Michigan football is the #1 team in the country and they are getting ready to face a surging Alabama football team in a few days. The Crimson Tide are ranked #4 in the country, and they will square off with the Wolverines in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. If Michigan is going to find a way to win, they will need their quarterback, JJ McCarthy, to be sharp, and Alabama knows that he is very talented.

There was a point earlier this season when JJ McCarthy was the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. He didn't end up winning it as Michigan football went for a more conservative rushing approach in the late stages of the season after McCarthy got banged up, but he is now healthy and one of the best QBs in the country. Alabama football star Terrion Arnold knows that, and he recently compared McCarthy to one of the NFL's best QBs.

“Joe Burrow,” Terrion Arnold said as a comparison to McCarthy, according to an article from On3. “When you’re playing against somebody, you have to give them the credit that they deserve. And (JJ McCarthy), he’s a very good athlete. When you look at him on film and things like that, it surprises you how much he actually does run. Like he scrambles, has his eyes down the field. Now obviously, he ain’t no J-Mil (Bama QB Jalen Milroe) or nothing like that, but when it comes time to making the right reads, making the right throws, he’s a great decision-maker and he’s a good athlete.”

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Arnold and Alabama are not taking McCarthy lightly. He is one of the biggest threats on the Michigan offense, and he is projected to go in the first round of next year's NFL Draft.

McCarthy will need to have a big game if Michigan is going to take down the Crimson Tide. Last season in the College Football Playoff, McCarthy made a lot of huge plays, but he also threw two pick sixes in a six-point loss to TCU. That simply cannot happen again if the Wolverines want to move on to the national title game this year. McCarthy doesn't necessarily have to put up huge numbers in this game, but he definitely has to avoid those killer mistakes.

Michigan and Alabama will kick things off in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day from Pasadena, California at 5:00 ET. The game will be airing on ESPN, and the Wolverines are currently favored by two points.