JJ McCarthy addresses his health heading into Rose Bowl vs. Alabama

JJ McCarthy is good to go for Michigan ahead of the Wolverines’ Rose Bowl matchup against Alabama Monday.

There were questions about the quarterback’s health leading into the College Football Playoff semifinal. Whether it was an illness, injuries, McCarthy hasn’t looked as sharp lately. Although he hasn’t had to do as much with the dominant ground game of Blake Corum.

But, he said he’ll be at his best in Pasadena.

“Extremely great,” McCarthy said of how he’s feeling. “100 percent, even 110 percent. So I’ll be ready to go.”

McCarthy agreed with the notion last year’s playoff could’ve been his worst moment as a quarterback. He threw two back-breaking interceptions.

“Yeah, in terms of just the moment that it happened,” McCarthy said. “I’ve had worse games. If you look back at it, yeah, the two interceptions suck, but I could have had like five touchdown passes and almost 400 yards.

“But at the end of the day, just being in the moment, right time, right place, yeah, I’d say it is, and yeah, just been focusing this entire off-season to make sure I’m locked in on all the little details and that doesn’t happen again.”

Of course, winning the playoff would arguably be the biggest accomplishment in Michigan football history. Still, it’s one game at a time.

“I think for the outside, it’s the biggest game in Michigan history, one of the biggest games in college football history,” McCarthy said. “But to us it’s just another football game that we’re going to go out there and try to execute, play with physicality, and lock into all the little details that are going to show up in these big games.

“We’ve just got to try to keep things simple, and obviously the magnitude of it is huge. But we try not to focus on that and just focus on each play at hand.”

This season, McCarthy has 2,630 yards, 19 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 74.2% completion percentage. Over the course of his career, he has 5,865 yards, 46 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a 68.1% completion percentage.

As a member of the Class of 2021, McCarthy was a four-star recruit out of La Grange Park (Ill.) IMG Academy (Fla.), according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 12 overall prospect in the state of Florida, the No. 9 quarterback in the class and the No. 47 overall prospect in the class.