4B — Monday, October 1, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Patterson shows resilience in comeback win

EVANSTON 
— 
Saturday 
wasn’t Shea Patterson’s best 
performance in a Michigan 
uniform. It’s not one that will 
litter his highlight reel or show 
off to NFL scouts. His statistics 
won’t jump off the page come 
Sunday morning.
But with 10:05 left in the 
fourth quarter, down by four 
points, Patterson took the ball 
and showed the very reason 
Michigan went and got him 
in the first place. He showed 
talent. He showed moxy. He 
showed emotion.
In the process, he went out 
and won a Big Ten football 
game on the road, roaring back 
from an early 17-0 deficit to 
beat Northwestern, 20-17.
“I saw a guy with poise, 
confidence and belief, a lot 
of faith,” said junior running 
back Karan Higdon. “When 
you work with somebody like 
that, who knows what can 
happen?”
Against Notre Dame four 
weeks 
ago, 
that 
comeback 
effort fell short, as Patterson 
fumbled on a potential game-
tying drive with 46 seconds 
left. That game crept into the 
back of Patterson’s head as he 
took the huddle, down 17-13 in 
the fourth quarter, with the 
game in his hands.
“I love when the moment’s 
big, 
even 
when 
I 
fail,” 
Patterson said. “I love that 
situation because you’ve got to 
fail to succeed.”
Patterson, who entered the 
decisive drive 12-for-21 for just 
152 yards, found Jared Wangler 
on a nine-yard checkdown in 
the flat, surveying the field 
and choosing to dump the ball 
down to his fifth-year senior 
fullback. It was Wangler’s first 
career catch.
Then, after two consecutive 
Higdon 
runs 
amounted 
to 
four 
yards, 
Patterson 
and 
the Michigan offense faced 
3rd down. He knew he was 
dropping back. Northwestern 
knew he was dropping back. 
The whole stadium knew.
Patterson 
dropped 
back 
anyway, firing a 13-yard strike 
to redshirt junior Zach Gentry 
on 
the 
sideline, 
entering 

Northwestern territory as the 
clock continued to tick.
Two plays later, he faced a 
third-and-six once again, this 
time eluding a linebacker to 
gain nine yards with his legs. 
He got off the ground and 
shimmied and signaled a first 
down with his arms.
“This is why we play the 
game, situations like this,” 
Patterson said. “It was just a 
fun feeling. Call a zone read, 
get the first down, get excited 
about the game. I love it.”
Then, the decisive play. The 
throw that will be seared into 
fans’ memories, the one that 
reminded everyone why it 
was imperative for Michigan 
to bring him in. Moments like 
this.
Patterson fired a dart to 
Gentry for 22 yards, who was 
running down the seam. It 
was the perfect location — on 
Gentry’s right shoulder. It 
had the perfect speed — just 
miliseconds before the safety 
could come over the top to 
make a play on the ball.
“They gave up a lot of stuff 
over the middle, and I think 
the adjustment in the second 
half just let your guy go make a 

play,” Patterson said. “Put it in 
the vicinity, and that’s the kind 
of guy Zach Gentry is.”
Deflect praise, as he may, 
it was an NFL throw. It was a 
winning throw.
It also brought Michigan into 
a goal-to-go situation, where, 
two plays later, Higdon walked 
in for the game-winning, five-
yard score. Patterson pumped 
his arms and sprinted back to 
the sideline.
“I like what we’re made of, 
starting with the quarterback,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh. “He really stepped 
up big, took the game into his 
hands in a lot of ways there in 
the second half.”
His resilience?
“A-plus-plus,” 
Harbaugh 
added.
In the first half, Patterson 
was 
uncharacteristically 
errant 
on 
a 
few 
throws, 
lamenting 
a 
potential 
touchdown to senior Grant 
Perry in the third quarter that 
was overthrown. Throughout 
the game, he stayed positive, 
entering offense, defense and 
special teams huddles to keep 
the team morale up.
In the second half, he told 

fifth-year senior defensive end 
Chase Winovich, “ ‘You take 
care of what you need to take 
care of,’ as Winovich recalled. 
“We’re going to score this 
ball, we’re going to score this 
touchdown.’ ”
And when it mattered most, 
he backed up those words.
He made every throw when 
he needed, he found first 
downs with his legs when 
the situation called for it. He 
orchestrated and executed the 
17-point comeback at the helm, 
on the road.
But there’s something with 
Patterson 
right 
now 
that 
supercedes 
his 
talent. 
An 
ambiguous “it” factor that has 
been noticeably absent in the 
quarterback room the last few 
years. 
Some 
call 
it 
leadership. 
Higdon 
opted 
for 
“belief.” 
Winovich, 
Patterson’s 
roommate, took it step further.
“I don’t know the statistics 
beside the W. I just know 
there’s something about him. 
I saw it the very first time we 
had met. He was a major factor 
in me coming back because 
there’s just an aura about him. 
… He’s a football player.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson threw a pass to fifth-year senior fullback Jared Wrangler to spur a comeback win.

The Michigan Daily Top 10 Poll 

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first-place 
votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine and so 
on. 

1. Alabama: Ugh.

2. Georgia: Trade Justin Fields to Clem-
son for draft picks.

3. Ohio State: What did you expect?

4. LSU: If he keeps winning, Coach O 
is gonna get some looks from big pro-
grams like USC.

5. Clemson: The Tigers could really use 
a backup quarterback right now, like 
Kelly Bryant maybe.

6. Notre Dame: Lol Ian Book? What a 
nerd. 

7. Oklahoma: Gonna be a tough match-
up next week, since Texas is definitely 
back this time. 

8. Auburn: Remember when Jarrett 
Stidham played for Baylor?

9. Penn State: It was obvious to anyone 
with eyes that the Nittany Lions didn’t 
lose because James Franklin called a 
few horrible plays but because a few 
players don’t do their schoolwork.

10. West Virginia: Other sections of 
The Daily have told us we can’t make a 
Country Roads joke here.

