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New QB? Michigan’s Cade McNamara looked pretty impressive in first offensive series vs. Wisconsin
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Hosting the No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night, the Michigan Wolverines were looking to snap a two-game losing streak and move back to .500.
Instead, Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines went down, 14-0, after one quarter of play and 28-0 at the halftime break.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton played a role in this rough start, throwing interceptions on each of his first two pass attempts, affording the Badgers short fields to work with.
Relieved late in the third quarter, Milton finished his night nine-of-19 for 98 yards.
Cade McNamara, a redshirt freshman from Damonte Ranch High School in Reno, Nevada, replaced Milton and wasted no time providing the offense with a spark, engineering a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, culminating in a 23-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Mike Sainristil.
No matter the score, the effort is still on 💯 pic.twitter.com/IK9fnQ2qbd
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 15, 2020
McNamara also converted the two-point attempt, connecting with another sophomore receiver, Giles Jackson.
Showing impressive touch and the ability to let his pass-catchers run underneath the football, something his predecessor struggled with, color commentator Kirk Herbstreit praised McNamara on his first drive.
With Michigan staring down the barrel at a 1-3 record, perhaps this mop-up duty for the redshirt freshman could translate into an audition for the starting role.
This game is currently airing on ABC, with Herbstreit working alongside Chris Fowler.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.