale Jones, the third-string QB in 2015 who led Ohio State to a national title.

Certainly, Urban Meyer and the coaching edge he had over Harbaugh helped. But the bigger advantage was who he had at quarterback, because most of the time if your team has the better head coach and the better quarterback, you are going to win.

Why do you think the New England Patriots have won so many titles? Brady and Belichick. The formula isn’t all that difficult.

And for the last four years, the combination of Meyer and Miller, Haskins, Barrett and whoever else has just been better than whatever Harbaugh had to offer. But when he was throwing out guys like Jake Rudock and Wilton Speight, it’s not a shock that he got beat.

In fact, with Speight as the starter, it’s a shock that Michigan was on the doorstep of winning in Columbus if it wasn’t for one of the worst calls in college football history.

But now, Harbaugh isn’t bringing a knife to a gunfight. He has Shea Patterson and he has him coming back as a second-year starter. That’s a big deal and with Josh Gattis calling the plays, it’s not insanely bold to label Patterson as the Big Ten’s best quarterback.

Ohio State has a talented signal-caller too, as head coach Ryan Day named former five-star Justin Fields his starter on Monday. Fields, like Patterson prior to 2018, transferred and was granted immediate eligibility.

But is Fields better than Patterson? That’s hard to say and certainly, you have to believe the depth behind him is worse than what Michigan has to offer with Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton.

The Wolverines have three legitimate starting quarterbacks, while Ohio State really only has one, despite what Day says. Gunnar Hoak has only 26 career passes to his credit and if the Kentucky transfer has to play, the Buckeyes may struggle.

That’s not the case for the Wolverines. But even with the starters, Michigan football should have the advantage. The Game is at the Big House in 2019, which grants an edge to UM all by itself. Look at how Harbaugh nearly beat Meyer with John O’Korn as his QB in 2017.

That game proved Harbaugh was on a level playing field with Meyer in terms of getting the most of his talent. He just didn’t have as much and at the game’s most important position, it was too much to overcome.

Now with a former five-star quarterback of its own, one with veteran experience and savvy, in a fancy new up-tempo offense, UM should finally have the upper hand.

And if Patterson proves that he can give Michigan an edge over the Buckeyes at quarterback, then the Wolverines seven-game losing streak to Ohio State will finally come to an end.