HOOVER, Ala. — Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson made it easy to invoke the comparisons on that first career touchdown pass last season — the one where he rolled right, circled all the way back left and spun a 3-yard touchdown pass to Damore'ea Stringfellow against Texas A&M in Week 11.
Brent Musburger even blurted out "Johnny Manziel!" for added effect. Patterson led the Rebels from a 21-6 deficit to a 29-28 victory that night, part of a three-game sampling which showed star potential for the sophomore quarterback heading into 2017. SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic sees that potential, too.
"I like how he works," Cubelic said of Patterson. "First thing I noticed about him when covering the Wofford game (on Sept. 10, 2016) last fall was him on the field hours before the game working on his craft knowing he wasn't playing that day. He gets the ball out quick. Keeps eyes downfield. Wants to stay in pocket. But has uncanny escapability."
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That escapability is everything for Ole Miss this season, in a year where the Rebels aren't eligible for the postseason and Hugh Freeze is no longer with the team. The program's future seems tenuous at best. But then you watch Patterson uncork a deep hitch on a line, and it’s easy to drift in the other direction.
Patterson moves like Manziel, and might throw a little harder. He wears No. 20, a few digits short of another quarterback who ran around and thrilled his way to the Heisman Trophy for Boston College in 1984. Is it possible Patterson could crash the same conversation, despite those major hurdles? Will all that running around lead to something more?
Cubelic actually thinks we'll see less of that this season, though it will lead to better results.
"The on-field comparisons (to Manziel) are fair from a distance," Cubelic said. "But I think Shea will be much more reliant on his system and reads than ad-libbing. … (He) can move like crazy but isn't a guy to just bail on the pocket. I've studied it. (He) can make every throw. With that offensive line potentially improving with that group of receivers, he could have a monster year."
What does Patterson think of all the comparisons?
"(Manziel) is a terrific playmaker, one of the best college football players I have ever seen,” Patterson said at SEC Media Days on July 13. "I like watching film on him and seeing the way he extends plays, and I can't watch enough Aaron Rodgers. I watch videos of him all night, laying up all night. You find yourself watching on YouTube then doing what they do without even trying to do it.
"That's pretty fun, but I want to be myself."
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Patterson rattled off the checklist of what he watches on those clips — "The footwork, they're looking up, the quick release, the running around keeping your eyes down field." Those are the same attributes that make Patterson perhaps the most-intriguing sophomore in an SEC quarterback class that includes Alabama's Jalen Hurts, Georgia's Jacob Eason and South Carolina's Jake Bentley.
Patterson is a self-described "pass-first quarterback," one who has been crafting that release with quarterback guru Steve Clarkson since eighth grade. That should translate to big numbers in Ole Miss' system. His predecessors in Chad Kelly and Bo Wallace did the same.
If Kelly cann steer Ole Miss to wins in nine or 10 games and throws another scare at Alabama, Patterson could conceivably come back in 2018 as one of the top players in college football.
For Patterson, it's going to happen this year as the full-time starter, even without a postseason to look forward to. That's the biggest challenge, and Patterson is focused on getting to "play 12 games in the best conference in the country."
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"Of course it sucks we can't play for a bowl this year, but it doesn't change the path," Patterson said. "It doesn't change the vision. We still have one goal, and like we said we want to win a championship sometime, whenever that is."
In the meantime, expect Patterson to emerge on the short list of the most exciting players in college football for 2017, and perhaps down the line as a Heisman Trophy finalist like Ole Miss icons Archie Manning and Eli Manning. Patterson’s confidence will be tested, but he might just be the player who helps Ole Miss escape the turmoil, at least on the field.
Patterson doesn't have to be Manziel to make that happen. Being himself will do just fine.
"I'm surrounded by so many great players all you have to do is be yourself," Patterson said. "I guess once you make that first play and find out you're rallying around your teammates and your teammates are rallying around you it makes it a lot easier."
