Offense notes: Michigan has 'the double-edged sword' in J.J. McCarthy, tight ends shine in MSU win

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football was clinical in a 49-0 beatdown of MSU Saturday night at Spartan Stadium. U-M didn’t ‘win’ every play from an offensive standpoint, but there was hardly anything for the players and coaches to complain about. The Wolverines averaged 7.9 yards to go on third downs — not ideal — but were phenomenal at moving the chains when it mattered.

When Michigan’s starting offense was in, it picked up 7 of 8 third-down attempts. It started on the first possession, when junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy scrambled and found senior tight end AJ Barner for a first down on 3rd and 14. The Maize and Blue had three third-down conversions on their first drive, which ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from senior running back Blake Corum on 3rd and goal from the 1. Two drives later, McCarthy found sophomore tight end Colston Loveland on 3rd and 8, keeping the march toward another touchdown alive.

On the season, McCarthy is 26-of-31 passing for 358 yards and 4 touchdowns. He connected on all 4 of his passes on the all-important down Saturday against an MSU defense that ranked atop the Big Ten in third-down defense.

“Michigan State’s one of the best teams in the country on third down,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Well documented. And we were picking up the third downs, third and longs. There weren’t a lot of 3rd and ones or twos; they were 3rd and 7s, 3rd and 12s. When we got into those positions, we were able to convert.

“Was just a real high trust level that J.J.’s going to make the play. Yeah, they’ve got the perfect defense called. One was a really well time blitz, got home. Must have been seven guys in the backfield, and somehow he got out. He looked like ooze the magnificent on that one. Incredible. And then he’s just so dangerous when he’s out of the pocket. Keeps his eyes downfield and hits the open receiver or runs it himself. It’s a double edged sword with J.J. McCarthy. He is the double-edged sword. He can beat you in so many ways.”

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Michigan tight ends shine

Loveland has now had a touchdown in each of the last three games, after going scoreless in the Wolverines’ first five contests, with 4 in that span and 2 tonight. He and McCarthy have continued to develop their connection. Barner, meanwhile, led Michigan with 8 catches for 99 yards and a 22-yard score, his first touchdown as a Wolverine after transferring in from Indiana, where he posted 4 in three seasons. The Barner-Loveland duo combined to pick up 10 first downs and accumulate 12 catches for 178 yards — just 4 yards shy of what MSU had for the entire game (182).

“Honestly, the game plan wasn’t really like targeting them or anything,” McCarthy said of the tight ends’ success. “It just happened naturally, and that’s the most beautiful thing, that it could play out.”

“Just goes to show the amount of talent that we have on this team,” Barner added. “Doesn’t matter who it is. Each week somebody’s gonna step up and it just happened to be us this week.”

“That is a great addition to the team,” Loveland said of Barner. “Ever since he got here, we’ve been [close]. Just feed off of each other, both learn from each other.”

The degree of difficulty on some of the plays each made was high, too.

“That’s some of the best tight end play I think anybody’s probably seen in college football,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t even think I’d be going too far out on a limb saying that. The catches they were making, the routes they were running, the precision that was there in the dropback passing game. The contested catches our tight ends were making — AJ Barner, especially. There were some real bang bang shots. Coverage was really tight. Only a few inches to spare from where J.J. put the throw, and then bang, there’s the hit and to hold on to the ball. Pretty amazing.”

J.J. McCarthy gets result he was looking for in East Lansing

Michigan’s last Big Ten loss was a 37-33 setback in Spartan Stadium Oct. 30, 2021. The Wolverines have now won 20 straight conference tilts, a program record. But despite having blown out MSU in 2022, 29-7, they were fueled by the past in the in-state series.

“The outcome of that game was definitely on my mind when I was packing the away bag to head up Friday night,” McCarthy said of the 2021 loss.

“I was looking at this shirt right here [a blue-collared shirt], and I haven’t worn it since we lost that game,” McCarthy said. “It was actually the first time I only wore it, so I just looked at it and I was like, ‘I’m not gonna live in fear. I’m gonna wear this with pride and go out there with my boys, and the past is the past.'”

McCarthy played fearless, completing 21 of his 27 passes for 287 yards and a career-best 4 touchdowns. He had thrown 3 scoring tosses in five previous contests during his career. He added a 16-yard rush, as well.

It wasn’t of an importance, but it felt damn good,” McCarthy said of ‘taking Spartan Stadium back’ for him personally.

Michigan left no doubt in the blowout win, even punctuating it with a 6-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Alex Orji — the fourth U-M signal-caller to earn time in the game — with only eight seconds to play.

The performance came on the heels of the NCAA opening an investigation into Michigan’s potential illegal sign stealing practices and in-person advanced scouting of opponents. The Wolverines could have used the news that dropped Thursday as a crutch, or it could have had a negative impact. Instead, Harbaugh described his team as a “buzz saw.”

“There’s been stuff. There have been attempts to diminish the team in a lot of ways, starting with easy schedule, too easy a schedule — these guys aren’t very good, that kind of thing,” Harbaugh said. “But they just play. We’ll do that again today, move on with humble hearts, but it’s a heck of a group, and I just congratulate them. Their focus was laser like. Stay strong, focused, just on a mission.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• Michigan’s 49-0 win is its largest ever against MSU at Spartan Stadium. The previous was a 42-0 triumph in 1983.

• This win is U-M’s biggest margin of victory on the road since a 78-0 win over Rutgers in 2016.

• Michigan is still the only team in the FBS this season to be undefeated and win all of its games by 20-plus points.

• Michigan has scored 30-plus in 11 straight games, the longest streak in program history. The 1976 squad (eight contests) previously held the record. U-M has scored 40-plus points in three straight Big Ten games for the first time since 2021, when Michigan scored 59 against Maryland, 42 against Ohio State, and 42 against Iowa.

• Michigan is now 20-1 with McCarthy as the starting quarterback.

• McCarthy is 106 career passing yards shy of Steve Smith (4.680 career pass yards) to enter the top 10 all-time. His four touchdown passes in tonight’s game moved him into a tie for sixth-most all-time with Shea Patterson (45). Rick Leach (48) is next on the list at fifth all-time.

• Corum now has 13 rushing touchdowns for the season and 44 for his career. He’s only three shy of Tyrone Wheatley for second in program history and 11 short of leader Anthony Thomas (55).

• Senior wide receiver Roman Wilson caught 2 passes for 50 yards and 1 touchdown. He now has 10 scores on the year, becoming the 12th player in Michigan history with 10 or more receiving touchdowns in a season and tied Braylon Edwards for the 11th-most in one campaign.

• Barner’s 8 catches and 99 yards were both career highs.

• Sophomore tight end Marlin Klein had his first career reception, an 8-yard catch.