Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis Talk Quarterbacks, Running Back Rotation

Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh has a decision to make about his starting quarterback, after redshirt sophomore Joe Milton struggled early against Rutgers and redshirt freshman Cade McNamara shined off the bench while leading the Maize and Blue to a come-from-behind victory over Rutgers, 48-42, in triple overtime.

Harbaugh has not publicly named a starter for this week's game against Penn State, but he may have already made a decision and informed his team.

"We’re gonna share that with the team as we go here," Harbaugh said on the Inside Michigan Football radio show. "They’re just coming in today. Always think a lot about it, watch it and spend more time thinking about it than anybody, then make the decision."

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Milton completed 5 of 12 passes for 89 yards before being pulled for McNamara late in the second quarter. Both Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis made it clear that the decision wasn't to punish Milton, but to see if McNamara could jump start a struggling offense.

"Joe started out well. I thought he was playing good," Harbaugh said. "We hadn’t gotten on the scoreboard yet and wanted to give Cade an opportunity, a shot at it as well. And Cade had a terrific game. But there was nothing that Joe did wrong or wasn’t doing well. The idea of both of them playing .... and then Cade came in and got pretty darn hot."

"We just felt like we needed to spark the team, spark the offense," Gattis added. "We knew going into the game there was a high likelihood that Cade was going to play, whether that wasn’t going to be a series or two, we wanted to give him game reps. He came in and did an extremely good job."

"This is not a switch at quarterback to make it seem like all the blame is on Joe Milton, because Joe Milton has played good football for us, and he’s done a lot of positive things. So we gotta keep instilling the confidence in him, telling him we trust him, we believe him, we love him as a player. This is not one sole person’s fault. Obviously, the quarterback position takes a lot of blame and takes a lot of credit, but ultimately it’s about having all 11 guys on the field playing together."

McNamara went 27-of-36 for 260 yards and four touchdowns, while also adding a score on the ground, as well. He led the offense to 48 points in the game's final 35 minutes en route to a thrilling triumph.

"He’s a detailed guy, just like Joe," Harbaugh said. "We’re happy for him in the way he played. And so many guys are just playing and improving, and it’s great to see. Believing in each other and coming together. It’s definitely something for our team to keep doing it that way — going out there, letting it rip, playing hard, knowing what you’re doing and have faith good things can and will happen."

"He did a great job of coming in and commanding the offense," Gattis added. "I’d like to say he provided a spark, but really the spark, I think, as an overall team happened when [sophomore receiver] Giles Jackson returned that opening kickoff of the second half.

"And then Cade coming in there at the end of the first half, just executing the offense. He made some really good plays. I think his first touchdown pass was almost a cover zero pressure, where we picked up the blitz protection in max protection. He did a good job standing in the pocket and delivering a good, on-time throw to [sophomore wideout] Cornelius Johnson, who made a big play."

McNamara's performance seemingly lifted the spirits, and play, of the entire team.

"Cade has that fiery attitude to him that really inspires a lot of players on the sideline and gets them going," Gattis said. "So we’re very much pleased. You never really know about a quarterback until you see him in game situations, and that’s something we believe strongly in is getting those guys game reps so we can find out the most about him."

It wasn't just McNamara who found success in the second half against Rutgers. Redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins, who carried it just one time the week prior, rushed for 110 yards and the game-winning touchdown on 22 carries. 131 of the Wolverines' 148 rushing yards came in the second half and overtime.

After rotating four running backs almost equally the first four weeks, Haskins may have emerged as Michigan's feature back. That said, Harbaugh and Gattis both said that all four will have a role, and pointed out the different things the group, as a whole, was able to contribute.

"To answer that, how to divide the reps, there’s so many good players there that you can just trust that when they go in that whatever they’re going to be doing, there’s gonna be a high chance of it being successful," Harbaugh said.

"And it’s a credit to those guys more than anybody. I know the question keeps coming up. I’ve asked them, too, what do you guys think would be the best way to divide these reps. [They say,] ‘Coach, we just want to help the team.’ They’re a tight group, they’re a together group, they’re for each other."

"Going into this game, we wanted to establish the run game and we wanted to be committed to it early," Gattis explained. "But the backs are all talented. And that’s a really hard thing to manage at times, because the question comes up when you’re playing four and they're all getting touches and why isn’t one guy getting the majority of the touches? And if we’re only playing one back, then the next question comes up, why aren’t the other backs playing?

"You can’t ever be right until you’re right, until you’re able to establish the run game. Those guys have done a tremendous job of remaining ready, not being selfish and doing whatever we ask of them."

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