Offensive notes: Michigan football, J.J. McCarthy continue their balanced ways

It has rarely been pretty or pitch-perfect for Michigan football this season, but that is the recipe. This has been a group built on grit and getting you into a street fight. And if it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Head coach Jim Harbaugh agrees.

“It’s a really good game plan,” he said after the team’s 43-22 Big Ten title win over Purdue on Saturday night. “It’s a really good offensive line, and it’s been — I mean, this guy has 401 yards in the last two games. You want to talk about big games? This guy [Donovan Edwards] comes alive in the big games.

“And Blake Corum has been a warrior too that same way. But, I mean, those are two supreme backs, Blake Corum and [Edwards]. This guy, when it’s a big game, I mean, his whole career, whether it was high school, college now, I mean, he just hits another gear. He takes off to another level. And J.J., I mean, he does the same thing in the running game. I mean, pretty dynamic two guys right there. And credit to a lot of places, you know? But, yeah, that’s what I would say.”

Michigan was able to run the football again without Blake Corum, who is potentially out for the season. Sophomore Donovan Edwards finished with 185 yards on a career-high 25 carries and paced an attack that rushed for 225 yards. Sophomore signal-caller J.J. McCarthy dealt again, going 11-for-17 for 161 yards, with 3 touchdowns and an interception.

With Michigan’s Heisman hopeful gone for the time being in Corum, McCarthy has to be among the next men up to pace the offense. Not only is he pacing it, but he continues to set a tone.

“It’s just next-man-up mentality,” McCarthy said after the game. “That’s something that we preach no matter who goes down or what position goes down. But at the end of the day it’s like Coach Harbaugh said, it’s a brotherhood that leans on each other. No matter what happens, no matter what adversity we face, we’re always going to get through it together with that perseverance he talked about. It just shows up week by week. Yeah, it would be amazing to have Blake, and it would do wonders for us, but at the end of the day it’s next man up, and we’re just going to lean on each other and get through it.”

McCarthy continues stacking wins

McCarthy’s name is now etched in the record books the same way his predecessor, Cade McNamara, was. McNamara is no longer with the team after transferring to Iowa, but McCarthy took a moment to shout him out for pushing him to be the quarterback Michigan needed.

“Yeah, the journey has definitely been a roller coaster,” McCarthy said after the win. “Just going back to my injury in the offseason and then obviously the competition with Cade. Cade is a great quarterback. A lot of it at the beginning of the year and fall camp was just focused on trying to beat him out.

“Then once I did, it was like, OK, now we have games to win. It was just that constant kind of — a bunch of obstacles that just made me improve in every way I possibly can. So I was just super blessed to have that opportunity to be able to compete with a great quarterback like that, but ultimately it’s the team around me. I mean, it’s the team around him that brought us to this position, and we couldn’t
have done it without the other 140-some guys.”

Players like McCarthy and Edwards have changed the culture from Day 1. Harbaugh has not changed, but the enthusiasm and cohesiveness of his players has.

“I point to these two guys. I mean, when they came in, they said, Coach, we’re winning the Big Ten Championship. We’re beating Ohio State. We got it,” Harbaugh said.

“I think that combination of not changing, I think the guys appreciated that deep down. You know, having these guys that like football, you know? They like football. They like training. They enjoy each other’s company. I mean, there’s not a day that goes by that either of these two guys have had a bad day.

“I’ll speak for them, but I think they like the direction of the program. They like the program. They like the opportunity in the program, and I like them back a lot. I’m proud of them, so proud of them.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

– McCarthy has now begun his career as a starter at Michigan with a 12-0 record, extending his lead over Dennis Franklin (1972), who began his U-M career 10-0. His 3 touchdowns matched a career-high through the air, though he did have his streak of 148 attempts without an interception snapped.

– For the fourth time this season, the offensive line did not allow a sack. It also continued to open up run lanes, outrushing the Boilermakers 225-90.

– Freshman tight end Colston Loveland had a touchdown reception for the second weekend in a row, this time from 25 yards out. It is his second career score in a Michigan uniform.

– Graduate tight end Luke Schoonmaker had a catch for a career-high 40 yards in the contest. He finished the day with 3 receptions for 57 yards, a touchdown and a 2-point conversion reception.

– Edwards’ 60-yard carry to start the second half was his fifth career run of 50 or more yards and the first to not end in a touchdown. He went over 100 yards rushing for the fourth time in 2022 and the second week in a row.

– Junior linebacker/running back Kalel Mullings scored his first and second career touchdowns in the game, finishing with 8 carries for 26 yards and the two scores.