Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy talks 'tremendous opportunity' against Penn State, 'Kobe Bryant mentality,' more

Michigan Wolverines football sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy played 166 snaps in 11 games last season, but he didn’t suit up for one of the team’s most signature wins — a 21-17 victory at Penn State in mid-November that kept U-M’s Big Ten title hopes alive. Now, he’ll lead the squad into battle against the 10th-ranked Nittany Lions at The Big House.

Penn State’s defense poses a huge challenge for the Maize and Blue. PSU has shut down opponents’ run games so much so that it’s faced more pass attempts per game than any team in the country (45.2). Against the pass, the Nittany Lions are giving up just 5.8 yards per attempt, the 12th-best mark in the nation, and they lead the sport with 51 breakups.

“It’s just a defense with a lot of talent, and they’re coached very well,” Michigan’s quarterback said Tuesday evening. “Manny Diaz is a great coordinator, and I feel like he puts them in the right spots at the right time.

“They just let their athleticism show. You’ve got guys like [cornerback] Joey Porter that are extremely gifted physically, and they’re in the right spots at the right time. It’s a tremendous opportunity for us an offense to put ourselves up against that and see what we’re all about.”

RELATED

• J.J. McCarthy discusses keys to hitting on deep balls, why Michigan offense ‘shouldn’t be stopped’

• WATCH: Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy previews Penn State, talks offense’s potential, more

Much was made nationally about Michigan’s weak non-conference schedule that included games against Colorado State, Hawai’i and UConn. The Wolverines were one of seven Power 5 teams to not play a non-conference game against another Power 5 foe. That talk will be thrown out the window this weekend with a formidable task at hand, and McCarthy can’t wait for the challenge.

“Any game that I suited up for last year and didn’t play, I had that game marked on my calendar for this year,” the Michigan quarterback said. “Just embracing the opportunity. This is a great team. Being able to play them in The Big House is a blessing, that’s for sure, with the maize out and all of the fans that are going to be showing up and bringing that energy. It’s just a tremendous opportunity, and I can’t wait to do it; I can’t wait to go out there and show what I can do against that great team.”

McCarthy is set for his sixth career start at Michigan, after taking over in the second game of the season and not giving the job back to senior Cade McNamara, last year’s full-time player behind center. Opponents now have more film to work with when preparing for McCarthy, but that’s just part of the chess match that is football.

“I’m doing the same thing to them,” McCarthy said of studying tendencies. “That comes with the territory. I feel like with my play, I haven’t scratched the surface yet of what I’m fully capable of. They haven’t seen things that I have in my bag that I haven’t shown yet, so it’s a new week every single week, there are new things being put out there every single week.

“I’m doing the same thing to them. They’re putting things on tape, I’m studying it, and that’s the fun thing about sports.”

J.J. McCarthy on accuracy, chemistry with Luke Schoonmaker, more

McCarthy is leading the nation with a 78.2 completion percentage. He credits his preparation throughout his entire football career for allowing him to do that at this level.

“At the root of it, at the base of it, has just been the constant reps, the constant … since fifth grade, just working with my quarterbacks coach, always throwing,” Michigan’s quarterback explained. “I always approached it with that Kobe Bryant mentality — ’I’m going to get 1,000 shots in.’ Well, you can’t really do that with your arm; I learned that last year with this lab[rum] tear and everything, but just continually repping out every single throw so I know exactly how it feels when I want to put it a certain way, and just being in the present moment when the game is happening, when the play is happening. Just going through every little pre-snap checklist in my head, and being able to deliver effortlessly.”

One of McCarthy’s favorite targets is Michigan graduate tight end Luke Schoonmaker. The two have hooked up on 20 occasions over the last three games, and he’s scored a pair of touchdowns. He’s second on the team with 23 grabs and 229 receiving yards.

“Just like everything, I feel like that chemistry is growing and growing,” McCarthy said of his tight end, who has an increased role with senior Erick All currently out with an injury. “He was a great tight end the minute I stepped in here.

“When I first walked into Schem when I was a freshman, like two weeks in, no one was in here. I was going to watch film, and I see Luke Schoonmaker in the weight room working out, blasting music, going crazy. And I knew from that day, that kid was special. To be able to have the opportunity to go into live reps and work with him on a day-to-day basis has been huge — and that chemistry is only going to grow.”

McCarthy has the athleticism to extend plays by escaping the pocket, keeping his eyes down the field and hitting receivers in scramble situations. He’s also wrestling with when to tuck the ball away and run, something former Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson told him to do on the field after the Maryland game. He’s getting better and better on feeling out each situation.

“I feel like it’s just experience, being in situations, being given opportunities that come with a game, with each play,” the Michigan quarterback explained. “Being able to have that experience to grow from that. I could go in Glick [Fieldhouse] and go over all that stuff right now a million times, but if you’re not actually in the moment and having that experience, then it’s not as productive of growth as being out there and doing it in live bullets, live action.

“So just getting more opportunities at that has been helping tremendously, and just learning from my mistakes week to week. We didn’t see any of that against Maryland, and I feel like there were a couple plays at Iowa where I could’ve done a little more with my legs, and it’s just going to get better and better as the weeks go on.”

J.J. McCarthy on ‘that feeling’

Cameras caught McCarthy, classmates Donovan Edwards and Andrel Anthony, and other devastated Michigan Wolverines staying on the field to watch Georgia celebrate its College Football Playoff semifinal victory over U-M on New Year’s Eve at the end of last season. That moment is one the group often references.

“Yeah, we talk about it a lot, just in the offseason as motivation,” McCarthy said. “It’s always just, ‘Remember that feeling. Remember that feeling.’ And we just say, ‘Remember that feeling,’ and we know exactly what to feel.

“That’s one of those moments, too, where it’s like, man, I’m so grateful that happened, because what that did for us this offseason was tremendous, and we wouldn’t have had that extra motivation going into this season if we didn’t have that.”