The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1513253
JANUARY 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 17 Michigan's J.J. McCARTHY has been one of the most difficult evaluations of this entire class. He has the tools to be in the mix for that No. 3 QB spot, but he just didn't convince me down the stretch. Where were the 'wow' throws? I didn't see him go through progressions much. Sure, he only had 4 interceptions, but 3 of those came against ... Bowling Green? Plus, he wasn't asked to beat teams with his arm, partly because the Wolverines blew out all of their op- ponents until November. It's clear McCarthy has a ton of tal- ent, but not all NFL teams are going to be in love with him, which means he could drop to Day 2. I have him as my No. 7 QB right now." — ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. on junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy His work ethic is re- a l l y w h at I think has allowed him to go from what was going to be a very, very promising ca - reer, and clearly it's going to be a very good one, to being one that's arguably the best in Moeller history." — Former Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller head coach Mark Elder on four-star Michigan running back commit Jordan Marshall being named Mr. Ohio Football (via ABC 9 in Cincinnati) 96% Graduation success rate for Michigan athletics, tying its all-time record, which was set last year. U-M's 83 percent four-year rolling average of federal grad- uation rate also tied an all-time high set in 2022. Fifteen of the Wolverines' 25 varsity athletic programs included in the report earned perfect graduation success rate scores: baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's cross country and track and field, men's golf, women's golf, men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, rowing, softball, men's swimming, men's tennis, women's tennis, volleyball and wrestling. ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 10th Is where Michigan men's lacrosse senior attackman MICHAEL BOEHM checked in on Inside Lacrosse's ranking of the top 50 play- ers in the country. Incoming graduate trans- fer Beau Pederson slots 27th on the list. In three seasons and 44 outings, Boehm has scored 99 goals and posted 73 assists for 172 points. In 50 games as a short-stick defensive midfielder at Princeton, Pederson notched 69 ground balls, caused 24 turnovers and scored 24 points (15 goals, 9 assists). That was really cool. What else was cool was when he was crutching onto the field before the game. He came across before the team did. The field was empty, the teams were waiting to take the field, and Zinter comes out of the Michigan tunnel and starts crutch - ing his way across the field. He got a standing ovation. He was the only one on the field, and he got a standing ovation from the Michigan fans that were there. It felt like Michigan fans outnumbered Iowa fans 8 to 1. They really traveled well for this game. Zak Zinter is a very important part of this team and deserves every opportu- nity to be shown that he's appreciated for what he did, wearing the Michi- gan uniform." — Michigan radio play-by-play commentator Doug Karsch on injured senior offensive lineman Zak Zinter being presented the Big Ten championship trophy 14.3 Points is Michigan's average margin of vic- tory in its last three wins against Ohio State — 42-27 in 2021, 45-23 in 2022 and 30-24 in 2022. During that stretch, U-M has outrushed Ohio State, 235 to 104.7 yards per game, averaging 6.1 yards per carry to the Buckeyes' 3.6. The team that has won the rushing yard battle has won each of the last 22 meetings between the bitter rivals. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS