Michigan football: JJ McCarthy poised to make great strides during 2023 season

Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy took over in Week 2 of the 2022 season, replacing former starter Cade McNamara. His first 12 games went quite well, leading the Maize and Blue to a perfect 12-0 record before defeating Purdue in the Big Ten title game and narrowly falling short in the Fiesta Bowl. While McCarthy’s initial year as the Wolverines’ starter was impressive, Jim Harbaugh claims that the junior quarterback is poised to make great strides throughout the 2023 season.

JJ McCarthy poised to make great strides during the 2023 season

Until the final few weeks of the 2022 season, Michigan football fans were uncertain of how far JJ McCarthy would truly take the Wolverines. His throws appeared inconsistent, especially in games like Illinois, where the Maize and Blue narrowly slipped by with a two-point victory. However, in the following weekend and the two games that followed, Michigan football witnessed a stellar performance from McCarthy as their quarterback.

Despite Donovan Edwards nursing a series of injuries and Blake Corum being out for the week, JJ McCarthy shone brightly as the Wolverines dominated the Buckeyes by 22 points in Columbus. Now, with a year of starting experience under his belt, it seems that McCarthy is poised to make significant strides in the upcoming season.

“He had a great spring, he had a tremendous spring,” Jim Harbaugh said of JJ McCarthy ahead of the 2023 season. “I think that everything he does? I mean he truly epitomizes a better day than yesterday, a better tomorrow than today, more than anybody I’ve ever been around. It’s going good, going good. He had a magnificent spring.”

A break through year for McCarthy and Michigan football?

The Maize and Blue will heavily rely on their star players in 2023 if the Wolverines aim to secure a spot in the program’s first-ever national title game. In last year’s College Football Playoff, Michigan football came up just short against TCU, losing by 6 points. Part of the blame for that defeat can be attributed to JJ McCarthy’s two pick-6s, a mistake that the quarterback will undoubtedly seek to rectify with an even stronger performance this coming fall.

Michigan football currently stands among the nation’s elite programs, and the 2023 season presents the Wolverines’ best opportunity to date to win a national title under Jim Harbaugh. JJ McCarthy was hailed as the savior of Michigan football when he committed as the crown jewel of the 2021 recruiting class. Now, he has the chance to live up to the hype and lead the Maize and Blue back to the pinnacle of college football success.

“The one he’s got is the willingness to do anything for anybody on the team,” said Harbaugh. “I look at the great quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. I’m not with them every day. But you can just tell just looking at how they play the game? And what they say, especially about their teammates? There’s a willingness there to do (anything). And that’s the secret sauce in a quarterback.”

Michigan football and JJ McCarthy are on the verge of achieving all of the program’s major objectives: securing a third consecutive victory over Ohio State, capturing a Big Ten title, earning a coveted College Football Playoff berth, and ultimately competing for a national championship. To accomplish these goals, the Wolverines are relying on their QB1 to rise to the occasion, and according to Jim Harbaugh, McCarthy appears to be prepared to deliver exactly that.

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