Opinion: Change is a necessity to evolve the Michigan offense
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan is off to a fantastic start to the season, going 2-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country. The Wolverines have the second-best scoring offense that is averaging 53.5 points-per-game thru the first two weeks. Granted, the Wolverines haven’t played stiff competition, but the team can only play against who is on the schedule.
For all the success that Michigan has had this year, there has been a big cloud hanging over the program — that was lifted on Saturday night.
Every year at Michigan there seems to be a quarterback controversy. The Wolverines returned their Big Ten championship quarterback for the 2022 campaign in Cade McNamara.
McNamara didn’t put up daunting stats in 2021, but he was efficient and managed the game at an elite level. McNamara completed 64% of his passes last season, threw for 2,576 yards, and had 15 passing touchdowns with only five interceptions. Not earth-shattering, but very efficient. Oh, and he helped Michigan beat Ohio State, beat Iowa in Indianapolis, and helped Michigan go to its first College Football Playoff.
But that was last year. 2022 is a new season and change is evident in Ann Arbor, and it’s necessary for the Michigan offense to evolve and take another leap forward.
J.J. McCarthy, a former five-star recruit, made his first college start on Saturday against Hawaii. He went 11-for-12, 229 yards, three touchdowns, and held a 334.5 passer rating.
Yes, I know Michigan played Hawaii. Yes, I know that Hawaii is arguably the worst team in college football. But the offense was so smooth and McCarthy made everything look so effortless. The Wolverines really struggled with the deep ball last year with McNamara leading the charge, but there were no issues on Saturday against the Rainbow Warriors. McCarthy completed five passes over 15 yards on Saturday and all of them were right on the money. It doesn’t matter who the opposing team is if your quarterback can put the ball right where it needs to be, there is no stopping the passing attack.
McCarthy only ran the ball one time last night, which went for 16 yards, but that is another element that he brings to this offense. Teams can’t just key on Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, they have to watch for McCarthy. Players talked all week about how fast the former five-star is. McCarthy reportedly runs a four-four to four-five 40-time. Which is going to pay huge dividends for this Michigan team.
After two weeks of football, Pro Football Focus has McCarthy graded as the third-best passer in football with a 93.4 grade. On the flip side, McNamara has a 39.5 grade thru two weeks which ranks him at No. 239.
This is no knock on McNamara. He was crucial for Michigan last year. The Wolverines would not have had as good of a season if it were not for McNamara. Not only did he lead Michigan on the field, but he was a leader in the locker room. That is evident since the team voted him a captain this season. There is no reason to hate on Cade McNamara or boo him if you’re a fan. He did so much for Michigan and he may be asked to do so again this season if something, unfortunately, happens to McCarthy.
It’s really just simple: McCarthy has surpassed him at this point. There is no shame in that either, McCarthy was a highly-touted five-star recruit that could have gone where ever he wanted to. He sat the bench his freshman year and learned under McNamara, but sometimes pure talent just wins the job.
Like Jim Harbaugh said late Saturday, or early Sunday morning, in the press conference. McCarthy has earned the right to start for Michigan based on merit.
“Yeah, J.J., he had a near flawless performance,” said Harbaugh. “11-for-12, and then one was dropped. That was tough to do. It’s tough to do any day of the week in practice. I thought he had a great game. He was playing really well. We’ll start J.J. next week.”
“Yeah, by merit, he’s earned that,” said Harbaugh on if he will be the starter going forward. “By performance. By merit.”
The Michigan offense looked ‘fun’ again and it’s the first time I’ve thought that in a while. The Wolverines could always do what they needed to do to win the game from an offensive standpoint, but if the Michigan offense can sling the rock around at an effective level to go with the great rushing attack — watch out.
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Players of the game: Michigan football vs. Hawaii
