SportsTuesday

SportsTuesday Column: At 
QB, quantity isn’t quality
T

here’s an old football plati-
tude that if you have two 
quarterbacks, you actually 
have none.
It’s one of those folksy cliches 
you hear when 
the Miami 
Dolphins are 
sifting through 
the pile of rub-
ble to decide 
whether Gus 
Frerotte or 
Sage Rosenfels 
should be the 
one to lead 
them to a 4-12 
season.
As it pertains to this Michigan 
football team and its quarterback 
room, that sentiment couldn’t be 
further off. The Wolverines have 
two capable quarterbacks in Shea 
Patterson and Dylan McCaffrey. 
They are a good football team, 
with aspirations to be a great one. 
There are (or should be) no ques-
tions about which of the two is the 
starter.
In the quarterback room, the 
lone question left to answer — how 
do you best maximize both of 
them? — is one of immense luxury. 
This group is a far cry from the 
John O’Korn/Wilton Speight/
Brandon Peters wilderness that 
came to define the early Jim 
Harbaugh years. But that ques-
tion is still one that seems like it 
will continue to linger, and in the 
modern era of college football, it’s a 
question that must be treated with 
caution.
Still, while Michigan’s quar-
terback depth is one of this team’s 
biggest strengths, that doesn’t jus-
tify using it on some milquetoast 
gimmicks. This is not a position in 
which an excess of quantity on the 
field generally translates to quality. 
Frankly, if there is a single impor-
tant play this season in which 
Patterson isn’t under center, some-
thing has gone wrong or someone 
has erred.
Saturday’s display was a clear 

example of how excess creativ-
ity could backfire. McCaffrey’s 
first appearance against Middle 
Tennessee came in the middle 
of the first quarter, lined up as a 
wide receiver. He came in motion 
while Patterson faked the handoff 
and eventually gave the ball to 
Christian Turner for two yards. 
Moments later, Michigan was 
flagged for an illegal substitution, 
with confusion swirling. The very 
next play, McCaffrey came in 
motion, while Patterson once again 
faked the handoff. McCaffrey then 
caught an ill-conceived screen pass 
and took two body blows on a one-
yard gain.
The drive stalled. The Wolver-
ines punted. Tensions heightened.
Later on, with the game well 
in-hand, McCaffrey led two drives 
as the quarterback. Harbaugh said 
after the game that Patterson had 
been banged up and that he want-
ed to give McCaffrey some zone 
read looks in order to avoid exac-
erbating any nicks and bruises. 
He scored on a 6-yard read-option 
rush. In the context of the game, it 
made sense.
Harbaugh has consistently 
stated his desire to play both quar-
terbacks, starting at Big Ten Media 
Days in mid-July. Doing so, the 
thinking goes, keeps both (mostly 
McCaffrey) engaged and ready, 
while also using the skill set he 
possesses. 
Some of this reasoning is sound. 
McCaffrey is faster and therefore a 

better weapon in option looks. Giv-
ing Patterson a breather here and 
there could help ensure his health 
when it matters most. Getting 
McCaffrey ample in-game looks 
could help appease any qualms 
he has about sitting second on 
the depth chart for another year, 
avoiding the disgruntled trans-
fer that has become so prevalent 
throughout college football.
And if all goes according to plan, 
McCaffrey will be atop the depth 
chart a year from now. From all 
we’ve seen, he has the potential 
to be a high-caliber Big Ten quar-
terback. For now, he’s vital depth. 
Soon enough, he’ll matter far more.
None of that is to degrade 
McCaffrey’s value to this team 
right now. Newsflash: Football is 
violent. People get hurt. Things 
do not go according to plan. If Pat-
terson — Michigan fans, knock 
on wood — were to go down, as 
Speight did in 2016 and 2017, as 
Peters did in 2017 and as hundreds 
of other football players do every 
year, this team has the great for-
tune of not folding up shop and 
calling it a year. 
That, more than any trick plays 
or fancy packages, forced gim-
micks or out-of-rhythm rotations, 
is the value Dylan McCaffrey 
brings to this team. It should stay 
that way.

