The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2023 THE WOLVERINE 29 FEBRUARY 2023 THE WOLVERINE 29 2023 ANALYSIS Michigan's outlook at the starting quarterback position looks as promising as it has in some time, with junior J.J. McCarthy set to have a full, healthy offseason as one of the offense's leaders. The Maize and Blue eased McCarthy into being the starter last year, leaning on the run game, first and foremost, and the approach was extremely ef- fective. The Wolverines averaged only 26.4 passes per game, which ranked tied for 114th in the na- tion, but were efficient with 8.3 yards per attempt (tied for 24th). The most obvious way in which Michigan's for- mula paid off was the team's success. McCarthy became the first quarterback in program history to win at least 11 games as a starter before taking his first loss (12). Dennis Franklin was the previous record-holder, with 10 victories in 1972. McCarthy and Co. proved they could be trusted with more responsibility late in the season, fol- lowing a Nov. 19 injury to running back Blake Corum. The pass game delivered with 975 yards and 8 touchdowns over the final four contests, particularly coming up huge in a 45-23 win at Ohio State and a comeback attempt in a 51- 45 loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal. McCarthy also is a part of the Wolverines' rushing attack himself, proving more than capable on both scrambles and designed runs. He finished third on the team with 306 rushing yards and 5 scores in 2022. He racked up 429 rushing yards, but that total was brought down by negative sack yardage. Play action is when McCarthy is at his best, with his 13.9 yards per attempt using the con- cept ranking first in the country among those with more than 327 drop-backs. Nine of his 22 touchdowns came on play-action throws. That's a testament to how the run and pass game work together, too. The deep ball was an ongoing talking point throughout the season, but it also improved as the year went on. McCarthy completed 22 of his 56 passes of 20-plus air yards for 801 yards and 8 touchdowns with 2 interceptions for the season. In the final three games, he hit on 11 of his 18 attempts for 412 yards and 5 touchdowns with 1 interception. Depth is a bit of a concern for the Wolverines, af- ter Cade McNamara, who started 16 career games, transferred to Iowa in December. Alan Bowman also left and will use his sixth year at Oklahoma State. Michigan mitigated those departures by bringing in former Indiana signal-caller Jack Tut- tle, who has Big Ten starting experience. Junior Davis Warren, while inexperienced, has shown flashes, as well, including in the 2022 spring game, when he completed 12 of 23 passes for 175 yards. — Clayton Sayfie QUARTERBACKS BY CLAYTON SAYFIE RETURNING STARTERS Junior J.J. McCarthy He earned the starting job ahead of the second game of the 2022 season against Hawai'i, beating out incumbent Cade McNamara, and opened the final 13 contests. McCarthy completed 208 of his 322 pass attempts (64.6 percent) for 2,719 yards and 22 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. OTHER RETURNEES Junior Davis Warren The former walk-on saw time in six games, connecting on 5 of his 9 throws for 89 yards. He also ran 3 times for 30 yards. S o p h o m o re Jayd e n Denegal He appeared in just one outing (Sept. 17 against UConn) during his freshman season, redshirting. Sophomore Alex Orji He played in three games, preserving his redshirt, and rushed 6 times for 37 yards and 2 touchdowns. He threw once, completing a 5-yard pass. NEWCOMERS Graduate Jack Tuttle The Indiana transfer is ex- pected to compete with Warren for the backup job behind McCar- thy. He completed 104 of 182 passes for 819 yards with 5 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He appeared in 15 career games with four starts in his four years in Bloomington. Freshman Kendrick Bell The younger brother of former U-M wideout Ronnie Bell will start out playing quarterback, but he has the chance to play receiver or cornerback in the future, per head coach Jim Harbaugh. A three-star, Bell was the No. 878 overall recruit in his class, according to the On3 Consensus. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL