Shea Patterson Performance Ranks Among Michigan's Best Vs. Rival MSU

After setting a Michigan record for passing yards against rival Michigan State (384), QB Shea Patterson makes his claim for one of the best individual efforts vs. the Spartans. Where does it rank in the U-M annals?

1. Braylon Edwards, 2004: Michigan trailed MSU 27-13 with 6:27 remaining in the game when Edwards took over with an array of catches unmatched in school history. He had a 36-yard touchdown reception to bring U-M within one score (following an onside kick recovery by the Wolverines). On the ensuing Michigan series, he caught a 21-yard score to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the third OT, Edwards struck again with a 24-yard TD to lift the Maize and Blue to a 45-37 victory.

In the fourth quarter and overtimes, Edwards caught seven balls for 149 yards, and finished his day with 11 grabs for 189 yards and the three touchdowns.  

2. Chris Perry, 2003: In a Top 15 matchup - Michigan was 11th and MSU was ninth -- Perry set a U-M single-game record with 51 carries (a mark better than second by seven carries) en route to 219 yards and a touchdown in a 27-20 win in East Lansing. Perry also caught two balls for a grand total of 53 offensive touches. 

In the fourth quarter, he salted the game away, carrying it 14 times for 57 yards, rushing for three first downs and 14 in the game (of U-M's 29 total). 

3. Mike Hart, 2005: Playing on a gimpy ankle after missing two games (and most of the third, against Notre Dame), Hart returned to lift the spirits of a Michigan team that had fallen from 14th to out of the Top 25 coming off a 23-20 loss at Wisconsin. On his second carry of the game in East Lansing, Hart rushed 45 yards, letting the Spartans know they weren't getting off easy with a Max Martin or Kevin Grady. 

Hart rushed 36 times for 218 yards (6.1 yards per carry) and scored on a one-yard plunge that gave Michigan a 31-24 fourth-quarter lead. He also had a 64-yard run en route to the fourth 200-yard game of his career (and only in 2005). The Wolverines would upset the 11th-ranked Spartans 34-31 in overtime.  

4. Shea Patterson, 2019: On Saturday, Patterson set a record for passing yards against Michigan State - his 384 almost 100 better than Tom Brady's 285 in 1999; tied the mark for passing touchdowns against MSU (four) with Scott Dreisbach (1996) and Chad Henne (2004 and 2007); while his 72.7 completion percentage is the third best ever against the Spartans by a Wolverine (minimum 10 pass attempts), trailing only Henne (74.3, 2005) and Brady (73.2, 1999). 

Recency bias is doing Patterson some favors in a poll I posted today about his performance. 

5. Larry Foote, 2000: Throwing a bit of a wildcard into this conversation, but on Oct. 21, 2000, Foote had an outstanding defensive game, recording 14 tackles, including two for loss, and a pass breakup in a 14-0 victory. 

That year, Spartan tailback TJ Duckett rushed for 1,353 yards and averaged 5.6 yards per carry, but he had just 70 yards on 17 attempts (4.1 YPC) against the Wolverines, and at a critical moment, with U-M leading just 7-0 midway through the third quarter, Foote brought Duckett down behind the line of scrimmage at the two when a touchdown seemed all but certain. On the next play, fellow LB Victor Hobson forced a fumble, recovered by Michigan, and the Green and White never sniffed the end zone again. 

HM Charles Woodson, 1997: Nothing offensively, just five tackles defensively, but he had two picks, including this one.