ANN ARBOR, Mich. — J.J. McCarthy had waited long enough for this moment.
So what if he had to wait an extra 60 minutes or so?
McCarthy knew his time would come, and a couple hours before an early-evening thunderstorm pushed back Michigan’s scheduled 8 p.m, kickoff against Hawaii, the Wolverines’ sophomore quarterback was enjoying a moment of zen. He sat with his legs crossed, leaning against the goal post in one end zone of the Big House, meditating for 10-15 minutes Saturday, just as he does before every game.
But this was his game, he knew. This was his first start, his big opportunity. And if this was the calm before the storm, well, McCarthy looked completely at ease.
The game itself would be no different, in that sense, as the fourth-ranked Wolverines hammered an overmatched opponent and McCarthy played flawlessly, turning in a near-perfect performance in his formal audition for the starting quarterback job.
A job that is now officially his, based on head coach Jim Harbaugh’s postgame comments. After following a scripted plan to alternate starts between the incumbent Cade McNamara and the irrepressible McCarthy in the first two games of Michigan’s non-competitive nonconference slate, Harbaugh was asked whether Saturday’s showing had, in fact, ended the debate.
Indeed, it has.
“We’ll start J.J. next week,” Harbaugh said.
And when asked if that’d be the case moving forward — after another tackling dummy visits next week in UConn — Harbaugh nodded, “Yeah, by merit, he’s earned that. By performance, by merit.”
And by halftime Saturday night, with a soggy sellout crowd making its preference clear after each offensive series, there wasn’t really any argument to make here, was there?
Not the way McCarthy was playing, showing off his full five-star arsenal under the bright lights. Hawaii’s Rainbow Warriors are hardly ready for prime time, or even FBS football, at this point, I realize. But McCarthy led Michigan to touchdowns on six of his seven first-half drives and finished the night 11-of-12 for 229 yards and three touchdowns, good for a ridiculous 334.5 passer rating and a hearty postgame chuckle from Harbaugh.
“I wouldn’t hold any quarterback to that standard — 100% completion percentage every night — let alone someone making their first start,” he smiled. “But he really played well. They both have.”
Not a fan favorite
In practice, and in the past, that’s certainly true. But McNamara’s outings this week and last, frankly, drew a stark contrast that was impossible to ignore.
McNamara struggled again Saturday with the roles reversed in Harbaugh’s QB derby. He came off the bench for one second-quarter series and it felt like a record scratch: That drive ended almost as soon as it started, halted by a hurried throw and a third-down sack that drew some boos from the crowd. (How soon some fans forget a rare Big Ten championship, no?)
McNamara didn’t fare any better in the second half, either. After a record-setting first-half explosion from Michigan’s offense (410 yards), McNamara’s three third-quarter drives produced zero first downs and one ugly turnover on McNamara’s first deep shot of the season — a badly underthrown ball intended for Andrel Anthony down the Michigan sideline.
By contrast, McCarthy’s night couldn’t have gone anymore smoothly. Blake Corum took a handoff on Michigan’s first play from scrimmage for a 24-yard gain, and then McCarthy faked a handoff on the next snap to set up a play-action bomb to Roman Wilson — a native Hawaiian — for a 42-yard touchdown.
“He was prepared, ready to go, everything we talked about,” said receiver Ronnie Bell, a fifth-year senior captain. “He was rolling.”
Corum did most of the damage on the Wolverines’ next scoring drive, though McCarthy did hit Bell in stride on a crossing route for a 34-yard gain along the way. But then on Michigan’s third drive, it was McCarthy showing what a difference he can make in the run game for this team.
The sophomore took a read-option keeper 16 yards around the right end for a first down, similar to the 20-yard touchdown run he had in the opener against Colorado State. On the very next play, he faked a handoff to Donovan Edwards and then flipped it instead to Wilson on a reverse that went 21 yards untouched to make it 21-0. Again, it’s that read-option threat that creates another explosive element for this potent Michigan offense.
“He puts plays on tape where he can run around the defense, runs through seams,” Harbaugh said. “As a defense you have to account for that. So that pulls an extra defender away from the point of attack, even if he’s faking.”
For what it's worth ...
Michigan’s offensive numbers will look farcical — if not fake — until the schedule veers into conference play in October, obviously.
But for now, what we see is what we’ll get. McCarthy showed a little bit of everything in Saturday’s rout, whether it was the deep ball — he also launched a 54-yarder to Cornelius Johnson — or the pocket presence that helped set up Bell’s long-awaited touchdown catch on a dart over the middle. There's also the arm strength and accuracy, though, that McCarthy displayed on his final touchdown toss to make it 42-0 just before halftime, rolling to his left and firing a perfectly-placed ball to Johnson again.
“He controlled the game,” Corum said. “He controlled the whole game. He was confident. Everything he does in practice, he transferred over here to Main Street. I expected nothing less.”
Nobody in blue was surprised, really, given what McCarthy showed in recent weeks. He was somewhat idled by a shoulder injury in the spring, but he turned up the heat on this competition in fall camp, and by all accounts — including Harbaugh’s, most notably — he pulled even with McNamara in late August.
“It’s been 2 1/2 weeks, really, every single day has been about as good as it can be” from McCarthy, Harbaugh said Saturday.
And if last week’s season opener was eye-opening for some, Saturday night’s show probably was eye-popping for many more. For Harbaugh, though, it was merely confirmation of what he thought he had. Or much like McCarthy, what he knew he had ever since he landed the Chicago-area standout as the centerpiece of his 2021 recruiting class.
What he has now, by the way, is not unlike what he had a decade ago when he was an NFL head coach in San Francisco. It was in the middle of the 49ers’ 2012 season — one that ended with a brotherly-love Super Bowl matchup against the Baltimore Ravens — that Harbaugh actually switched quarterbacks, turning from an experienced starter in Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick.
Smith had led the 49ers to the NFC title game in 2011, and to a 6-2-1 start that fall, but when he was forced to miss a Monday night game against the Chicago Bears in late November, Kaepernick seized the opportunity. And after a sterling starting debut, the second-year pro — blessed with a bigger arm and a more dynamic game with his running ability — was Harbaugh’s choice to lead the team the rest of the way.
“And a lot that Monday night game that Colin played against the Bears, that looked a lot like what J.J. was able to do out there tonight,” Harbaugh said Saturday.
Still, he was careful not to close any doors.
Harbaugh acknowledged that’s a tough pill to swallow for a redshirt junior who helped lead the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff spot last winter. But as only Harbaugh can do, he suggested McNamara should take the disappointment and “treat it like ankle weights” to grow stronger.
“It’s the nature of the business, playing football and quarterback,” he added. “But I know the competitor that Cade is. He’s got gravel in his gut and he’ll be ready for his next opportunity. That’s what I predict. ...
“It’s not a matter of someone losing it,” he insisted. “As I’ve been saying, I think we’ve got two good quarterbacks. Two starting quarterbacks. Two championship quarterbacks.”
But just one starter now, finally. And rather decisively, in the end.
