J.J. McCarthy wants to lead Michigan football over 'the hump.' He'll need his arm to do it

J.J. McCarthy threw five interceptions last season in his first year as Michigan football’s starter. A respectable number by almost any measure.

The problem was the last two. They came against TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinal. Both were returned for touchdowns.

U-M gave up 51 points that night in the Arizona desert. If McCarthy makes better throws, or different choices, maybe the Wolverines only give up 37 and win the game.

It’s never fair to lay the blame of a team sport at the feet of a single player, especially in a game where a coach uses at least 30 players — often more. But then that’s how it is in football, particularly at a place like U-M, where the quarterback is judged by one thing: wins and losses.

Heck, McCarthy kinda said it himself when he met with reporters early Monday afternoon at Schembechler Hall. He was talking about rankings, specifically quarterback rankings, and how he doesn’t pay much attention to where others rank him.

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“Because most of them go off stats,” he said.

Pro Football Focus ranked McCarthy eighth among returning quarterbacks, behind players like Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and Drake May. U-M's junior isn’t worried about where he fits onto someone else’s list.

“I focus on being the best quarterback I can be for this team,” he said. “That's what wins football games.”

This season, that should mean throwing more passes, perhaps more deep passes, and certainly more running. The Wolverines dropped almost 40 points a game last year and tagged TCU for 45, but U-M's first drive of the game ended with a turnover on downs after a first-and-goal from the 9 yard-line. A savvier passing game could’ve made a difference there and, who knows, if U-M takes a 7-0 lead maybe the tenor of the game unfolds differently.

Against most teams, the Wolverines will be more than fine giving the ball to Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards. But for consecutive years in the playoff, the running game wasn’t enough. They need more from McCarthy.

“I feel like, you know, in order to get over that hump, you’ve got to be balanced,” he said.

Of course, that’s always been the goal under Jim Harbaugh. For the most part his best teams have been balanced. But they’ve been better running the ball, and that’s what needs to change.

The teams that win the CFP can throw, usually prodigiously; the best defenses are too good to beat them running the ball.

So, here comes McCarthy, the unquestioned starter, a veteran on campus, healthy, having spent his offseason watching film, searching for ways to improve his decision making, looking for clues on how to tighten up his timing with receivers.

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“Probably the biggest thing this offseason is being more of a vocal leader and really embracing holding people accountable and holding myself accountable,” said McCarthy. “Obviously, (I’m) always growing with my craft (and developing) chemistry with my guys.”

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But it’s his team now, more than it was a year ago when he missed spring practice because of injury and had to win the starting job over Cade McNamara. So instead of spending the offseason trying to get healthy and then trying to figure out ways to win the job, like he did a year ago, he spent his time trying to figure out how to better do the job he won.

Because as much as Zak Zinter believes the offense will go as far as the offensive line can take it — and, to a degree, he’s right — getting over the “hump” is in the hands, or hand, of McCarthy. Good thing he said he’s never had more fun playing football.

"Everything is just clear,” McCarthy said. “Everyone knows what’s going on. It’s just ... things are effortless. I’ve been reading that defense for 2-3 years now.”

He’s talking about the defense he faces in practice, obviously. And the comfort he feels leading the offense against it. Yet to find comfort dropping back against the better defenses he’ll face if U-M gets to where it wants to in January?

He’ll need to see the cornerback breaking a split second sooner, or a safety sneaking underneath, sights he didn’t quite see against TCU. He’ll also need to make quicker decisions in the pocket. Not just his reads, his progressions through the route tree, but when to take off and run.

God blessed him with legs, he said Monday.

“Got to use them more,” he said.

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He showed flashes of that in the playoff game, rushing for 52 yards even as he threw for a career-high 343, the kind of combined effort that usually wins even the biggest of the big-time games. But high-scoring games are the norm at the end of the season and McCarthy and Harbaugh aim to be even more efficient the next time they get the chance.

Which is why the the team’s passed more in training camp the last five days than it has at the beginning of any training camp in recent memory.

“We’ve been working on it crazy,” he said.

And?

“We’re gonna get there.”

He — and the offense he leads — will have to if they want to get back to where they were … and then beyond.  The hump, as McCarthy called it.

In order to jump it, he’ll need to lead the way, arms, legs and all.

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Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: If J.J. McCarthy doesn't progress, Michigan football can't win it all