JJ McCarthy explains why Michigan has a chip on its shoulder

Weird as it may seem, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy insisted after the Wolverines Big Ten championship that he and his teammates still have a chip on their shoulder. 13-0 record and College Football Playoff berth be damned.

McCarthy explained that the motivation is from a slight — perceived or not — that Michigan still isn’t good enough, or is still an underdog. And even after being favored against Purdue and opening as favorites over TCU, McCarthy and the Wolverines are leaning into it.

“I would say just, University of Michigan — everyone kind of always doubts us. Everyone kind of takes us as underdogs. So just having that chip on our shoulder. It’s been a great use of fuel for us all year. And feel like that 13-0 is just an illusion to us,” McCarthy said.

While it’s probably true that the winner of the Fiesta Bowl between Michigan and TCU won’t be favored against the Peach Bowl victor — either Georgia or Ohio State — it’s unlikely anyone is underestimating a team that’s 25-2 across the last two seasons.

Then again, that record doesn’t matter much to Michigan and McCarthy, either.

“Because at the end of the day, 13-0 doesn’t matter unless we win it all,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy and Michigan aren’t just satisfied with a Big Ten title this year

Michigan has reached the same point it was at a year ago. After beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten for the second straight year, the Wolverines are back in the College Football Playoff. However, just making the CFP isn’t good enough for JJ McCarthy.

McCarthy spoke with the media following Michigan’s selection in the playoff on Sunday. Making the field is a goal the young Wolverine QB said he and his teammates were happy to check off. With that said, he said the job is not finished and their sole focus now is finishing what they started.

“It was one of the goals we checked off. So it was obviously great,” said McCarthy. “But, at the end of the day, we still have one more goal to check off. And we’re focused on that.”

Michigan sits at 13-0 on the year, which is better than their mark entering the CFP in 2021. That leaves just one thing left to accomplish in 2022 that they didn’t last season and that’s to win the whole thing.

In McCarthy’s opinion, winning the national championship wasn’t their main focus a year ago. Making the field last season was just the benefit of accomplishing their goals of knocking off the Buckeyes and winning the conference crown. Now, one year later, McCarthy says they’re back to actually bring it home.

“It’s everything we worked for. It’s our ultimate goal to be in that position. And it just feels really nice to kind of have that satisfaction of work paying off,” McCarthy said. “We really weren’t shooting for that national championship. Last year was kind of ‘beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten Championship’. But this year we’re shooting for it and we’re gonna get it.”