ANN ARBOR – The hopes of achieving a national championship for the Michigan Wolverines will land on the broad shoulders of junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Rumblings through fall camp described how the second-year starter and third-year quarterback has ascended to the next level for the men in maize.
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McCarthy finished the 2022 season completing 208 passes for 2,719 yards, 22 touchdowns, and five interceptions while leading the Wolverines to an undefeated season, another Big Ten championship (back-to-back), and another trip to the NCAA College Football Playoff in his first year as a starter.
Michigan’s goals have always been to win the Big Ten championship, but his tone and play have changed the narrative.
“I would say the biggest thing for me is setting expectations,” said McCarthy. “It’s being where my feet are and always focusing on the day-to-day battle and the battles within each day. Just staying consistent with everything within each day and attacking it no matter what it is.”
Michigan averaged 40.4 points per game last season, the most since 1904. They’re returning most of their starters from last season on both sides of the ball, which is why they’re the favorites in the Big Ten and are ranked No. 2 on the AP poll.
The Wolverines have had the best line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball; they’ve won the Joe Moore Award twice since its inception in 2015, which has never been done, and they’ll be in contention for a third consecutive.
The outstanding play of Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, barring injury, will be phenomenal as they’re the opposite of former Carolina Panthers running backs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, who, during the 2009 NFL season, rushed for 1,000 yards a piece.
Someone called the backfield duo of Williams and Stewart thunder and lightning, but Corum and Edwards are more like thunder and thunder.
“I said before the season started that we were lightning and lightning,” said Corum. “We don’t need thunder. It’s a double lightning strike.”
The defense is the defense. Although the last time we saw them on the field, they were involved in a shootout, head coach Jim Harbaugh is known for providing proper defenses, including his time in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers.
But if the men in maize want to achieve their goals again this season, they’ll have to come from McCarthy’s right arm and legs.
McCarthy had already told the college football world that their intentions this year are to beat their rivals, three-peat as Big Ten champions, and win the national title.
The second-year starter sees what he has on both sides of the ball, and he knows their work ethic and how it could lead them in the direction they want to go.
“With the whole team, you never have to pull at guys to get the extra work or pull at guys to get in the gym as it’s as simple as, ‘Hey, let’s go get some more,’” McCarthy said. “The guys are already expecting to get more work done after practice and or games.”
During Media Days, Harbaugh called McCarthy a once-in-a-generation talent due to what he’s seen throughout the last year and during the off-season.
“Just to watch him grow and mature during spring practice and being there and being around him daily, weekly, monthly, yearly now that’s what I see, and that’s my opinion as he’s a-once-in a generational quarterback,” said Harbaugh. “So, it’s just been great getting that chemistry going with him for a second year in a row, and he’s going to do big things this year.”
Harbaugh continued:
“He’s at the point where if he was at 50% throwing, he would still be our starting quarterback because he’s so athletic. If he was about 50% athletic due to some nagging injury, he’ll still be the best guy because he could throw so well. He could do both of those things at such a high level. He’s so locked in in the mind as he’s so smart, and he cares so much. The toughness is there, and he cares so much; he’s everything you look for in a quarterback and a leader.”
Watching McCarthy develop from the quarterback battle with Cade McNamara to beating Ohio State and running the table last season, he’s shown that he has the quality to lead, especially with his optimistic attitude, which has trickled down throughout the team.
“It’s vibrant and infectious as it rubs off on everybody,” Harbaugh said. “Last summer, we took a team trip around Michigan, and we got into the whiffle ball game with some of my kids and Jack’s (Harbaugh) friends, and you couldn’t tell who the nine-year-old’s were and who the 18-year-olds were. He was running and diving and sliding as he’s got the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old guy. It’s that’s vibrant and that infectious that it runs off on the entire team.”
McCarthy and Corum come into the season as Heisman favorites, but everything the Michigan faithful want and need rides on McCarthy and how he performs in 2023.
There is a reason that Harbaugh called him a generational quarterback, as he is very confident, which is why his teammates believe in him.
And with the three-game suspension of Harbaugh, the team will need McCarthy’s optimistic enthusiasm to hold down the fort until their head coach returns.
Suppose the Wolverines want to reach their goals. In that case, they’ll need to unlock McCarthy’s full arsenal this season, which would put him not only in talks of winning the Heisman but would have Michigan playing on Jan. 9, 2024, for all of the marbles as he, like the late great Bray Wyatt has the whole (college football) world in his hands.
The Wolverines will host the Eastern Carolina Pirates on Saturday (Sept. 2) at noon on Peacock. Will we see the rise of McCarthy out the gates, or will it take time for him and the offense to shift into the right gear? Let us know in the comment section.
