Top QB Performances of Harbaugh
One of the narratives of the Harbaugh tenure is that he lost the ability to develop quarterbacks. After yesterday's performance, I (and others on this board and the internets) felt like Harbaugh finally found his QB. Fumbles excluded, he may have a second one as well. But what do the numbers say? I looked through all the QB performances since 2015 to see the best games by Michigan QBs. I took into account quality of opponent and stats. I glossed over non P5 games because I don't think they are a fair comparison.
In top competition, here's what the best games look like (in reverse chronological order).
2021 vs. MSU (8): Cade 383 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 23 rush yards.
2019 vs. MSU (unranked): Shea Patterson 384 yards 4TD in a blowout win
2019 vs. ND (No.8) Shea Patterson 6-12, 100 yds, 2TDs in blowout win
2018 vs. Wisconsin (15) Shea Patterson 124 yds, 90 rushing yards and 1 TD
Outside of rivals and top competition, Ruddock went off in a home game against Indiana with 440 yards and 6TD. Certainly worth consideration, but Indiana was unranked.
My conclusion, is that Cades performance is arguably one of, if not the best big game performance under Harbaugh. Certainly there are no moral victories in that, but I'm also not on the team. I'm just a guy on a message board looking to discuss how this performance was vs. all the others we've seen.
Taking it a bit further, how does this compare to QBs prior to Harbaugh? Gardner had some ridiculous stat lines against teams like Indiana and Denard was a different type of beast with so many memorable games (such as ND where he had 200+ passing and 200+ rushing)..
I also appreciate your healthy debate on this Sunday morning. I know it may be too positive of a take for many but I thought it would be good to have a holistic discussion about quarterback play from a historical lens.
October 31st, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
Not today. Sorry.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
That's okay... hopefully your FF team, NFL team or pro bets come through.
October 31st, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
Cardinals lost on Thursday night in the exact same fashion as M did yesterday (had the ball with a chance to win and threw a walk off INT). As of Wednesday last week, both my football teams were undefeated and now…..sigh
October 31st, 2021 at 9:58 AM ^
Again, great game by Cade. I want him to be the guy. Here's the bottom line though... game on the line, TD-winning drive needed. Are you able to step up and get it done? Came close. Close but no cigar. The truly great QBs will continually do this. Cade had time yesterday I thought the line pass protection was very solid. Got to lead the team all the way down in that scenario.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^
Dude come on, it was raining hard, no timeouts and 70 yards needed in a minute. The refs already screwed his previous drive with a no call on holding. He played great but was forced to do multiple game winning drives.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
I think my main issue is the first of the "game on the line" drives. A couple missed opportunities there. By no means is this loss on him. He played great I want to see him become a legend. You become a legend by leading a game winning drive in a memorable rivalry game.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
So many internet tough guys.
Cade played his ass off despite apparently having some injury issue (he was in the tent when JJ came in and fumbled) and his favorite target (All) left the game in the second half. If All had been in there on the last drive, he may have caught that ball that was picked off.
People get on Cade for accuracy issues, but look who he’s had to throw to. Bell was the primary receiver in fall camp then got hurt. Wilson started to emerge and then got hurt. All stepped up and then got hurt. Cade’s had to continually develop timing with new WRs/TEs. Andrel Anthony had zero career catches before yesterday. How many people expected him to catch two TDs?
October 31st, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
Huh? Not questioning his toughness, will, desire, leadership or anything remotely in this vein. I simply stated a fact: road game on the line. A td winning drive or 2 other conversion needed. That's where Michigan needs a QB to step up and fully deliver.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:44 AM ^
And we need receivers to step up and fully receive.
If you watch the end of the game and blame the QB, wow.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
There were so many dropped passes. Corum in the first quarter and either Johnson or someone else come to mind as big ones. Cade had a couple of bad passes to be sure, but our guys dropped some passes that hit them square in the chest.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
The play calling was absolutely atrocious on that last drive. Schoonmaker also doesn’t even attempt to make a play on the defender.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
Cade would be the last in a long line of reasons of why we didn't win this game. He outplayed his counterpart and did more than anybody could have possibly expected. He definitely did enough to win the game.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
He played he best game of his career and displayed all of the leadership intangibles including returning from injury. This loss cannot be pinned on Cade. At the same time, MSU has a bad pass defense. This is not evidence that UM has found a passing game that can win games against good pass defenses. OSU's pass defense is not great so this performance does provide hope that the score will not be lopsided.
