Bigger, stronger J.J. McCarthy using TCU game as fuel
Michigan fell short of its goals last year, falling 51-45 to TCU in one of its worst games of the year. The Wolverines fell behind and played catch-up, but two pick-sixes from J.J. McCarthy helped create a hole too tough to dig out from.
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McCarthy said Thursday he’d put it behind him, and he was easy to believe. After all, he admitted he hadn’t even watched highlights of the win over Ohio State in Columbus, noting he and his teammates were committed to what’s next, not the past.
Now up to around 206 pounds from 193, McCarthy is ready at a run for a repeat Big Ten title and another shot at the College Football Playoff. The sting of defeat has only made him hungrier.
“Something like that, it was a lot of fuel added to the tank,” McCarthy said. “It propelled me to exponential growth this offseason, and I’m definitely reaping the benefits in spring ball right now.
“We’ve got to focus [this year] on how to prepare to beat a team like that. It’s as simple as, ‘what’s next? What are we going to do? How are we going to break this down and get better?’”
It started in the weight room (obviously), and a commitment to gaining strength. He’s able to do it this spring after missing last year’s session with a shoulder injury, one that set him back.
Still, McCarthy was able to rally in late fall camp to take the starting job with an elite showing against Hawaii, and he hasn’t looked back. The quarterback room is strong he noted — Indiana’s Jack Tuttle has been a great addition, and Davis Warren keeps pushing, along with others — but it’s his job, and he’s focused on it. So much so, in fact, that he had no idea what was going on in the NCAA Tournament when asked.
This year’s focus will be on dealing with adversity. Though he rallied Michigan back into the game and finished with 343 yards and two scores in the Fiesta Bowl, he admitted he was pressing. The first pick six in the first quarter set the tone and rattled him.
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“I was trying to stay level-headed the entire time,” McCarthy said. “But when your first pass to the field and one of your big throws of the game goes back for 6, it’s, ‘Oh, wow. Here we go.’
“It was one of those moments where you can’t think.”
But he did, and it’s hard to blame him. He’d had three picks all year, and to have it happen on that stage would be tough for anyone to overcome.
Nobody blamed him, of course. It was a team loss, and the defense had its chances, too, after McCarthy led Michigan back. The running game was sporadic, and the offensive line played one of its worst games of the year, too.
“There’s so much you can learn from [that loss],” McCarthy said, “especially emotionally. Now I can have a reference point when there’s a game where we’re down and we’re fighting, and they just keep hitting us back with more counterpunches. I know how to react to it.
“I won’t let emotions take control like they did last time.”
He’s doing “J.J. things” in practice, edge Jaylen Harrell said with a shake of his head. He’s taken his escapability to another level and making all the throws at a high level. With months to go before the opener, he has plenty of time to improve, too, and put the TCU disappointment even further behind him.
He’ll be better for it, head coach Jim Harbaugh predicted after the game last year — and it seems McCarthy is well on his way.
