ATLANTA — It’s a little past 8 a.m. and Shea Patterson is animated.

 

The topic is a Family Feud-style game Michigan played against Florida last night — one of those promotional things through the Peach Bowl — and Patterson is as excited as he’s been in an interview all year.

 

“Man, it just — it came outta nowhere,” he says. “It came, literally outta nowhere. ... I got panicked. We had four guys left and they had one. And I thought all three — two of them were facing one way and I thought Quinn Rothman was facing that way, too. So I turn him around real quick.

 

“Next thing I know, the dude’s like, ‘Alright kids, round three.’ I’m facing the other way. I’m like, ‘Ok, I’m just gonna take one for the team right here. I’m gonna lose.’ And all three of them go down. And I’m like, ‘Man. I guess I’ll be in this position.’ ”

 

He’s sitting at a table in a hotel ballroom, fielding questions and a looking a little less miserable than he should after waking up at 7:42 and coming straight here. Patterson has cultivated a reputation this season as someone who stays quiet around media — both literally and figuratively. Right now though, this doesn’t seem to be a veneer of amiability. He looks, in a word, comfortable, and given the topic of the day, that fits.

 

[After THE JUMP: some words]

 

Last week, the junior quarterback announced he will return for his senior season. This after a season in which he threw for 2,364 yards and 21 touchdowns, helping the Wolverines go from 85th to 24th in offensive S&P+. When Patterson walked into Crisler Center last season for a basketball game, that was the type of season people envisioned. Patterson wasn’t quite a savior but it’s not easy to imagine Michigan going into Columbus with a playoff berth on the line without him.

 

On that day last December though, much as general consensus was that Patterson would likely come, it felt like Ann Arbor would be a pitstop. Not just for him, but for Deontay Anderson and Van Jefferson. It turned out that Patterson was the only one of those three that came — and of leaving early was ever his plan, then sometime along the way, it changed.

 

There are a multitude of reasons for that, but most telling: Patterson has moved around a lot in life — living in place after place. On Thursday, he was asked if Ann Arbor is the most home he’s ever felt in a place.

 

“I think so,” Patterson said.

 

This — his first full year in college football — was a confluence of catching fire and ultimate falling short. It was a year that allowed Patterson to say, “I’m happy with the spot we’re in,” and, “We definitely didn’t meet our expectations,” not 20 minutes apart.

 

Much as Michigan would have been happy with a New Year’s Six bowl 13 weeks ago, the Peach Bowl comes with a sheen of disappointment.

 

“When things go your way for a long stretch of time — and you can look at it, it really did. I think obviously, that (Ohio State) game’s not looked upon lightly,” defensive coordinator Don Brown said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s ok, let’s move on. So I think everybody feels it.”  

 

Patterson does, surely. It’s high among the reasons he’ll be coming back, and it sounds good in a quote. But his decision is about more than that, and it’s about more than improving his draft stock, too.

 

“I grew up in Toledo for 12 years, got a lot of friends and family there,” Patterson said. “Traveled over to Ann Arbor when I was little. I think the guys just make it — if anything, the guys make it the most home for me.”