October 31st, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
I love Cade's moxie and his leadership. However--2 touchdowns, one of which was a run after catch won't get it done against an offense that has big play capability--and against a defense that was bottling up our running game.
October 31st, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
Tom Brady at MSU. One drive to win the game….4 and out. A truly great QB would win that every time. (Although to this day I thought they got a bad spot on 4th down)
October 31st, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
Nice post, Mercury. Cade played a hell of a game and we saw what I hope is the beginning of an amazing career at UM for Andrel Anthony.
The outcome of yesterday's game was a disappointment, but it also showed that this is not the same Harbaugh offense that we've seen for the past 6 years. In fact, I would actually argue that the stats undersell how good the offense was yesterday. For example, that dropped pass to Corum could've gone for at least 40 if not taken all the way to the house, some unfortunate drops, etc.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
It is the same offense. Don't get it twisted.
There may be a lot of cute little gimmicks, spread, etc. But the SYSTEM is the same. Incredibly conservative. The runs are not creative whatsoever. There are very few reverses, screens, wheel routes, you name it. When you peel back the layers, Harbaugh's 1970s style Michigan is ALL over this team. There is no risk taking. On 4th and 1, Tucker dials up some crazy play that opens a TE right over the middle, or on 4th and 4, he takes a chance with his best player on the perimeter.
And then, inconceivably, when it's 3rd and 2 or whatever, Harbaugh/Gattis dial up a heave that goes incomplete, putting an incredible amount of pressure on Cade to deliver on 4th.
There's no up-tempo stuff, nothing that catches a team off-balance. Michigan has been incredibly fortunate that they've had two stellar RBs able to mask the sheer lack of creativity for the offense.
I don't know what this team is supposed to be.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:33 AM ^
Confirmation bias?
How many games in the Harbaugh era have we racked up 500+ yards against a good team on the road?
October 31st, 2021 at 12:19 PM ^
What good is 500 yards if you can't get it in the endzone? MSU put it in the endzone. Every. Single. Time. Not just their TD's but 2/2 on 2 pt conversions.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:43 AM ^
There is no risk taking. On 4th and 1, Tucker dials up some crazy play that opens a TE right over the middle, or on 4th and 4, he takes a chance with his best player on the perimeter.
But then you give an example of M taking a risk, only describing it as "a heave":
And then, inconceivably, when it's 3rd and 2 or whatever, Harbaugh/Gattis dial up a heave that goes incomplete.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
We needed JJ to get 6 instead of 3 in the red zone
October 31st, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
Sure. And it was the coaches that put JJ in to get 6 in the red zone.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
I think the only thing that this offense has been missing is passes into the end zone while in the red zone. The offense seems to be pretty wide open and successful up until the red zone. Then we sort of go into a bit of a shell knowing that Moody has our back and it's an almost automatic 3 points. If we can't gain yards running the ball near the end zone then take a few shots with Cade. And I am not talking about sideways passes or sweeps. Throw the ball INTO the end zone. We need to do better in those situations.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
Did this remind anyone else of Brady and Henson? McNamara wad on. Wr should've recognized that.
Didn't need McCarthy yesterday.
October 31st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
The whole situation feels similar to me.
It's far from a fait accompli that McCarthy beats Cade out next year.
October 31st, 2021 at 2:59 PM ^
McNamara was injured
October 31st, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
Individual performances are great but, as we know, football is a team game. We witnessed MSU play as a focused team who came back after their mistakes, scored when they needed to (2 successful 2 pt conversions), and played inspired football. We saw glimpses of that yesterday early on with Michigan but then the wheels fell off in the 2nd half. Forget the calls Michigan didn't get. It still needed to score TDs in the red zone and that is becoming an issue now. FGs just don't cut it.
I have to tip my cap to MSU. They took advantage of Michigan's weaknesses in text book fashion.
As far as QB's go, Jake is the man. The guy came alive in the 2nd half of the season and was on fire. We haven't yet seen a QB under Harbaugh elevate to where Jake was, imo.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
MSU had a handful of opportunities to win this game, refs included, and they pretty much won all of them. One or two of those go our way and Michigan very likely wins. It's maddening.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
Cade played his ass off. The refs, his defense, a couple drops by his receivers, and an untimely fumble from his backup really let him down. Gotta feel for the kid.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:14 AM ^
Corum and Johnson both dropped passes that would have put Cade over 400 yards and probably swung the game in the other direction. People on this board need a target other than McNamara, who could turn out to be really, really good by the end of the season. We lost that game yesterday because MSU played out of their minds against us (as usual) and the Michigan players and coaches screwed up just enough to let the officials decide it. That's it, but Cade was fantastic.
