How Michigan can help JJ McCarthy after off game, injury concerns vs Ohio State

It wasn’t the best performance for Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy in Saturday’s 31-24 victory against Maryland. McCarthy finished without a touchdown for the second straight week as he went 12-of-23 passing for just 141 yards and an interception.

The pick was the first for McCarthy since the Wolverines began conference play, and followed an outing against Penn State in which he attempted only eight passes for 60 yards. The quarterback appeared to suffer a leg injury against the Nittany Lions, which may have affected him this past week.

But with Michigan set to play Ohio State this week to decide who reaches the Big Ten title game, McCarthy’s health remains a key concern. The quarterback has been equally as valuable due to his rushing ability as his passing this season, and The Wolverine‘s Clayton Sayfie broke down how his injury could affect things against the Buckeyes.

“It does hurt a little bit, especially with the plays he makes,” Sayfie told On3‘s Andy Staples. “We all saw it early on in the year when a lot of people were watching McCarthy more and seeing how big of a jump he took from a year ago.

“A lot of his plays early on in the year, he was leading the country right up there with Caleb Williams in a lot of the stats on broken plays. Plays where it’s not the route that was designed. It’s Roman Wilson going deep on a short route and JJ McCarthy motioning him to go one way mid-play. We’ve seen some big touchdowns on plays like that.”

McCarthy has kept defenses honest with his ability to take off this season. He has often broken off on runs of 20-plus yards, having rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns on the year.

That has forced defenses to stay honest, opening things up for other players. If the Buckeyes don’t feel McCarthy is a threat to take off, it could make things more difficult for him to find open receivers.

“You’ve gotta respect JJ McCarthy in the run game,” Sayfie said. “They haven’t run blocked as well as you would like this year. Just not quite the push as a year ago or even the year before that. Not getting to the second level as much.

“One thing that you can do to sort of help that out is making sure one defender is always keying in on JJ McCarthy. Also, he’s just dangerous when he does run it. Not even just as a decoy. So those are where Michigan could be hurt there.”

Still, not all of McCarthy’s performance against Maryland can be blamed on his inability to take off. He also simply appeared to be off throwing the ball, completing a season-low 52.2% of his passes. That’s something he can certainly correct against Ohio State, even if he is a bit hobbled.

Regardless of the injury, though, Sayfie believes JJ McCarthy can put together a solid performance and give Michigan a chance to win.

“At the same time, I think some of his struggles in this game — he went 12-of-23 — I don’t think it was all because of his lack of mobility,” Sayfie said. “There were just a few things where the offense was out of sync.

“I think he can certainly be the health that he’s at and maybe even with a week more of rest and still play a pretty good game. That’s kind of where we’re at on that front, but you would like a healthy JJ McCarthy. Some of the things he does best is when he’s on the move making those wild plays.”

Kickoff between Michigan and Ohio State is set for noon ET on Saturday in Ann Arbor.