Aside from Jim Harbaugh’s future as coach, one of the most popular Michigan football rumours at the moment is one that is less clear-cut.
It’s particularly worrying when that enigma is your standout quarterback and MVP of the squad. However, there are worries regarding Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy’s late-season slump ahead of the Rose Bowl game versus Alabama in the college football playoffs.
Additionally, unidentified Big 10 coaches gave CFB reporter Bruce Feldman a hard time this week in The Athletic on the trembling Wolverines quarterback. For the first nine games of the season, McCarthy was outstanding, throwing for eighteen touchdowns and just three interceptions (all of which came in the victory over Bowling Green).
In those nine games, he completed passes for 237 yards per game. However, take a look at JJ McCarthy’s statistics from that time: 124 yards per game and just one touchdown pass. He’s changed considerably. Moreover, Jim Harbaugh’s peers had no hesitation.
A Big Ten head coach who coached Michigan stated, “I don’t know what’s causing him to be hesitant and not as decisive as he was earlier.” “He seems to be drifting recently.”
Did sign-stealing affect JJ McCarthy at Michigan Football?
One of the strange—or perhaps not so strange—things to note about McCarthy’s late-season collapse is that his numbers decreased at the same time that Conor Stalions, the assistant who was at the core of the Wolverines’ controversial “scandal,” left.
On November 4, McCarthy’s final significant game was against Purdue, and the day before, the Stalions left.
Another head coach in the Big Ten told Feldman, “They’re different today.” “Knowing when blitzes are coming makes a significant difference, because then you can really attack it when you pick it up.”
Additionally, there has been a lot of conjecture surrounding Michigan football that JJ McCarthy is injured and is playing with a foot injury from his game against Penn State. That day, McCarthy only completed eight passes against the Nittany Lions.
McCarthy did not need to pass much, though, as the UM running game dominated Penn State (227 yards).
One defensive analyst, whose club played Michigan in the final month of the season, stated, “It does make you worry.”
“I believed he was one of the top players in the nation coming into our match. I changed my mind after that. He simply hasn’t looked the same since all of that. I’m not sure if he’s injured. He struck me as a potential Heisman contender.
QBs who are Heisman Trophy winners do not complete eight passes in a game. Prior to that, he seemed prepared and self-assured.
Three of the Final Four Rivals Had the Best Defences
Even with the caliber of Michigan’s offensive line, the Crimson Tide defensive front will not be easily overcome by the Michigan football team when they play Alabama.
However, Michigan adjusted to that in its final three games, and criticism of JJ McCarthy’s closing three games of the season often ignores the fact that Penn State (3.91), Iowa (3.99), and Ohio State (4.12) are the NCAA’s top three defences in yards allowed per play.
Those are three of the four final opponents facing the Wolverines. With 4.94 yards allowed per play, Alabama ranked fifteenth. Recall that Jim Harbaugh missed three of those games due to a suspension.
Alabama isn’t overly interpreting McCarthy’s late-season decline, for sure.
Malachi Moore, a defensive back for Alabama, described the team as “very balanced” after watching them. “JJ McCarthy does an excellent job of setting up the offence, handling the play calls, changing the look if you give away a blitz or anything similar, and positioning his team to win.”
Veteran sports writer Sean Deveney works for Heavy.com, covering the NBA and NFL. With over 20 years of NBA coverage experience, including 17 years as the lead NBA correspondent for Sporting News, he has been writing for Heavy since 2019.
Seven nonfiction works, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan,” have been written by Deveney.Additional details regarding Sean Deveney