October 31st, 2021 at 2:08 PM ^
This is going to sound like a JH defense and the JH haters are going to neg the shit out if this but man, it is always a catch or 1 play in these close games. Again, this is on JH as he is the leader, but it’s always one or two plays, some of them not even difficult. If Corrum makes that simple catch, it’s prob 6. If they wrap the RB on one of his breaks, it’s prob over. If the call stands on the strip, if the spot was in UMs favor, if the safety catches the INT right in his hands. Again, it’s on JH, but it would be nice to see someone step up and make a big play when needed every once in a while.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
When he did his interview after the game, he said the standard "This loss is on me" that you expect from a team leader.
But it rang so hollow. Like, how is it on you, what else could you have actually done?
He did all he could do.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:06 AM ^
We got every ounce we could out of Cade for 2 quarters.
Unfortunately Harbaugh game managed the team to a 37-33 loss after being up 30-14.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:34 AM ^
Stupid take. Tired. Why do you hang out here?
October 31st, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
Stupid take? We kicked 4 field goals. We played like 30pts was enough to win the game, in 2021, on the road, against a team that leads the conference in explosive plays.
We had no back pocket plays for the game. Tucker had a handful and scored on 1 of them.
“Tired” is the appropriate word here. I’ll give you that.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
Do you know if any of them were not back pocket plays? Just want to say crap about Harbaugh because you are upset. Offense was fine. Defense on the other hand....
October 31st, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
The fact that nothing stands out says it all.
I don’t think there’s a more fitting example of this than when we went hurry up on 4th and 2 and handed it off to Corum right up the gut. We literally do that 100% of the time in that scenario. Do you think maybe Mel had that scouted? He did.
Perfect opportunity to break tendency yet Harbaugh did what he always does: man balled it with the smallest player on the team.
Tuck in the same situation scored a td on a back pocket play to a wide open receiver.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
double post*
Which coincidently would be a welcome pass play in the red zone.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:09 AM ^
He played well but we've heard the "finally found his QB" bullshit after Speight, O'Korn, Peters, Patterson and Milton and none of them won anything.
Not to mention the chance to put yourself in Michigan football history with a game winning drive and you throw a pick.
It really doesnt matter how good of QBs you have anyway if your coaching holds them back, see Georgia and Mark Richt as an example who we seem to be a mirror of.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:22 AM ^
Before he got hurt against Iowa, Speight in fact was on a very good trajectory. The others do not have the body of work that Cade has. He has shown up when we needed him. He rarely does more than he needs to, which unfortunately hurt yesterday, but he is still young and is trending in the right direction.
If you really want to boil Cade’s performance down to that last pick, that is on you, not Cade.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Speight was not good in 2017. I remember people on this board being happy that the injury took him out of the line up. They wished him well, but they were absolover him at qb
October 31st, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
That throw was on target, the MSU defender made a better play.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
Yeah, I mean sometimes you just have to tip your cap. The DB dropped off his man and made the play in front of Schoonmaker. That's just timely application of athleticism and good coaching. Going the other way, Moten just missed his pick. Football is a game of inches.
October 31st, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
The pass was on target but it was slow, floated, and never should’ve been thrown. The defender made a nice play, but the pass never should’ve been thrown. Cade still played great. He played better than I thought he was capable of playing.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
I don’t know of a single person who said Harbaugh found his QB after O’Korn. Nothing against the guy - he was who he was. No one said that. You’re just griping.
October 31st, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
Go look at the Purdue game snowflake threads from 2017
October 31st, 2021 at 10:09 AM ^
Great performance by Cade yesterday. He did everything Michigan needed in order to be able to win, and JJ made some bad freshman mistakes that he deserves the opportunity to learn from. I have to believe he’s going to. Failure is a great teacher. Maybe the best one there is.
MSU’s secondary is pretty bad but the OL consistently gave both QBs time to operate in the pocket against what is supposed to be a very good MSU front seven. I don’t recall seeing many sacks, if any at all. So that’s a good step in the right direction for sure.
October 31st, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
Box score lists no sacks, but I could have sworn there was one on a delayed safety blitz,
October 31st, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
Cade got the ball out in the nick of time, but he did get popped pretty hard. Clean hit but he saw the safety coming in and threw it away. If he’s looking the other way, the ball is likely out.