Michigan Football 48, Rutgers 42 (3OT): Notes, Quotes & Observations

Michigan won, and that Wolverines found their quarterback.

That’s most of the good news from U-M's Saturday night, 48-42 triple overtime win over Rutgers, a fitting, dragged out affair between two of the Big Ten’s struggling teams.

The Wolverines spotted the Scarlet Knights 17 points and came back behind redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara, who barring something ridiculous put an end to any “quarterback controversy” talk.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh was put on the spot in the postgame in asking if McNamara was his quarterback going forward after the redshirt frosh completed 27 of 36 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns to lead the comeback.

“We’ll look at it. But the way he played tonight … he’s going to be in there,” Harbaugh said.

“… He’s very well prepared. I think he’s seeing things very good. His confidence has always been really high. It’s a testament to his ability. I’m really happy for him. It was gritty. Sometimes you’ve got to see it in a game, and that was about as good as you could come in and play.”

McNamara has a command of the offense redshirt sophomore Joe Milton (5-of-12, 89 yards in a quarter and a half) simply doesn’t yet, throws catchable balls and — for the second straight week — lit a fire under a team that desperately needed it. He and redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins, who has been inexplicably and criminally underused the last several weeks, were the bright spots on an otherwise dismal night in which U-M just avoided becoming the butt of Big Ten jokes again along with 0-5 Penn State.