Marcovitch can be reached on 

Twitter @Max_Marcovitch or via 

email at maxmarco@umich.edu

Patterson shows off ability 
in Josh Gattis’ new scheme

After eight months of hype and 
hysteria, it was only expected that 
Michigan’s new offense would 
be a motif when Shea Patterson 
spoke to the media following the 
opener. Nobody, though, expected 
the senior quarterback’s response 
to be a repeated shake of the head, 
followed by, “I gotta take care of 
the football.”
Patterson 
fumbled 
on 
the 
season’s first play from scrimmage 
Saturday night, handing Middle 
Tennessee 
State 
the 
ball 
in 
Michigan territory, and soon, a 
7-0 lead. He fumbled again later, 
pouncing on top of the ball before 
things could repeat themselves. 
The Blue Raiders’ lead didn’t 
hold up and never had much of a 
chance of doing so — in the end, 
the Wolverines won 40-21 without 
much consternation — but it never 
strayed far from Patterson’s mind 
as he took questions afterwards.
Asked about the offense in 
general terms, the first words 
out of Patterson’s mouth were, “I 
gotta take care of the football.” 
After a follow up, he finished 
complimenting his receivers, then 
said, “We gotta play better.” After 
a question regarding Michigan’s 
use of two quarterbacks at a time, 
he replied, “I don’t know how to 
answer that, but yeah. I got the ball 
in my hands every single play, and I 
gotta take care of it.” As he talked, 
his lips barely moved. He did not 
bear the demeanor of someone 
paying lip service to improvement.
“A win’s a win,” Patterson said, 
“but I think everybody in that 
locker room knows that we didn’t 
live up to our standards.”
Patterson, 
in 
reality, 
was 
his own worst public relations 
manager on a night where, by and 
large, he played just fine and maybe 
even better than that. Patterson 
completed 17 of 29 passes for 203 
yards with three touchdowns, no 
interceptions and a 151.6 rating, 

which is squarely in the middle 
of the pack during his time at 
Michigan.
This is different, because it 
came against a clearly inferior 
opponent, it was Patterson’s first 
time in Josh Gattis’ offense and it 
wasn’t the beatdown that everyone 
from Michigan fans to Vegas 
oddsmakers thought it would be.
Still, 
he 
orchestrated 
the 
Wolverines’ best moment of the 
game, a four-play, 67-yard drive in 
just over a minute at the start of 
the second quarter. He pulled the 
ball and found Tarik Black on two 
straight run-pass options, then 
found Nico Collins on a well-placed 
throw to the end zone, putting it 
where only Collins could get it.
Two 
of 
Patterson’s 
three 
touchdown passes, Jim Harbaugh 
said, came from plays where 
Patterson got to the line of 
scrimmage and checked Michigan 
into something different. That kind 
of quick-strike decision making is 
what Patterson can bring to this 
offense, and it’s what an offense 
predicated 
on 
no-huddle 
and 
option football requires from its 
quarterback. 
“He was outstanding in that 
regard,” Harbaugh said.
As he himself was more than 
happy to say, Patterson had his 
issues, ball security chief among 
them. According to Harbaugh, 
he was also evaluated for an 

undisclosed injury at halftime, 
which likely helps explain why he 
threw the ball 25 times in the first 
30 minutes and four in the latter 30 
minutes.
But when you’re playing in a new 
offense and the biggest concern 
after the first game is ball security, 
that’s a good problem to have. It’s 
not a commentary on the offense, 
nor his fit in it, that Patterson 
fumbled twice. Harbaugh pointed 
out that the quarterbacks handle 
the ball a lot in this system, but ball 
security hasn’t been a major issue 
for Patterson in the past and likely 
won’t be in the future.
What 
matters 
is 
Patterson 
making the right decisions at the 
line of scrimmage. What matters 
is his comfortability in playing fast 
and putting the defense in conflict. 
What matters is his doing all that 
while being the same effective 
passer he was last season. And 
for now, what matters is that he 
checked all of those boxes on 
Saturday.
In all of his morosity at the 
podium, Patterson offered one 
moment of clarity.
“I think we definitely know who 
we are. From Day One, I think we 
knew who we were right when the 
guys came in, coach Gattis came in. 
We worked so hard all spring and 
all summer. 
“It’s just a matter of taking care 
of the little things.”

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Shea Patterson threw for 203 yards in Michigan’s win on Saturday.

