Quick Reactions: Michigan Passing Game Goes Off In Victory Over MSU

In Week 10, Michigan's offense still had a few tricks up its sleeve, showcasing a passing attack that piled up a season-high 384 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Wolverines to a 44-10 victory over Michigan State.

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• I didn't think Michigan had it in them to conjure a passing game out of thin air - the Wolverines had averaged just 185.4 yards passing over their last five games - but on Saturday, U-M unveiled a game plan focused entirely on getting wide receivers and tight ends the ball in space and down the field. And it worked. Brilliantly. 

Senior QB Shea Patterson threw for a U-M career-high 384 yards, the fifth-highest total by a Wolverine ever and the biggest number ever put forth by a winged helmet quarterback in a matchup with Michigan State (the previous high was 285 by Tom Brady in 1999). 

Patterson looked comfortable in 'gunslinger' mode, throwing 33 times, in the pocket, on the scramble, across the middle, bubble screens, on short routes, intermediate routes and deep (felt a bit like Dr. Seuss there). He connected with sophomore Ronnie Bell for a career-high 150 yards, to junior Donovan Peoples-Jones in space, to junior Nico Collins on a post route for a TD, to junior Tarik Black, and senior tight ends Sean McKeon and Nick Eubanks for big plays. 

It was an incredibly satisfying day for Michigan fans that have been clamoring for the Maize and Blue to take advantage of their weapons at receiver and tight end all season long. For one Saturday anyway, there should be no lamenting of wasted opportunities. Michigan attacked and attacked and attacked. 

It was aggressive play calling from coordinator Josh Gattis, some nice playmaking by the receivers both catching some tough balls and getting yards after the catch, and it was Patterson going into 'Penn State mode' showing no nerves on third down, no happy feet in the pocket … making big throws seemingly in every crucial situation. 

The effort was also a preview of the type of offense Michigan will need to have any chance of upsetting the Buckeyes in two weeks. Ohio State is an explosive offense, putting points on the board against everyone (51.0 ppg. and 41.0 ppg. against three defenses that rank Top 50 nationally in scoring defense). That U-M abandoned a rushing attack that had flourished in the team's past four games (to the tune of 223.5 yards rushing per contest) because State boasts a strong rush defense and is susceptible through the air demonstrated this coaching staff can shift philosophies and this team can execute such a huge departure from what the Wolverines had been doing so expertly well. 

• Ronnie Bell now has a team-high 37 catches, and a team-high 621 yards receiving this year. He was dynamic with the ball in his hands, going for 16, 18, 18, 20 and 42 yards. In a rivalry game, Bell wrote a more appropriate legacy for his sophomore season (than his drop at Penn State), having himself one of the best individual performances ever by a U-M receiver against Michigan State - only Braylon Edwards' 189 yards in 2004 and Amara Darboh's 165 in 2016 represent a bigger day. 

• Not much for the rushing attack, which seemed to be by design. Michigan ran the ball 34 times but almost a 1/3 came from senior Tru Wilson in non-critical situations. U-M's two best rushers - freshman Zach Charbonnet (seven carries) and redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins (six carries) - were essentially used as decoys. Proving this game plan was different even more so than anything we'd seen this season, the Wolverines ran a pair of jet sweeps to freshman Giles Jackson, good for 21 and 11 yards. 

That Michigan went away from its bread-and-butter ... cannot say enough how impressive U-M's coaching and game plan was, unfurling a plan of attack there is no way Michigan State could have been ready for. 

• Couldn't help but think of Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope approach and the "move like a butterfly, sting like a bee" attitude for this U-M defense. Michigan State, under strong early play from QB Brian Lewerke, had some success in the first quarter and even first half but the Wolverines stuck with their game plan, eventually overwhelming MSU's offensive line as pressure on Lewerke forced errant throws, drops and stopped State's ground attack.  

The hits on Lewerke and the Spartans started accumulating, Michigan's physicality a role reversal from the Mark Dantonio-Brady Hoke era of 2011-14 when MSU was the big bully on the block. The Maize and Blue made their rivals "feel" this defeat, and the end result was the most lopsided win by U-M since its 49-3 2002 victory. 

• Harbaugh is now 3-2 against Michigan State and regardless of what State does with Dantonio after the season, the programs are headed in vastly different directions, the talent gap as wide as it's been in a decade-plus. One has to think that there will be a few more outcomes like this (even in East Lansing next year) with the way this rivalry is trending. 

• Loved Michigan going for a touchdown on its final offensive possession. In 2014, Dantonio ran up the score on U-M, and Hoke apologized afterwards for a wooden stake the Wolverines threw in the middle of the field pre-game. Dantonio has never shied away from taking a shot at the Maize and Blue, and I said earlier in the week, if Michigan had an opportunity to rub the Spartans' face in the mud, I wanted them to do it. I know that's not the classiest take, but every once in awhile some trash talking/piling on is merited, and against this coach, this was it.