The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2023 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS J.J. McCarthy Is The Man For The Job By Clayton Sayfie It's still hard to believe Michigan's single-season passing touchdowns record is 25, held by Elvis Grbac (1991) and Chad Henne (2004). For com- parison, Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins set the school's record with 50. LSU signal-caller Joe Burrow threw 60 scoring tosses in 15 games in 2019. The Wolverines have been known for a strong run game, and it's served them well, especially during the past two seasons. Easing junior J.J. Mc- Carthy into being the starter this past fall, Michigan passed just 26.4 times per game. The rushing attack was so dominant that the Maize and Blue could get a lead, then lean on the opponent to hold onto that edge and run out the clock. According to Sports Info Solutions, Michigan ranked fourth in the country with 311 second-half rush- ing attempts. That forced the passing numbers to "suffer," though that's not how McCarthy described it — he wanted to win by any means necessary. Michigan returns a dynamic duo in the backfield made up of senior Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards, cou- pled with an offensive line that will once again be one of the best in the nation. However, we'll say McCarthy is the guy to break Grbac and Henne's record. Another year of experience will serve him well, and the pass game showed enough in 2022 to have us believe he can take it to the next level. He threw 8 touchdown passes in the final three games. While we don't expect him to continue at that rate, he will surpass the 25 milestone and dart to the top of the U-M record book. … But An Outstanding Running Game Will Limit His Numbers By Chris Balas Many expected J.J. McCarthy to be too good to sit this year, and he didn't disappoint. He earned the starting job with a great finish to the fall camp and an outstanding performance against Hawai'i — and when it became clear he had gotten better at pro- tecting the ball, he took off. As talented as he is with his arm, though, he wasn't asked to win games with it … nor should he have been. The Wolverines dominated by running the ball down people's throats with backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards behind a Joe Moore Award- winning offensive line. Given the starters returning this year, both backs and several on the offensive line along with great replacements for those who leave, it stands to reason U-M will use the same formula in 2023, too. And why not? It worked most of the year, lead- ing to an undefeated regular season and Big Ten title for the second straight year. In addition, McCarthy will lose his top receiver in Ronnie Bell (NFL), while the younger guys are unproven. It will help with Roman Wilson returning for his senior season and Cornelius Johnson coming back for a fifth year, but we're still waiting for a consistent game-breaker to emerge. That's been one of the missing pieces in the Jim Harbaugh era, though the trio of rising sophomores — Darrius Clemons, Tyler Morris and Amorion Walker — have great potential. In 2023, though, you rely on the running game again to con- tend for another title. Then, in 2024, you turn McCarthy loose. You never know … he could return. Dare to dream. POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WILL J.J. McCARTHY BREAK U-M'S SINGLE-SEASON PASSING TOUCHDOWN RECORD? McCARTHY Michigan football went 13-1, won the Big Ten title and fell to runner-up TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal, finishing No. 3 in the final Associated Press poll of the 2022 campaign. National champion Georgia topped the rankings, followed by No. 2 TCU. Ohio State, which fell to the Bulldogs in the other semifinal matchup, rounded out the top four. Michigan ended with an identical rank- ing last season. Its back-to-back top- three finishes are the program's first since 1947-48, when it placed second and first, respectively. It's only the second time the Wolverines have ever accomplished the feat, with the AP poll beginning in 1936. The Wolverines have now finished in the top three in 10 different campaigns — 2022 (3), 2021 (3), 1997 (1), 1985 (2), 1976 (3), 1974 (3), 1948 (1), 1947 (2), 1943 (3) and 1940 (3). That's just twice this cen- tury and four times in the last 36 years. It's important to note that Michigan also claimed national titles in 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1928, 1923, 1932 and 1933, in addition to 1947, 1948 and 1997. Michigan's 13 wins stand as the most for a single season in program history. Its 25 victories in 2021-22 are the highest total ever by the Wolverines in a two-year span. The Wolverines blew through the Big Ten this season, winning nine regular- season conference games, plus a triumph over Purdue in the championship. The run included two wins over top-10 op- ponents — No. 4 Ohio State (45-23) and No. 7 Penn State (41-17). The Maize and Blue beat Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State all in the same season for the first time since 2000. For the first time ever, they took down all three opponents by 20-plus points in the same year. With his eighth season having con- cluded, Michigan head coach Jim Har- baugh has now won 74 games at the helm, the fourth-most in program history, and his .747 winning percentage ranks fifth among U-M coaches with 90-plus games. The Wolverines have lost only 25 times under Harbaugh. Michigan has the seventh-most victo- ries (74) among all college football teams since Harbaugh was hired prior to the 2015 season. Here's a look at Michigan's top-three finishes throughout history. — Clayton Sayfie MICHIGAN POSTS FIRST BACK-TO-BACK TOP-THREE AP POLL FINISHES SINCE 1947-48 Season Final AP Poll Record 2022 3rd 13-1 2021 3rd 12-2 1997 1st 12-0 1985 2nd 10-1-1 1976 3rd 10-2 1974 3rd 10-1 1948 1st 9-0 1947 2nd 10-0 1943 3rd 8-1 1940 3rd 7-1