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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Sure, Michigan football fans would like to see a more high-flying offense, but the Wolverines are 9-1 on the season, and in the sole loss of the year at Michigan State, Cade McNamara had his career-best game.
For the moment, what Michigan is doing is working, as the maize and blue rely heavily on the run game with some passing sprinkled in. Though it may not be flashy, a lot of the credit has to go to McNamara for executing in big-time situations — as he did late vs. Nebraska and again when he hit Erick All for a long touchdown to secure the win at Penn State — and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis for recognizing the strengths of his personnel.
At Wisconsin, Michigan started airing the ball out more, but sometimes that look is shelved, depending on the opponent. At Penn State, there was a good balance, though all three touchdowns in the game came through the air.
After this past game, when Gattis came down from the press box, he sought out McNamara and was so excited, it appeared as if he was about to tackle his starting quarterback, who was laughing and smiling ecstatically in the moment. McNamara spoke on Monday about how the duo has risen to the challenges faced and how well they’re working together 10 games into the 2021 season.
“Me and Coach Gattis’ relationship has done nothing but grow over the course of this year,” McNamara said. “I think it’s something really beneficial for him and for me, our chemistry of knowing what the next play call is going to be, knowing what to expect from one another. We’ve been through, over the course I’ve been here, we’ve had some ups and downs, we’ve had some honest conversations together. I think when things start to come together as an offense, for us to pull out some gritty wins like that at a place he’s been before, too, he’s a very positive coach and he shows that to us. Our relationship means a lot to me.”
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While McNamara’s game might not look incredibly different from the beginning of the year, he has made some changes throughout.
McNamara has completed 62.9% of his passes for 1,883 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions, but his biggest area of improvement, in his eyes, is being able to find the open man when the protections start to break down.
“My ability to find my check-downs when I’m under duress is something I’ve had to develop a feel for, my pocket in a game scenario,” McNamara said. “We try to simulate game situations as much as possible, but being the quarterback, you never get hit. Sorta finding the last moment I can stay in the pocket and still find guys is something I think I’ve developed a lot over the course of the season.”
Still, despite the team being 9-1, McNamara has faced his fair share of criticism from the fan base. Eagerly awaiting former five-star J.J. McCarthy’s turn as the starter, McNamara is under a microscope, facing scrutiny with every minor error or errant pass. Perfection is expected, even though players like Tom Brady are not perfect on a down-to-down basis.
McNamara has long said he doesn’t pay attention to the outside noise, which is a lesson he says he learned back when he was the quarterback at Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch, where he set a state record for yards thrown.
“That’s something that I actually have a good amount of reps at,” McNamara said. “At the beginning of my high school career, I dealt with outsider influence or whether that was on my own team. The scenarios I was put in earlier in my career that I wasn’t prepared for as I am now. Dealing with that at a young age was difficult, but it totally prepared me for the situation I am now.”
Saturday marked the third game of the year that McCarthy did not take any snaps. In Week 2, it was because the Wolverines were playing Washington; in Week 4, it was a tight game against Rutgers. Jim Harbaugh said on Monday that McNamara played the whole game because that was just the ebb and flow of the game.
As far as McNamara is concerned, he isn’t. He’ll take every snap he’s given, as little or as much as he’s given, and his mindset is the same, regardless.
“However many snaps I play, it’s my job to execute those at the highest level.”
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