Michigan backup QB says J.J. McCarthy was 'surgical' in spring football
Michigan football’s spring practices came to a close in the last few days with Saturday’s scrimmage and one final session on Monday. Now, the work moves to a few months of prep before the start of fall camp. But for junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy, it will be a continuation of applied lessons this spring.
McCarthy was 7-for-10 for 84 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception in Saturday’s spring game. He started a bit shaky early on but found his stride late before being pulled at halftime. That gave way to classmate Davis Warren to take over for the Maize team in a 22-21 victory, but he was able to watch McCarthy’s first half closely and saw what he has mostly seen in spring practices.
Warren is currently in competition with Indiana graduate transfer Jack Tuttle for the backup job behind McCarthy. He finished the day 8-for-13 for 163 yards and an interception, while Tuttle was 6-of-12 for 57 yards and a pick for the Blue team.
Mechanics and being timely have been points of emphasis for McCarthy in spring ball. Warren sees the game slowing down for the Michigan starter heading into his junior season.
“Just playing on time, playing in rhythm, taking what’s given to him and not forcing things,” Warren said after the spring game. “Surgical is the best way to describe it. He knows where he is going with the football and is super decisive with it. That really impressed me. I think some credit goes to coach [Kirk] Campbell. He’s done a really good job of kind of helping us play on time and playing with rhythm.
“I think that’s the biggest thing going in the year is just if we keep doing what we’re doing, I think QBs as a whole had a really good spring and just keep doing what we’re doing. It’s gonna be scary.”
McCarthy’s work this spring is his first as the incumbent starter and the first time he has gotten spring reps in two years. Last year a shoulder injury kept him sidelined from Michigan’s competition with he and Cade McNamara.
This year, it has been all about pushing this ceiling as far as it can go. Warren believes he can be “the best” at Michigan of any quarterback in the country.
“Even in the fall camp last year he was just kinda getting his bearings back under him and really finding traction,” Warren said. “And this year it’s like, ‘how good can he be?’ And he knows that.”
“We all know that as a room, we’re gonna do everything we can to support him and put him in the best position to be successful. Then, we all compete with each other to push him and challenge him and make him the best guy he can be. Coach Campbell says the room is out there with him when he is out there.”
The aforementioned Campbell has been a welcome addition to the Michigan coaching staff and the quarterbacks have taken to his leadership. He was a key figure behind the scenes last year, but now figures into a much larger role.
“Playing on time, playing in rhythm, tying your feet to your eyes and being super clear with your eye discipline [have been points of emphasis],” Warren said. “You can’t look at all 11 guys at once. You can’t see everyone at once and we’ve really got to be super disciplined with our eyes and where we’re at.”