Behind new offense, Michigan bests Middle Tennessee, 40-21

As the crowd filed toward the 
exits, the clock ticking toward 
zero and the score meandering 
toward a 40-21 Michigan win, 
the Wolverines’ slow start — 
and the fleeting doubt over 
Saturday night’s result that 
came with it — had faded into 
memory.
The game’s early uneasy 
feeling started before kickoff, 
when junior receiver Donovan 
Peoples-Jones was dressed in 
street clothes and a walking 
boot — an early blow to new 
offensive 
coordinator 
Josh 
Gattis’ promise of a high-flying 
spread offense built around 
the Wolverines’ slew of star 
receivers.
And when a Shea Patterson 
fumble ended Michigan’s first 
drive on the first play from 
scrimmage, doubt continued to 
creep into Michigan Stadium. 
Even if the Wolverines would 
still stroll to an easy win against 
an overmatched opponent, the 
grand reveal of Gattis’ offense 

was temporarily on hold.
The dominant, make-you-
read-it-twice scoreline No. 7 
Michigan (1-0) might have been 
hoping for against MTSU (0-1) 
never came — two turnovers in 
its own half and inconsistency 
on the offensive line made sure 
of that. But the diversity of 
Gattis’ offense shown through 
plenty 
in 
the 
Wolverines’ five-
touchdown day.
“I was pleased, 
really, with the 
way (the offense) 
operated,” 
said 
head coach Jim 
Harbaugh. “… A 
lot of the offense 
that we’ve been 
practicing, 
we 
ran. All facets of 
it — the play-action pass, the 
drop back, the RPOs, the inside 
zones, the outside zones.”
Tarik Black — part of a 
talented, 
but 
often 
under-
utilized junior receiving trio 
featuring 
himself, 
Peoples-
Jones and Nico Collins — put the 
Wolverines on top by streaking 

down the field, unguarded on a 
go route as he allowed himself 
to collapse beneath the ball for 
his first touchdown since the 
first game of his career two 
injury-riddled years ago.
Two minutes into the second 
quarter, his stat line stood at 
four receptions for 80 yards 
and a touchdown — better than 
or equal to his 
totals from a 
year ago on all 
three 
counts. 
Black was also 
the 
leading 
beneficiary 
of 
Michigan’s 
run-pass 
option, one of 
Gattis’ 
most 
anticipated 
offseason 
introductions.
“He’s gone through a lot and 
when healthy, we have probably 
one of the best receiving corps 
in the country,” said fifth-
year senior linebacker Jordan 
Glasgow. “So seeing an athlete 
and a receiver as good as 
him be able to come back out 

here, make plays and get that 
touchdown. … I’m just happy 
that (he) got back out there, 
able to make plays.”

With Black and Collins at 
full throttle, bursting the top 
off the MTSU defense at ease, 
Saturday’s game had already 
served its intended purpose 
by the time Collins capped off 
Michigan’s fifth drive with a 
leaping touchdown catch.
The Wolverines’ lead stood 
at just 17-7, but any hope 
for 
a 
MTSU 
miracle 
faded 
into the night 
with 
junior 
cornerback 
Ambry Thomas 
coming up with 
an interception 
and recovering 
a 
fumble 
on 
consecutive 
drives.
On 
the 
other side of the ball, Gattis’ 
proclaimed staples of downfield 
passing and RPOs manifested 
themselves 
in 
a 
first 
half 
that looked unlike anything 
Michigan 
showcased 
last 
season — to the point, Patterson 
attempted 25 passes in the first 
half, matching his full-game 
average from a year ago.
The dream-like domination 
many envisioned when Gattis 

arrived only shone through 
in spurts, hence the 19-point 
victory in a game that closed 
with 
a 
36-point 
spread. 
But 
while 
Patterson’s 
first 
words postgame included the 
phrase 
“I 
think 
everybody 
in that locker room knows 
that we didn’t live up to our 
standard,” Harbaugh offered 
a more balanced 
perspective.
“This offense, 
they 
handle 
the ball a lot,” 
Harbaugh 
said. 
“It’s a lot — the 
snap, the ride, 
the decision, the 
pull and throw. 
So actually it’s 
quite 
good. 
Obviously, we’re 
not taking a deep, long bow. We 
know we can play better. That’s 
an area we’ve got to get better 
at, be more efficient at.”
As 
for 
that 
early 
doubt 
over the Wolverines’ nascent 
offensive identity?
“I think we definitely know 
who we are,” Patterson said. 
“From day one, I think we knew 
who we were, right when Gattis 
came in.”

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Junior wide receiver Nico Collins scored one of Michigan’s five touchdowns in its 40-21 win over MTSU on Saturday.

I’m just happy 
that (Tarik 
Black) got back 
out there.

This offense, 
they handle the 
ball a lot. ... It’s 
quite good.

MAX

MARCOVITCH

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Quarterback Dylan McCaffrey played in multiple two-QB sets Saturday.

2B — September 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

