Patterson ‘back in that killer mode’
Shea
Patterson
remembers
when he first met Jim Harbaugh. It
was last December in Mississippi
when the now-junior quarterback
found
the
Michigan
football
coach’s straight-forward approach
and character endearing.
So
much
so
that,
during
the pair’s first recruiting visit,
Patterson turned to his friend with
a prophetic message.
“I want to play for that guy.”
Almost a year later, Patterson
is indeed playing for Harbaugh
— and quite well. Patterson has
thrown for nearly 2,000 yards
and 17 touchdowns in 10 games as
a Wolverine, delivering striking
consistency
with
just
three
interceptions and a 66 percent
completion percentage.
Patterson said that Harbaugh
naturally
helped
with
his
knowledge and understanding
of the game. That has been
reflected in Patterson’s success
in transitioning from Ole Miss’
spread offense to more complex
sets at Michigan.
But
Harbaugh’s
effect
on
Patterson extends far beyond a
playbook.
“I think he reminded me of
that feeling again,” Patterson said.
“Because every coach is different.
But just his drive, his work ethic
and the way he runs things here
reminded me and has gotten me
back in that killer mode.”
That killer mode is a product
of an obsession for the game of
football. It’s well-known that
Harbaugh has it — from the
cleats he wears on the sideline to
mottos like “crave contact” — and
Patterson says he does as well.
“Just his passion for the game
— you can really see it,” Patterson
said. “I think I’m one of those
guys, too. I love the game. I love
everything that comes with it. So
does he, not only as a player back
when he was playing, but as a
coach. You can see it.”
That’s just a start for the
similarities between the two.
During his weekly radio show
Monday, Harbaugh said that he
and Patterson are “on the same
page,” and even took it a step
further.
“I think I get him,” Harbaugh
said.
The parallels are not glaring
in front of the media. Harbaugh
can be unpredictable, tense and
combative at times. Patterson,
meanwhile, is soft-spoken and
even-keeled.
But the two have meshed on
the football field. Patterson has
seen clips of Harbaugh during his
playing days evading defenders
to complete throws on the run —
something Patterson continues to
do successfully at Michigan.
In
the
third
quarter
last
Saturday
against
Rutgers,
Patterson rolled to his left and
threw across his body 30 yards
down the sideline. It was not a
high-percentage play — but it
was for Patterson. He put it in
perfect position for sophomore
receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones
to make the catch for a third-down
conversion.
“He made some throws that
were just unbelievable,” Harbaugh
said Saturday. “Put in the right
spot, with the wind blowing,
swirling.”
It was not always this seemingly
easy for Patterson. When he joined
Michigan’s roster last winter, his
eligibility for the 2018 season was
still up in the air. And though many
expected he would eventually win
the starting quarterback job, it
was not necessarily a guarantee
for him.
“‘You got to earn it, you got to
earn everything.’ That’s the first
thing (Harbaugh) ever told me,”
Patterson said. “He said when I
came in, ‘Nothing’s going to be
given to you. Everything’s going to
earned. We got some really good
quarterbacks here, you’re going to
have to find a way to be the guy.’
“Once I had the opportunity
to do that through play and the
season as it goes, we continued to
build that bond.”
That bond has Patterson and
the Wolverines in an exceptional
position now at 9-1 and ranked
inside the top four. Eleven months
after he first met Harbaugh,
Patterson knows his message to
his friend was the right call.
“It’s been everything and more
of what I thought it was going to
be,” Patterson said
Marshall ready for his last day at ‘M’
This time last year, Lawrence
Marshall didn’t know whether or
not he’d be back for a fifth year.
At that point — a redshirt
junior — Marshall had played in
10 career games, with just nine
tackles to show for it. Defensive
line
coach
Greg
Mattison
approached Marshall after last
season and expressed a desire to
have him return. Still, Marshall
was understandably reticent. He
could have easily departed as a grad
transfer and found a more regular
role elsewhere; it would’ve been
hard to blame him.
Then Mattison told Marshall
a story that helped bring clarity
to the situation. Mattison left
Michigan for Notre Dame in 1996, a
year before the Wolverines won the
national title.
“‘Lawrence, you don’t want to
feel that way,’ ” Marshall recalls
Mattison saying, “ ‘leaving and
Michigan
winning
a
national
championship and you left at the
wrong time.’
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to be
that person.’ ”
But the decision wasn’t that
simple — Marshall knew there
were real reasons to leave. He made
a pro/con list that included “not
really playing, not really producing
as you want to produce.” He knew
that was a possibility.
Then, defensive end Chase
Winovich decided to return for
a fifth year, quarterback Shea
Patterson
announced
he
was
transferring to Michigan and
Marshall’s mind was made up.
“I talked to Chase. I knew
(Bryan) Mone was coming back.
I talked to Jared (Wangler) a little
bit. I talked to Brandon Watson, too.
We all just came up with a plan,”
Marshall said. “Our plan was to beat
Michigan State, beat Ohio State, go
to the Big Ten championship, win
that, go to the playoffs, go to the
national championship, and we
have all that at stake right now.
“When you look at the paper you
were like, ‘Oh my god, this is a great
team.’ ”
Now, with those goals either
accomplished or in reach, standing
weeks away from glory in his
fifth season, Marshall already
feels validation. He’s carved out a
valuable niche on this team, playing
in seven games and filling in as
a starter when defensive tackles
Aubrey Solomon and Michael
Dwumfour
went
down
with
injuries.
When he walks out of the
tunnel Saturday against Indiana
for his final home game, Marshall
admits he “might cry.” Standing in
Schembechler Hall, senior Tyree
Kinnel chimes in with a retort: “Of
course you’re going to cry.”
And who could blame him?
Marshall and his fellow fifth-
year seniors, in particular, have
seen plenty in their careers.
The group will walk on the field
Saturday with a 42-27 record, and
with more highs and lows than
most programs experience in a
decade.
“My journey, it’s been different,”
he said. “A lot of ups and downs
— with playing time, with the
team, not going to a bowl game my
freshman year — to now, it’s like a
180.”
Marshall and his recruiting class
came in under coach Brady Hoke,
in an environment starkly different
from the one they leave. Saturday
will be reflective for a group that
withstood those hardships — and
is emerging triumphant through
them.
“When we came in, we were
5-7. We’ve gone through kind of a
roller coaster, from people telling
you you’re the greatest thing and
people telling you you’re almost
nothing,” Wangler said. “… You
definitely know what the bottom
feels like, and (now) you’re getting a
taste of the top feels like. You really
just want to keep that momentum
going and do something special
with that.”
This isn’t that fairy tale ending
yet, of course. That can only come
two, three weeks down the line
— and then, perhaps, beyond.
“The goal wasn’t just to win nine
games — that was never the goal,”
Marshall said.
But Marshall made a decision
last season to stick it out, with the
hope of being in the very position he
and his teammates currently stand
in. Senior Day on Saturday will be a
time for him to appreciate that.
He stands back and shares a
wide smile.
“Great decision I stayed, right?”
he says. “I would’ve missed out on
this.”
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
EVAN AARON/Daily
Harbaugh has connected with Shea Patterson to spark Michigan’s 9-1 run.
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Lawrence Marshall made the decision to stay at Michigan after last season.
8A — Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com