ORLANDO, FL — Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson finished his season with three straight 300-yard games, the best stretch of his U-M career. Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Pete Golding has been poring over film of the Wolverines’’ signal caller for weeks, impressed with the Michigan offense.

U-M offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was in Alabama this time last year, of course, preparing for the College Football Playoff. He’s got the U-M offense playing at a high level heading into Wednesday’s Citrus Bowl.

“Coach Gattis and those guys do a really good job,” Golding said. “Schematically, they make you account for all 11. They're going to run the quarterback so obviously, your structure on defense, you've got to be able to account for the quarterback and the run game.

“On third down, [Patterson] does a really nice job of extending plays, so when things break down in the back end, they've got guys covered, he can step up or out. He does a really nice job, based on the coverage, whether he's going to scramble at the back stretch in a two‑man principle or he does a nice job in the zone of keeping his eyes downfield.”

Patterson’s M.O. since he arrived in Ann Arbor is his ability to make something out of nothing. The Wolverines’ receivers have done a better job adjusting when he’s on the move, finding holes in zones or behind the secondary when Patterson is on the run.

“Their receivers do a really good job of breaking off the routes, and a little of their explosive plays come on third down when the play broke down and it wasn't designed to be that way, but it became an explosive play off the scramble,” Golding said. “In a man principle or a zone principle, the scramble rules and he hits a deep shot.

“So I think the big thing is accounting for him, obviously, in the run game. He's very athletic. They do a lot of unique things to be able to run the quarterback, for you to use all 11 guys. On third down, it's going to be pivotal to make him be a pocket passer and use our hands … we've got to do a good job up front getting our hands up, but we've got to be able to contain him and keep him in the pocket.”

Alabama ranks only 31stnationally in third down conversions, allowing 34.7 percent. That’s right about where they’ve been the previous two years, as well. This year, though, they’re forcing more turnovers, seventh in the country in turnovers gained with 26.

The Wolverines will lose convincingly if they lose the turnover battle and give the ball up the way they did early in the season … or in the Ohio State game, for that matter. They also moved the ball as well as anyone this year on the Buckeyes, however, and the Crimson Tide is vulnerable, especially with two starters sitting.

Golding has an idea what to expect.

“Things that you struggled with throughout the year normally end up showing back up,” he said. “What's unique about [Gattis] having been here, regardless of whether it's been on tape or we've been put in that position this year, he knows, having been here in practice, things, obviously, that make us adjust certain ways and certain calls and things like that. So I think that does give him an advantage because we haven't put everything on tape.

“[But] most guys that play us, hey, what you struggle with on tape, you're going to repeat and you're going to see again. Obviously, he knows our system, , and he knows some of the rules of the system. But you've got to execute … as coaches, you call the play; the players have got to execute the play. It ain't always perfect, so I think we've got to do a good job of extending disguises, some fronts and some coverages.

“But the bottom line is it's going to be about our execution and our players playing extremely hard.”

NOTES

Alabama cornerback Trevon Diggs is sitting out, forcing sophomore Josh Jobe into action. The former Michigan recruit has struggled this year and could be targeted Wednesday. Golding said he’s had several good weeks of practice.

“He’s an extremely competitive kid,” he said. “He’s got the skill set and the length that we want at that position and I think he's done a great job over the last two weeks, and Coach Scott and Coach Saban, obviously, coaching him, locking in and focusing on his job and just controlling what he can control. Finishing on the ball, on the deep part of the field, is something that he's been working throughout the year that I think he's improved on, but he's been very good at the bottom of the route.

“He is an emotional kid, but he's learned to control his emotion and not play emotional, and I think that's something that coach talks about a lot that's kind of showed up early. But he's maturing … the last two weeks has really been focusing on his job, obviously controlling what he can control but playing with emotion but not getting emotional, which Coach talks about all the time, and I think that's something that he's starting to do.”

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