The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN FOOTBALL I know No. 9 is going to make it right. I just have a great confidence that the odds are in our favor. Tremendous job by him responding." McCarthy overtook Tom Brady in ca- reer passing yards with a 335-yard per- formance in a win over Purdue and now has 5,429 in total after a 60-yard day at Penn State). "And what a quarterback Tom Brady turned out to be," Harbaugh said. "Passer rating, J.J. is 11 points higher than any other quarterback in Michigan history [as of Nov. 10]. His yards per play of total of- fense is 9.7. That's two yards more than any player in Michigan history. J.J. just passed me for completions in a career, and I think I'm next up on the yards … 87 more and he passes me up in yardage. Just tremendous. And on third-and-long go- ing into the Purdue game, he was 19 of 20 for 335 yards. He's just been outstanding on the money down, the third down." These are some of the reasons McCar- thy is one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy heading into the last few games of the season. HARBAUGH SAYS THERE'S NO END TO HIS COACHING CAREER IN SIGHT Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh once said his goal in life was to play foot- ball until he could play no more, and then coach football until he died. That doesn't seem to have changed, he said the Mon- day before U-M traveled to Happy Valley to play Penn State. Even under the stress of allegations over his program stealing signs, Harbaugh remained upbeat in discussing his future. "Really, the way I've thought about that is it might have been five or six years ago, we were at my brother John's place down in Bald Head Island [in North Caro- lina]," Harbaugh recalled. "We were sit- ting there talking to each other about how long you'd coach, what are you looking to accomplish … same questions you're asking. We're talking to each other, but we really couldn't come up with anything definitive." So, they asked their father, longtime college coach Jack Harbaugh. "He said, 'I'll tell you boys — here's what you do. You coach as long as you possi- bly can,'" Jim Harbaugh continued. "'You coach until you get to the point where you can't coach another day. You can't make another script — you can't go out to the practice field. And that's when you know. When you get to that point, coach for two more years. That's the advice.'" It seemed great to him at the time, Har- baugh said, and it seems great now in his ninth season at Michigan. "I share that advice," he said. "I don't keep that to myself. Different coaches that retire, I always tell them 'Congratu- lations,' and I've got to give you this per- spective from Jack Harbaugh." DEFENSE BLOCKS OUT NOISE IN PURDUE WIN U-M's defense has had its aptitude and performance called into question while an investigation into an alleged illegal scout- ing operation looms over the program. But the players don't care, and they are not bothered by the outside noise. Graduate linebacker Michael Barrett has been around for almost six years at this point and says despite the allega- tions against the program, the proof is in the pudding. A 41-13 win over Purdue was another dominant effort on the de- fensive side of the ball, and Michigan's "one-track mind" was on display again in a stifling performance. "We don't really have too much to 2023 MICHIGAN SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 2 EAST CAROLINA W, 30-3 Sept. 9 UNLV W, 35-7 Sept. 16 BOWLING GREEN W, 31-6 Sept. 23 RUTGERS W, 31-7 Sept. 30 at Nebraska W, 45-7 Oct. 7 at Minnesota W, 52-10 Oct. 14 INDIANA W, 52-7 Oct. 21 at Michigan State W, 49-0 Oct. 28 BYE — Nov. 4 PURDUE W, 41-13 Nov. 11 at Penn State W, 24-15 Nov. 18 at Maryland (FOX) 12 p.m. Nov. 25 OHIO STATE (FOX) 12 p.m. Dec. 2 Big Ten Championship (FOX) 8 p.m. Michigan's stifling defense held Purdue to just 269 yards of total offense and 1-for-14 on third- down conversions en route to a 41-13 victory Nov. 4. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL