Michigan Wolverines football senior quarterback Shea Patterson recorded his third straight 300-yard passing outing with 305 in Saturday's loss to Ohio State, but it wasn't enough to come out with a win in a 56-27 loss.
The senior completed 18 of his 43 attempts with a touchdown and a pick, with his lone scoring toss going to junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones on a 25-yard strike in the first quarter.
Patterson carved up the Ohio State secondary in the first half with Buckeye redshirt sophomore cornerback Shaun Wade out with injury, registering 250 of his 305 yards in the first two quarters alone.
The signal caller was also incredibly efficient before the break, completing 14 of his 19 passes (73.6 percent), but was only four of 24 for 55 yards after halftime (16.6 percent).
“We came out firing in the first half and had things rolling a little bit offensively," Patterson said. "It’s very frustrating not to be able to get this win."
The QB also connected with seven different targets on Saturday afternoon, with sophomore wideout Ronnie Bell leading the way in both catches and yards (six and 78, respectively).
Patterson became the first U-M signal-caller to log at least 300 passing yards in three straight games, after throwing for 366 at Indiana last week and 384 against Michigan State on Nov. 16.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half," senior tight end Sean McKeon added afterward. "We made a lot of plays, though some plays didn’t go our way.
"We just have to find a way to get on top and play with a lead — that’d make it easier on our offense if we would've had a lead. You can’t be forced to throw the ball every play because it closes off half our offense.”
Michigan's Rushing Attack Shut Down For The Third Straight Game
U-M's ground game was largely nonexistent on Saturday against the Buckeyes, rushing for just 91 yards and only averaging 3.5 yards per carry.
This weekend's loss marked the third straight outing the Wolverines compiled 97 yards or fewer on the ground, rushing for 55 on Nov. 16 against Michigan State and 97 last week at Indiana.
Redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins led the way with 78 yards and a score on 12 carries, but the club's next leading rusher was freshman wideout Giles Jackson with just 26.
Rookie running back Zach Charbonnet, meanwhile, compiled just seven yards on four attempts, while Patterson logged minus-20 (he was sacked twice and gained only five yards on the ground).
An especially discouraging rushing sequence occurred early in the fourth quarter when Michigan went for it from its own 28-yard line on fourth-and-one while trailing 42-27. U-M was stopped short when Haskins wasn't able to convert out of the wildcat formation.
“I just didn’t make the play," the redshirt freshman said in the postgame when asked what went wrong on the rush. “We knew coming in they had a good defense and defensive line. I don’t know what else I can say.”
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Offense Notes
• Michigan racked up 396 total yards and 305 passing yards, both of which were the most Ohio State had allowed all season. The previous highs OSU had yielded were both to Michigan State on Oct. 5 — 285 of the former and 218 of the latter.
• Patterson now owns eight career games with at least 250 passing yards at Michigan, tying him with Tom Brady for the third most in program history. Chad Henne (12) and John Navarre (11) are the only two quarterbacks with more.
• The senior QB's 43 passing attempts were his most in a game at Michigan. His previous high had been 41 in the Oct. 19 loss at Penn State.
• Jackson's 22-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter was the first of his career on the ground, but his third overall. His other two came through the air in the Sept. 28 blowout of Rutgers and on a 97-yard kick return in the 38-7 win at Maryland on Nov. 2.
Jackson is now only one of two freshmen in Michigan history to score touchdowns through the air, on the ground and on a kick return, joining Gil Chapman in 1972.
• McKeon's 41-yard reception in the first quarter was the longest of his career, breaking his old high of 36 in the 2017 loss to Michigan State. His 66 yards on the day were also the second most he had ever registered in a game, trailing only the 82 he logged in the 2017 win at Purdue.
• Peoples-Jones' 25-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was his sixth of the season and third in the last three games. It was also the junior's longest TD catch of the campaign.
• Michigan has posted at least 396 yards of offense in six of its last seven outings, after doing so only twice in its first five contests.
• The Maize and Blue committed two turnovers in a clash for the first time since the Oct. 12 win at Illinois (also two). Michigan gave the ball away at least twice in its first three tilts of the season, and four times in its first six.
• Patterson's 1,055 combined passing yards are the most ever by a U-M signal-caller over a three-contest span, with Jake Rudock holding the old record in 1,033 in 2015 (337 against Rutgers on Nov. 7 that year, 440 at Indiana on Nov. 14 and 256 at Penn State on Nov. 21).
• Haskins' TD run in the fourth quarter was his fourth of the season, while his 33-yard scamper in the third quarter was the second-longest run OSU had allowed all year.
• U-M tallied two touchdowns in the first quarter against Ohio State for the first time since 2013. Devin Gardner and Fitzgerald Toussaint each notched a rushing score in the opening frame of that year's contest.
• Patterson moved up to eighth on Michigan's all-time career passing chart with 5,428 yards. He passed Brady's 5,351 and needs just 21 more to reach the seventh spot, which is held by head coach Jim Harbaugh (5,449).
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