Michigan football: Jim Harbaugh announces early plan for quarterbacks' playing time
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh has two quarterbacks he feels he can win with this year. The competition has been extremely tight, to the point that there hasn’t been much separation.
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Despite many practice observers agreeing that Cade McNamara was the better of the two they’d seen, Harbaugh wants to see more. The senior McNamara and sophomore J.J. McCarthy will continue to battle in the non-conference, as expected.
“Both quarterbacks have played great,” he said in a statement released on twitter. “Done everything they could have, and in every way, to win the starting job. Coming out of camp, I just feel like we have two quarterbacks, Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy, that we feel very confident that we can win a championship with either of those two behind center.”
McNamara, voted captain last week, said he felt he was playing the best football of his life this camp. McCarthy has been very good, too, to the point that they’ll continue throughout the fall.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Several have said they believed this competition would go well into fall between the senior McNamara, who led Michigan to a Big Ten title last year, and the ultra-talented McCarthy.
“It’s a great thing for our team, but there’s only one ball and only one quarterback can be out there at a time,” the Michigan coach added. “So we’re not ready to say who that starting quarterback is, but the decision that we have made is Cade McNamara will start the opener against Colorado State and J.J. McCarthy will start the second ball game against Hawaii. And then after week two we will make a decision going into week three on the starter and the backup.”
Their teammates have made it clear they’ll be behind either guy. McNamara threw for over 2,500 yards last year, but McCarthy showed flashes of brilliance, too, in spelling him. The Wolverines can win with either, and they’ve brought out the best in each other.
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“Quarterback makes a lot of big decisions that impact the game, and you always want the guy who’s making those decisions to be respected by the guys he’s making the decisions for,” senior defensive tackle and captain Mazi Smith said. “You always want to look into a quarterback and see somebody who embodies the team and can bring the team together when he needs to … keep the team going..”
He was responding to a question about McNamara, but the team has confidence in McCarthy, too. Unlike McNamara, McCarthy is a weapon with his feet and sports an NFL arm, able to make all the throws.
At the same time, McNamara is very skilled, too. BTN.com’s Dave Revsine said he’d go with McNamara without a doubt, noting the ball “never hit the ground” when he watched him move the offense.
In a few weeks, Harbaugh will have a better idea after having seen both of his quarterbacks for extended periods of time.
Watch for more on this development in the hours to come …
