How the Paul Bunyan Trophy and Game Ball Went to Passing Hero Patterson
11/16/2019 11:34:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There were two very special moments after the University of Michigan's 44-10 win over Michigan State that involved an exchange of the tangible symbols of the victory.
Both involved Wolverine quarterback Shea Patterson, who had the game of his life, throwing for career-highs of 384 yards and four touchdowns Saturday afternoon (Nov. 16). The rivalry trophy and the game ball both were coming his way as a result.
Michigan defensive standout and captain Khaleke Hudson ran the carved wooden Paul Bunyan Trophy over to the student section at the north end of Michigan Stadium after the game, and then sprinted back across the turf, holding the four–pound Paul aloft the whole way, back to midfield.
"Man, just having the Paul Bunyan Trophy in our hands again for another year," said Hudson, who blocked a punt in the fourth quarter. "Being able to run around with it on the field to show our fans and just celebrate with the team. I was going in and then I saw Shea getting interviewed with Fox (sideline reporter Jenny Taft) and I just wanted to give him a chance to take it all in, and to see the Paul Bunyan Trophy and give him a chance to celebrate with us."
Hudson holding the Paul Bunyan Trophy
They nearly bobbled the exchange, but Patterson quickly secured the statue of the mythical lumberman in his hands.
Patterson smiled and said, "I almost dropped it. That was awesome. Usually, it's kind of the other way around, and usually the defense is the one changing everything. So, I just wish I had two more shots. I wish I could've started here and had four shots at them, but it was a lot of fun today."
He transferred from Ole Miss for the 2018 season, and will finish 2-0 against the Spartans.
"Our big goal is to play complementary offense to our defense," added Patterson, who has done much to make that come about in the last 14 quarters of Big Ten play.
There has been a meshing of two great units ever since the Wolverines fell behind, 21-0, before halftime at Penn State. Since that low point, they have outscored the Nittany Lions, Notre Dame, Maryland and the Spartans by a whopping 148-38 score.
The offense is no longer holding back the defense for No. 14 Michigan (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten), and Patterson has been pivotal.
Patterson has thrown for 911 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception in the last four games, and passed Brian Griese (1994-97) for No. 10 in Michigan career passing yardage. Patterson is up to 4,757 yards and will surpass Steve Smith (1980-83) and Tom Brady (1996-99) by maintaining his 215.7-yard average in upcoming games at Indiana (Nov. 23), at home against Ohio State (Nov. 30) and the bowl game.
After taking a knee in the victory formation on the final play, Patterson sprinted to Wolverine head coach Jim Harbaugh to hand off the ball.
Harbaugh smiled and said, "I told him before he went out to take that snap: 'Now, this year, after you take the snap and kneel down, keep the ball. Don't throw it up into the air.' Because he had a heck of a game and I thought he should have the game ball. Then he said, 'I've got another plan.' I go, 'WHAT?' He said, 'You'll see.'
"So, he came over and gave me the ball, and that was neat. But I went back in the locker room and it's now in his book bag. I shoved it back in his backpack. I mean, he had a great game, he had a whale of a game. That's a great game by a quarterback that he had. It was a real gem."
Patterson
He tied for the second-most touchdown passes by a Wolverine in one game with four, and his 384 yards passed Brady (375 yards at Ohio State in 1998) for No. 5 in single-game rankings. He also usurped Brady for the most passing yards in a game against MSU.
"Somebody told me he broke a record for the most passing yards by a Michigan quarterback in a Michigan State game," said Harbaugh. "(He had) 384 and the old record was 285 by Tom Brady. So, by 99 yards, I'd call that a whale of a game.
"He was really good all day -- sharp in every way (zero interceptions) whether he was seeing the field, making the throws, picking up the third-and-29."
Donovan Peoples-Jones, who had a spectacular 18-yard touchdown catch and run to open the second-half scoring, saw it coming in Patterson during the week.
"He just brought a different type of passion today," said Peoples-Jones, who repeated his Paul Bunyan Trophy pose from last year's win after scoring. "To the whole team, it meant a little bit more. I mean, all throughout the week, I could see it in practice. He was confident in his reads and confident in his throws, and he trusted us. He trusted the game plan."
Ronnie Bell, who caught nine passes for 150 yards, saw it in pregame warmups.
"There was just something special about the vibe that we had today with the way Shea was throwing the ball in warmups," he said. "I mean guys were just running so hard. Everyone was playing so hard, and we just executed at a high level, and it showed."
Patterson said "we were really able to diagnose what they do on defense" in the two weeks leading up to the game, but said "the plan wasn't to pass the ball all game."
"But our guys were getting into open space and making plays," said Patterson.
The offense changed everything with a statement possession, driving 98 yards in 12 plays against an opponent that prides itself on defense. Patterson executed a play-fake handoff before throwing to tight end Nick Eubanks for the five-yard touchdown that culminated the march.
"It was 98 and a half (yards) really, to be exact," said Harbaugh. "Our longest drive of the year. It was a great drive. I think we put together five or six first downs (five on plays and one more on a penalty), and then the touchdown. It was just good football. It was sound football. The running game was good. It really opened up some of the RPOs, and the passing. The bubble screens were really effective on that drive, (then) throughout the entire game. The execution was just there. It was really good and on-point today."
The game was dead even, 7-7, until the Wolverines put together that brilliant drive after getting pinned deep on an excellent punt in the middle of the second quarter.
The only third-down play on the possession came at the Michigan 5-yard line, and was the crucial conversion of the game. Patterson put a little extra zip on the ball and hit Peoples-Jones for eight yards and the first down that ignited a memorable effort.
Patterson said, "Donovan did a great job of getting open on that, and ran a good route. He was actually really wide open. So, it was easy on my part. But I'm just proud of my guys and how we responded."
Patterson then ran left for 15 yards and another first down.
On the very next play, Patterson used his feet again, scrambling to hit Bell for an 18-yarder.
Then he threw a nine-yard pass to Bell on first down, and Zach Charbonnet broke a tackle on a nifty, 14-yard run.
Patterson threw a six-yard pass to Mike Sainristil, and then Charbonnet ran five yards for another first down.
Momentum had swung to the Wolverines, who were 17 yards from the end zone.
A pass interference call on MSU cornerback Shakur Brown put the ball on the 2-yard line, and after a three-yard loss by Hassan Haskins, Patterson found Eubanks for the score that made it 14-7.
Mission accomplished.
"I think it was huge." said Bell. "I don't think any of us realized that the ball was at the two. We all thought it was on the one. So, we said, 'Let's take it 99,' and that's what we did, and everybody executed, and it was just a huge drive.
"Once we put (those) points on the board, you could just feel it rollin'. We just stepped on it and kept it going."
MSU scored the first touchdown, but Michigan scored the next five touchdowns while adding three Quinn Nordin field goals (28, 49 and 33 yards) to the one three-pointer for the Spartans.
It was complete and total domination, and one to remember.
"This one's special," said Patterson. "I'm proud to just be a part of this team and part of a dominating win like that. We knew how important this game was, and we prepared our tails off."
Harbaugh said, "I'm very happy, very pleased with the way our players played and our coaches coached. To have a game where so many players played really well -- 10-out-of-10 happy."
The quarterback with the game ball in his backpack and Paul Bunyan in his hands saw to that.
