Michigan football quarterback gives the latest on Michigan’s offensive outlook

Over the past two seasons, Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines have won two straight Big Ten titles and more, yet fell short in the College Football Playoff on both occasions. At the beginning of this week, just a few days after fall camp started in Ann Arbor, Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy gave an update on the Wolverines’ offense and the program’s more balanced approach this year.

Michigan football quarterback gives an update on the Wolverines’ offense

During Week 2 of the 2022 season, JJ McCarthy officially beat out Cade McNamara for the starting job. From then on, the sophomore Michigan football quarterback saw his ups and downs, though he ultimately led the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship, CFP appearance, and more.

That being said, during his first year as a full-time starter, JJ McCarthy had limited chances to show off his incredible talent and feel for the position. All said and done, JJ threw for just over 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns, as well as five interceptions, during his sophomore season in the Maize and Blue.

“I feel like in order to get over that hump, in order to push through and bring out the most potential we have as an offense, we’ve got to be balanced,” JJ McCarthy said earlier this week. “Whether you’re a human being, whether you’re an offense, the more balanced you are, the more successful you’re going to be.

“I feel like that just opens up to different levels of attack, and we’ve been working on it crazy. We’ve been more heavily focused on the passing game these first five practices, so it’s been great to be able to get those reps and opportunities, but like you said, we’ve got to be balanced. No matter what it is or how it gets there, we’re gonna get there.”

Running back room is still the focal point of the offense

While JJ McCarthy and the Michigan football offense are looking to throw the ball more this year, Jim Harbaugh’s identity on the offensive side of the football will remain the same. There is no doubt that the Wolverines are going to run the ball, especially since they have the No. 1 duo in the nation carrying the football for them.

“It’s amazing,” Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy said of the Wolverines’ RB room. “That running back room, you talk about those two (Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards), you talk about C.J. Stokes, you talk about Benjamin Hall, you talk about Tavierre Dunlap, Kalel Mullings, they’re just all pushing each other. But seeing those top dogs back is just great. It does something, to not just the offense, but the whole team having a guy like Blake out there, a guy like Dono (Donovan Edwards). It’s just been tremendous for the program, honestly.”

JJ McCarthy and the passing attack were emphasized early on during fall camp

Early on in fall camp, JJ McCarthy mentioned that the passing game was being emphasized quite a bit. Now, in fairness, this was before the Wolverines put on pads and worked on the ground game, but it bodes well that Michigan football is working on being able to air it out more this fall.

“It’s just more reps at it,” JJ McCarthy said when asked about the passing attack. “I think right now, we’re not in full pads; it’s just mostly thud, wrap-up tempo, so we’re not really getting into the thick of the whole run game, so we’re just trying to capitalize on that opportunity for the passing game right now.”

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