Michigan Football has to be ready for a nightmare scenario

This 2020 Michigan football season is unlike any other and that’s also why the backup quarterback is taking on new importance.

Michigan football fans are feeling good right now as the Wolverines trounced Minnesota last week and are getting prepared to watch the Wolverines take on the Spartans Saturday.

But in this new world of college sports with COVID-19, numerous scenarios are always around the corner and as we have seen in other parts of the Big Ten, things can change quickly.

Wisconsin is who we are talking about as the Badgers rolled last Friday in their Big Ten opener behind freshman quarterback Graham Mertz, who took over the job following an injury to Jack Coan, who was the starter a year ago.

Just like Joe Milton for Michigan football, Mertz was the talk of the Badgers following their win as he was nearly flawless in his debut. It set up a potentially interesting matchup down the road between Milton and Mertz in a few weeks, only now, it might not happen.

That’s because Mertz could be sidelined for three weeks after a positive test for COVID-19. He’s waiting for confirmation, which as we saw with Nick Saban, isn’t a sure thing. It’s also being reported that Chase Wolf, the No. 3 has also tested positive.

What it could mean is that for the next three weeks, the Badgers are down to their No. 4 quarterback as they play at Nebraska Saturday and Ann Arbor two weeks from Saturday.

Michigan football should take notice

This news has to be a wake-up call to everyone in the Big Ten and across the country, although it was a reality that was going to arise at some point. The New England Patriots lost Cam Newton for a couple games and the same could happen to the Badgers.

That’s why backup quarterbacks are more important than ever in 2020. Michigan’s backup Cade McNamara was able to get some snaps Saturday against Minnesota and those could prove valuable should he need to step in for Milton at some point.

As Jim Harbaugh said before the start of the season, guys have to test positive before each game, so it’s possible a player could be gone for three weeks at any given time.

The Wisconsin situation shows just how quickly things can go bad, especially when you have two players at a critical position in the same meeting rooms, etc.

No program or school or player is immune to getting the virus and if Milton had to sit out, the Wolverines would have to turn to McNamara just as Wisconsin is having to do with its backups.

It’s a new reality in 2020, but you could theoretically find out Friday night that your starting quarterback isn’t able to play Saturday, meaning the backups and guys like Cade McNamara have got to be ready and making sure of that is an essential task going forward.