JJ McCarthy talks about starting first season-opener at Michigan

JJ McCarthy did something that he had yet to do as a Michigan Wolverine last weekend as he made his first career start in a season opener. To him, it felt just as good as he expected it to too.

McCarthy spoke about his start this weekend after his team’s 30-3 victory over East Carolina. He said that he almost felt odd from how good he felt and that it came a lot more naturally to him than how previous years started for him considering all things.

“I was actually talking to some of the boys in the locker room yesterday and I was just like, ‘Man!’. Like, it’s almost like I get this weird feeling because I feel so good,” McCarthy said.

“Like, last year? I was dealing with the shoulder injury, dealing with the quarterback battle. There was just a lot of resistance, a lot of stuff to push through. This one just felt effortless,” said McCarthy. “It felt uplifting every single snap. It just felt like everything was going right and it was a beautiful feeling.”

McCarthy had an outing in his first time being the opening day QB1 in Ann Arbor. He finished 26/30 against the Pirates for 280 passing yards and three touchdowns. It ended up being the second-most completions of his career as well as the third-most passing yards.

This performance and status had to give McCarthy a lot of confidence going into 2023. He and his offense will look to build on it again when they play their second game against UNLV this weekend.

McCarthy after dominant season-opening victory: ‘It’s on to Week 2’

Even without their head coach, Michigan got off to a fast start to the year with a 30-3 victory over East Carolina at The Big House. With more than 400 total yards of offense, it was quite a way to open the season.

Even so, QB J.J. McCarthy isn’t getting too caught up in his big day.

“We’re 1-0, but we’ve got to go 2-0,” McCarthy told Peacock’s Lewis Johnson afterward. “That’s the only thing that matters. This game is great. We did a lot of good things, a lot of good things to learn from and get better at. But it’s on to Week 2.”

All of McCarthy’s touchdown passes went to Roman Wilson as he totaled 78 receiving yards as well. They clearly had a connection all day long and it’s something McCarthy said they’ve been brewing all summer.

“That vibe was cooking up all offseason,” McCarthy said. “We were working on it almost every single week, multiple times a week and it’s just amazing to showcase it to everyone.”