J.J. McCarthy opens up on struggles from Week 3 and bouncing back

Michigan Wolverines junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy had three interceptions in the non-conference finale against Bowling Green on Sept. 16, and it was clear it was an off night. We have not seen his struggles snowball like that in a game before, and it was going to be interesting to see how he would respond.

In a 31-7 win over Rutgers, McCarthy bounced back and played a nearly flawless game going 15-for-21 for 214 yards and a touchdown while adding 51 yards on 7 carries. He heard all of the criticism and went back to work last week in practice.

“I definitely used that as fuel this past week,” McCarthy said on Monday. “Just kind of bounced back. And the biggest thing I learned from it is not to put so much pressure on myself. Going into that game, I’ve just put an unrealistic expectation for that game. When one thing went wrong, the pressure, I really felt it and I’ve never felt that before.

“Those games, you’re gonna learn so much more from those than just going out there throwing four touchdowns and 400 yards. So it was honestly a blessing in disguise and it’s in the past now. Not worried about it at all.”

Why was there pressure for a non-conference tilt against Bowling Green? McCarthy says it was a product of the type of quarterback he has become and wants to be at Michigan.

“It’s just who I am,” McCarthy said. “I’m a perfectionist. I try to go out there and throw more touchdowns than incompletions and sometimes it doesn’t work out like that. It’s the game of football. So yeah, it’s just the perfectionist in me.

“[Just have to] be able to forget what happened, learn from it and just try to get that much better each and every day. And I feel like it’s a blessing to be around such great guys that lift me up and that push me every single day — like this past week, and they’re gonna continue to do it this week. So I just feel like it’s always just staying humble and hungry and keep pushing.”

Another big reason may have been the return of head coach Jim Harbaugh, who brought normalcy back to the sideline after his suspension. He said Monday that McCarthy played one of his best games at Michigan over the weekend, but McCarthy knows there is still so much to work on.

“That meant a lot to hear that because I didn’t think so myself,” McCarthy said. “There’s a lot of plays that I want to get back and there’s a lot of reads that I felt like I could have progressed onto and throws that I could have made. But yeah, it means a lot coming from him. I feel like the aspect of using both my arm and my legs in this game really helped out the team and he really loved to see that. Obviously, the ball security was great. No turnovers or anything like that. So yeah, I agree with them wholeheartedly that it was one of my best.”

McCarthy’s renewed calmness against Rutgers came simply from having Harbaugh out there, he says. It did not have much to do with any feedback or messaging. Seeing him fired up after plays was enough for the Michigan signal-caller.

“For me specifically, it’s that comfort being out there on the field,” McCarthy said. “After completing I think it was a second and ling, threw a bender over the middle to Roman and then seeing coach do one of these [fist pumps], it’s something about it that gets me that extra spark when I’m out there.

“And obviously he’s the leader of organization. He’s the leader of our team, and just being out there with him at the front lines with us, it means so much and. It just brings that extra level of ‘All right, here we go. We’re here to play.’”

McCarthy and Michigan take their show on the road next for the first game away from friendly confines this season. Saturday’s showdown with Nebraska is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.