Michigan football is in kind of a weird spot entering 2023. It’s the No. 2 team in the country according to both the AP Top 25 and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and many do have the Wolverines as being a national championship contender this year. However, there are still many doubters.
It turns out the ESPN analyst Tom Luginbill isn’t one of them.
Luginbill has often downplayed Michigan’s success throughout the years, prominently on his Sunday morning show on SiriusXM, yet he appears to be all in this year on the maize and blue. Asked if J.J. McCarthy gives the Wolverines a true shot at the title, Luginbill didn’t mince words.
“Absolutely. And I think that’s why a lot of the preseason prognostications and what we’ve talked about for the last couple of months have Michigan not only in the College Football Playoff and you have a lot of people have them playing for the national championship,” Luginbill said. “I don’t care who you are or what program you that you’re playing for, if you come into a season with a seasoned quarterback that’s experienced, he’s been productive and he’s been efficient, you have distinct advantages over everybody else. Now, the good news is for everybody else is those other quarterbacks — Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State — they’re all going to walk into a huddle with great talent around them. The difference with Michigan is J.J. McCarthy’s also walking into a huddle with an intact offensive line, two great wideouts and a potential Heisman candidate in Blake Corum at running back. So I think that Michigan’s got great advantages because of the quarterback.”
It is a unique advantage Michigan football has over the field, given that the last first-round quarterback the Wolverines have had is Jim Harbaugh. But, in order to win it all, Michigan will need to air it out more — something the coaches insist is in the works.
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