The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2018 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS COMPARING HARBAUGH'S MICHIGAN QUARTERBACKS Through 10 games, junior quarterback Shea Patterson has put up some of the best quarterback numbers of the Jim Harbaugh era. His stats are already an improvement on nearly every quarterback other than Jake Rudock. By the end of the regular season, Patterson is projected to have 20 touch- downs and 2,314 yards, while his passer efficiency rating of 160.3 would be the sixth best for a single season in program history. His completion percentage of 67.0 would be a new Michigan record along with his interception rate of 1.3. Here's how Patterson's numbers through 10 games compare to the other quarterbacks Harbaugh has coached at Michigan. — Andrew Hussey Games Completion Player Starts Played Pct. TD INT Yards/Att. Yards Shea Patterson (2018) 10 10 67.0 17 3 8.5 1,928 John O'Korn (2017) 5 9 53.5 2 6 4.6 973 Brandon Peters (2017) 4 6 52.8 4 2 5.3 672 Wilton Speight (2017) 4 4 54.3 3 2 5.9 581 John O'Korn (2016) 1 7 58.8 2 0 4.6 173 Wilton Speight (2016) 12 12 61.6 18 7 6.8 2,538 Jake Rudock (2015) 13 13 64.0 20 9 7.2 3,017 Jake Rudock (above) still holds most every passing standard during Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan, but Shea Patterson is on track to break a few of those marks this season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL It's Junior QB Shea Patterson By Brandon Brown Michigan's defense is absolutely lights out and everyone knows it. Through 10 games, they are statistically the best defense in the country — by an average of 33.8 yards per game — and defensive coordinator Don Brown is a wizard with a lot of weapons. He brings exotic blitz packages and manages to get consis- tent, intense effort out of all 11 of his defenders. Even though Michigan's defense has several future NFL players on it, the sum is still greater than its parts. Brown was without future top-10 pick Rashan Gary for several weeks in a row and the unit didn't miss a beat. That's why junior quarterback Shea Patter- son is the most valuable player on U-M's roster. Patterson hasn't lit the world on fire, but he hasn't been asked to because of that defense. Through 10 games, Pat- terson was 152-of-227 passing (67.0 percent) for 1,667 yards with 17 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He's also carried the ball 51 times for 187 yards and two scores. His stats aren't eye popping, but he's a winner, he's tough and smart, and he takes care of the ball. Especially considering that backup Dylan McCaffrey is now done for the year, Patterson is easily the most important player on U-M's roster. Harbaugh said it himself: "Whatever we've asked Shea to do, he's done it and done it well." Take Patterson off of this team, and it's dramatically differ- ent. Take any one defender away and things keep humming just like they have while Gary was hurt. That's a testament to Brown and the entire defense, but it also shows just how important Patterson is to Michigan this year. That makes him my pick for MVP. DE Chase Winovich Should Be The Pick By Chris Balas Michigan's offense has been solid and improving this year, and Patterson is a big reason for it. He's been making plays other quarterbacks missed the last two seasons, and it helps too that he's gotten better protection up front. An argument can also be made that of- fensive line coach Ed Warinner's addition was every bit as important as Patterson's. But defense was the reason U-M had been so dominant through 10 games, and fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich was the catalyst. He'd notched 10.5 tackles for loss through the first five games, so disruptive the next few opponents didn't even try to run his way. He's continued to make an impact even with offenses going away from him, setting the tone against Penn State with an early sack and also recovering a fumble in a 42-13 win. "Awesome," head coach Jim Harbaugh said of Winovich against the Nittany Lions. "It set the tone, really did, right from the beginning. He got the sack right away and became the theme in the game of putting pressure on the quarterback and just not giving him a chance to breathe back there. That [tone] was set by Chase right off the bat." Probably not coincidentally, Winovich posted his biggest numbers when junior Rashan Gary was on the field and com- manding extra attention on the opposite edge. Gary missed three games with a shoulder injury before returning against PSU — when healthy, he and Winovich are arguably the top defensive end tandem in the country. Winovich, though, has been the leader of this defense since the first game of the year, and he's this team's MVP, at least through 10 games. He just needs to finish strong. POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHO IS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL'S MVP? PATTERSON WINOVICH