Shea Patterson Named Michigan Starting QB vs. Notre Dame in 4-Way Battle

Michigan has named Shea Patterson its starting quarterback for its first game of the season against Notre Dame, according to Nick Baumgardner of the Detroit Free Press.

Patterson, a transfer from Ole Miss, was competing with Brandon Peters, Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton for the starting job.

After playing sparingly as a freshman, he started the season at quarterback for the Rebels before Jordan Ta'amu took over down the stretch. He decided to transfer to Ann Arbor following the season and was ruled eligible to play immediately this season.

In 10 total games, Patterson threw 23 touchdown passes with 12 interceptions to go with 3,139 passing yards.

This also makes him the most experienced college player on the Michigan roster. Brandon Peters was one of three starters for the Wolverines last season but had limited success in six games. He only completed 52.8 percent of his passes and doesn't provide much of a running threat.

Freshmen McCaffrey and Milton have also kept themselves in the running with their strong play in practice despite never appearing in college games.

"That position has been very competitive, probably (one of) our most competitive position battles going on," head coach Jim Harbaugh said last week of the quarterback battle, per Baumgardner. "And like I said, none of them have given in. None of them have dropped off. So, it rages on." 

Patterson has apparently won the battle for now, but it doesn't appear as though anything is guaranteed past the first game.

Considering the uncertainty at the position over the past two seasons for Michigan, we could see several different players under center before 2018 is done.