The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503142
48 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2023 FOOTBALL PREVIEW One-Man ShOw There Is No Quarterback Controversy For U-M In 2023 BY CHRIS BALAS O ver the last several years, one of the biggest question marks surround- ing the Michigan football program centered on the quarterback position — specifically, who would be "the guy?" In 2020, Joe Milton earned the nod before losing his job to Cade McNamara and eventually transferring to Tennes- see. McNamara helped lead the Wolver- ines to a Big Ten title in 2022, but fresh- man J.J. McCarthy was pushing him hard and then took the job away from the incumbent as a sophomore in 2022 with an outstanding showing in a Game 2 start versus Hawaii. This year, everyone knows it's McCar- thy's show. The only question marks are "How much will he throw?" and "How good can he be?" The sky's the limit under first-year quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell. Campbell worked closely with the U-M signal-callers as an analyst last year and has the respect of the room … especially for how he's helped McCarthy elevate his game. "He's just playing on time, playing in rhythm, taking what's given to him, not forcing things, and just being surgical," junior backup quarterback Davis Warren reported of McCarthy in June. "That's the best way to describe it. He just knows where he's going with the football and is super decisive with it. "That's really im- pressed me, and some credit goes to Coach C a m p b e l l . H e 's done a really good job of helping us p l ay o n t i m e a n d p l a y i n rhythm." But a lot of credit goes to McCarthy, who never seems to stop work- ing on his craft. He's added 12 pounds of good weight in the offseason and continues to get stron- ger. "When you look at his face, there's just less baby fat … I think he's got his 'man' year that some often do around 18, 19 years old," head coach Jim Har- baugh said in June. "He's a very young guy. But his face is just more mature. It's like the baby fat's gone, and it's been natu- ral. It hasn't been [only] because he was bulking up in the gym. "He had a tremendous spring. He truly epitomizes 'better today than yes- terday, better tomorrow than today' as anybody I've ever been around." His teammates would be wise to follow him, Har- baugh reiterated, and not just because of his accom- plishments. Yes, he put up great numbers in his first year — 2,719 yards with 22 touchdowns and 5 inter- ceptions, plus 70 rushes for 306 yards and 5 more scores — but it's how he goes about his business that's most impressive. "He's got the willingness to do anything for anybody on the team. "I look at the great quarterbacks like Josh Allen [Buffalo Bills] and Patrick Ma- homes [Kansas City Chiefs]. You can just tell by looking at how they play the game and what they say — especially about their teammates," Harbaugh said. "There's a willingness there to do anything, and that's the secret sauce in a quarterback. You could have all the different attributes, which Patrick Ma- homes and Josh Allen have, and so does J.J. But they also have that willingness to do anything for their teammates." Campbell's addition has been huge for the room, too, and has helped with Mc- Carthy's progression this spring. He was the obvious choice to replace Matt Weiss, who was let go for an undisclosed off- field incident. [ Q U A R T E R B A C K S ] WIN-LOSS RECORDS OF HARBAUGH-ERA STARTING QBS Player Years Record* Win Pct. J.J. McCarthy 2022 12-1 .923 Cade McNamara 2020-22 14-3 .824 Wilton Speight 2016-17 12-3 .800 Jake Rudock 2015 10-3 .769 Shea Patterson 2018-19 19-7 .731 Brandon Peters 2017 2-2 .500 John O'Korn 2016-17 2-3 .400 Joe Milton 2020 1-3 .250 *Games started and finished Junior J.J. McCarthy went 13-1 in his first season as a starter a year ago, leading Michigan to the Big Ten championship and a berth in the Col- lege Football Playoff. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL