ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On Saturday, in his first full game as Michigan football’s starting quarterback, playing every snap as the signal caller with no backup in sight, J.J. McCarthy ran five times for five yards. While it was his most this season in terms of attempts, technically — he was sacked and also lost yards on a fumble — it was his least productive outing on the ground outside of his season debut against Western Michigan last year (one run for -16 yards) and against Indiana (two runs for -14 yards).
Given that his threat to run the football opens things up for the offense, making opposing defenses have to respect his ability with his feet, McCarthy’s potential reticence to run the ball could limit the opportunity for that side of the ball. Yes, he has a strong arm and has shown pinpoint accuracy through much of the season, but is Michigan shutting down his feet while it waits for Cade McNamara to recover from his leg injury?
According to Matt Weiss, the team’s co-offensive coordinator and QB coach, the maize and blue still intend to use the threat of McCarthy running to keep defenses on their heels. But it must come at the right time.
“We will use them in that role. A lot of it has to do just with what the defense dictates that week,” Weiss said. “We feel like if we can use the quarterback runs successfully, we’ll do that. Absolutely. He’s really talented in that area. One of his many talents, he can run the ball effectively. So we’re going to keep using him that way when it’s called for.”
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Of course, yes, there is concern when McCarthy does use his legs.
Last week, on one play when he scrambled, after getting the first down, when he could have cut outside and run out of bounds, instead he cut inside and took a big hit. If the Wolverines were to lose McCarthy due to injury at this juncture, it would mean inserting either Alan Bowman or Davis Warren.
Not that either wouldn’t be able to handle it, but given McCarthy’s ability as well as potential, Michigan does want to protect its currently most valuable asset.
“We’re always trying to protect our quarterback, no matter whether it was Cade when he was out there, whether it’s J.J. now,” Weiss said. “We’re always trying to protect the quarterback. We don’t want him to take any unnecessary hits, we want him to protect himself. But that’s not really something that’s a factor.
“We have confidence in our QBs, we have confidence in J.J. — the football will take care of itself. And then if we ever have to play somebody else, we have confidence that they’ll go ahead and do the job as well.”
Should something happen to McCarthy, whether it be on a run or otherwise, Weiss is still confident in who he has behind him.
Of course, Bowman has more experience — technically, he’s the most experienced quarterback that Michigan has on its roster, given that he started for two and a half years at Texas Tech — while Warren is a pleasant surprise that emerged from the scout team last year. Then there’s freshman Alex Orji, who is also in the mix.
At least one will be the backup for the maize and blue this Saturday when it travels to Iowa. Optimally, the only way that the Wolverines utilize one is if the game has been put out of hand in the second half.
“We have two guys we feel really good about with Davis Warren and Alan Bowman,” Weiss said. “Obviously, we feel like we could win with both of them. They’ve worked really hard, they’re very well prepared. We love both guys. The only advantage Alan gives us he started games in the Big 12. So if you get into an environment like that, we feel like he could handle it at the same time. Davis is extremely mature, intelligent and I have no doubt that he’d be able to handle those situations and flourish as well. And obviously, we have Alex, who can provide a whole different element for our offense, if you want to utilize that.”
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