Ryan Hayes on how Cade McNamara has handled Michigan QB decision: 'He's our captain still'

Michigan Wolverines football senior quarterback Cade McNamara made 16 consecutive starts ahead of last weekend’s 56-10 win over Hawai’i, but the streak was snapped — and it’s unknown if and when a new one will start. Sophomore J.J. McCarthy took his opportunity to open Saturday night’s game and ran with it, with head coach Jim Harbaugh naming him the starting signal-caller going forward.

McNamara is the first quarterback to be named a captain during the Harbaugh era. His teammates have discussed his high-level leadership and how he’s galvanized the offense and the team. Now that he’s no longer the starter, graduate left tackle Ryan Hayes said he’s still the same guy inside Schembechler Hall.

“We all love Cade. He’s our captain still,” Hayes explained. “He’s come into the building with a smile on his face every day. He’s going to do what he can, and we all still look at him as a captain. He’s treating us the same; he hasn’t changed his outlook at all, so it’s been pretty good to see.”

A small number of Michigan fans booed when McNamara was on the field against Hawai’i. While Harbaugh said Monday that whether or not those outside the program embrace the Wolverines having two ‘really good’ quarterbacks is largely irrelevant, Hayes revealed that he and his teammates were bothered by the act.

“We hate that; we would hate for any of our brothers to get booed,” the Michigan lineman said, defending McNamara. “I think that’s pretty ridiculous for our stadium to do that to one of our brothers who’s a captain on this team, led us to all of those victories last year. Cade was a big part of the offense last year, leading us to [wins over] Ohio State, Iowa and into the playoff. We hate that stuff, to be honest.”

McNamara led Michigan to the 2021 Big Ten title and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. Hayes explained what the quarterback did that was so important to the team’s success.

“Cade, last year and this year, is just a great leader,” Hayes said. “He’s confident in himself, he doesn’t make mistakes. He’s just that solid quarterback that our offense needed, to keep us all together, to not turn the ball over, to make the throws when needed.

“He just did all those things right last year, and he continued to do that in camp. These first couple games — I don’t know quarterback play — when he’s out there, we treat him just the same. He leads our offense, he leads us, he’s a great leader, a great captain. Love Cade.”

Ryan Hayes assesses Michigan offensive line play through 2 weeks

Hayes was held out of Michigan’s opener against Colorado State with a minor injury but returned this past week. The Wolverines’ offensive line, which won the Joe Moore Award in 2021, has had its moments, but it’s already allowed three sacks to inferior opponents.

“I think we’ve done some good stuff so far, but obviously, the first two games, there’s always going to be some things to clean up,” Hayes noted. “We’re obviously not playing our best right now; we’re not playing our worst, so every game we’re going to keep taking steps and be where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Familiarity is key on the offensive line, and there have been some moving pieces early in the Michigan season. In addition, two new starters — graduate center Olusegun Oluwatimi and senior right tackle Trente Jones — are still getting acclimated.

“Olu has been great, too, but it’s just figuring out playing next to him, playing next to [senior left guard] Trevor [Keegan], [sophomore guard] Gio[vanni El-Hadi] has been in there a little bit, Trente is a new piece,” Hayes said. “It’s just everybody figuring out these first three games how to jell together, make the right calls, know what each other are doing — and I think we’re on our way to doing that.”

Jones allowed a sack and three pressures in the first game, but those minor struggles are to be expected in a first start, the Michigan lineman continued.

“Starting your first game at O-line is always difficult for anybody, no matter how talented you are,” Hayes said. “He had maybe a couple miscues, but he was great last game; he responded really well for us. We had a lot of confidence in him, and he’s got confidence in himself, so he’ll be just fine.”

The Wolverines take on 1-2 UConn Saturday afternoon at The Big House. Michigan opens Big Ten play against Maryland, and Hayes and Co. are focusing on being ready for the bigger challenges ahead.

“We strive to be perfect every game,” Hayes explained. “These first games building on each other, we’ve got to take practice like we’re playing Ohio State at the end of the year. We’ve got to treat every week like that, or we’re not going to get better every week.

“It’s just keeping that same mentality that we have to get this much better each week if we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season. We have to strive for perfection.”