There was a clear moment when it should’ve all made sense.

Shea Patterson decided that it was his turn. That instead of handing the ball off and doing what the entire Wisconsin defense expected on the run-pass option, it was Patterson’s turn to show why he was the game-changer that Michigan hoped it had in the Ole Miss transfer.

All it took was one block off the edge. That was more than enough of a window for Patterson to flash the ability that once likened him to the next Johnny Manziel. But this time, it wasn’t a miraculous scramble and touchdown pass. Patterson did something that Michigan fans haven’t seen at the quarterback since Denard Robinson was in Ann Arbor.

Eighty. One. Yards.

“That was surprising to me,” Patterson said in the ABC postgame interview. “I didn’t know it was going to open up like that.”

It was the type of play that few quarterbacks in America could’ve made, much less one with an arm like Patterson’s. Better yet, it was the type of play that reminded everyone why Patterson was worth pursuing following Michigan’s disastrous offensive season in 2017.

Patterson was far from the only reason the Wolverines dominated Wisconsin on Saturday night to keep their Playoff hopes alive. Lord knows Karan Higdon in the ground game and that Michigan defense had a say in what turned out to be a lopsided result.

But Patterson lived up to his 5-star billing in a major, major way on Saturday night.

Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday night marked Michigan’s first win against a ranked B1G team since Wisconsin came to Ann Arbor in October 2016. That was also the last time the Wolverines beat a top-15 team. That, plus Michigan’s 2-8 mark vs. top-15 foes during the Jim Harbaugh era, was well-documented.

Five weeks after that game, Shea Patterson got his first career start. On that night, the true freshman led Ole Miss to a comeback win against No. 10 Texas A&M in College Station. That was also the last time Patterson beat a ranked team.

In many ways, Michigan and Patterson lived in parallel universes.

After showing promise as a potentially special team in 2016, Michigan fizzled out at season’s end. The Wolverines then started off 2017 with a bang by beating Florida, but they were ultimately knocked out by the midway point of the season. The same was true of Patterson, who lost his final 2 games of 2016 and after an impressive start to 2017, was knocked out for good in the middle of the season.

Now, though, they’re both thriving together. That much was obvious by night’s end. Patterson and the Michigan offense lit up a stout Wisconsin defense — and probably left some points on the board — for 444 yards in the program’s most convincing win against a top-25 team since the first September of Harbaugh’s first season in 2015.

Needless to say, times have changed. Harbaugh has changed.

Harbaugh’s offensive philosophy is different than it was six weeks ago at Notre Dame. Against Wisconsin, Harbaugh wasn’t afraid to allow Patterson to run more of a spread attack. That’s what led to plays like Patterson’s 81-yard run, and the keeper touchdown he had to make it a 2-score game early in the second half.

After that play, Patterson went to the corner of the Michigan end zone to fire up the crowd. It didn’t matter that he had a significant cut on his left hand or that there was plenty of ballgame left.

He was feeling it.

Why wouldn’t Patterson be feeling it? With the way that Michigan defense played, Patterson should’ve had all the confidence in the world at that moment that he was on the brink of a huge victory.

Michigan showed its upside on Saturday night in what was easily its best game since that 2016 season. Shoot, it might’ve been its best game since Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor. With the exception of a few stalled drives early that resulted in missed kicks, everything clicked.

We don’t know if everything will click like that in the Wolverines’ next two games, which are a road showdown at Michigan State next week and a revenge game against a suddenly struggling Penn State squad after the bye. Patterson could revert back to the player who looked overwhelmed against Notre Dame.

But for now, Michigan is 4-0 in B1G play. The punchline of Harbaugh never finishing better than third in his own division is at least in decent position to fade in 2018. So is the belief that Harbaugh doesn’t have a difference-maker at quarterback. Patterson is that.

Chase Winovich said this offseason that he told Patterson he would come back for his senior year if he decided to transfer to Michigan. Now, the two are roommates. When they were interviewed on ABC, you could tell what the dominant victory meant to Winovich, who had watched a handful of Michigan quarterbacks waste stellar defensive efforts the last few years.

Patterson and the Michigan offense didn’t waste anything on Saturday. Instead, they turned it into a beatdown.

And maybe, in Patterson’s best performance yet, the Wolverines turned themselves into contenders.