The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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8 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MAY 2023 M ichigan stands as a two-time Big Ten football champion for the first time since Mike Hart roamed the field. The Wolverines tat- tooed two straight losses on the Buck- eyes for the first time since Tom Brady and Drew Henson did so back to back. Jim Harbaugh's team smashed Ohio State's 29-game home Big Ten winning streak, shattering the illusion of OSU revenge in the Horseshoe. The Wolver- ines participated in the College Football Playoff for the first two times since its inception in 2014. So what, junior quarterback J.J. Mc- Carthy says. What's next? McCarthy hammered home Michi- gan's forward-thinking emphasis once again near the end of spring practice. Obliterating the Buckeyes, and leaving their fans sobbing and curled in the fetal position, soaked in tears and tobacco juice? Great. What's next? Dismembering another Big Ten West Division squad in the conference cham- pionship game like capturing the local municipal golf shootout a week after winning The Masters? OK, sure. Move on. It's all great scrapbook fodder for showing the kids, 20 years down the road. Right now, there's a job to do, and No. 9 takes it as seriously as his offen- sive line attacks an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. To be fair, they're all about the big prize as well. That's why standouts like senior lineman Zak Zinter and grad line- mate Trevor Keegan shoved aside the NFL's big bucks — for another shot at the little Bucks and more. "I couldn't be happier," McCarthy in- sisted. "Those are the guys we need to win a national championship. They are some of the roots of our program, roots of our culture. Just being able to have them back is an extreme blessing. "They could go off and make their millions, but they decided to stay back and accomplish something that hasn't been accomplished in a long time." That something goes beyond taking down the suddenly vulnerable Ryan Day and his FQCs (Fourth-Quarter Crum- blers). It supersedes the Big Ten East's annual wedgie-yank to the West. It surges past just making the Playoff. Been there, done that. No, McCarthy and Michigan want it all. They're determined to carve out another opportunity to demonstrate this really is — as Harbaugh said this spring — the "best version of Michigan football" he's seen upon his return to Ann Arbor. Harbaugh also said Michigan's shoot- out loss to TCU on the final day of 2022 provided a season's worth of experience to his then-sophomore quarterback. McCarthy isn't about to disagree. "It's exactly that," McCarthy insisted. "He couldn't have said it better. There is so much you can learn from, especially emotionally, going through that game. "Now I can have a reference point, if there is a game where we're down, and we're fighting and they just keep hitting us back with more counterpunches. I'll know how to react to it, and I won't let emotions take control like they did last time." Pressed on his meaning, McCarthy didn't back away from recalling the toughest emotional moments. He's carried the burden of tossing two pick- sixes the same way Michigan's defend- ers have regarding big-play slipups, etc. "I was trying to stay levelheaded that whole time, but when it's your first pass to the field, and it's one of your first big throws in the game, and it goes back for six, it's like, 'Oh wow. Here we go,'" Mc- Carthy admitted. "It's just one of those moments … you think, 'I just gave six points to the other team.'" There were far better moments, of course, like during the sweet nutcracker in Columbus, capped by junior running back Donovan Edwards' 75- and 85- yard touchdown runs. McCarthy demurred when it came to talking about those TD sprints or the win. They're notches on the Buckeye- spanking belt, to be sure. But they don't gain the Wolverines a single yard in 2023. "We don't like to dwell on it," McCar- thy explained. "We're always what's in the past is in the past. We've got to move on. What's the next best thing? 'You're only as successful as your last success- ful act' like Phil Jackson said. "We always harp on that. He's excited to make the next two big runs you guys have seen." There it is. Michigan's modus ope- randi for 2023, laid out well before the first East Carolina Pirate gets keelhauled on opening day. The Wolverines mean business, and they've got a briefcase stuffed with top-shelf talent. McCarthy and the rest of the Michi- gan Men aren't interested in the recent past, delicious as it's been. Bring on the next course. ❏ WOLVERINE WATCH ❱ JOHN BORTON All Eyes Forward For Harbaugh's Wolverines Junior J.J. McCarthy agreed with his head coach's assessment that the shootout loss to TCU in the College Football Playoff last season provided the U-M quarterback with a season's worth of experience in itself. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB_Wolverine.