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As Michigan gets ready to take on Alabama in the College Football Playoffs on Jan. 1, several Big Ten coaches believe that Wolverines quarterback JJ McCarthy isn’t the same quarterback now that his team is (allegedly) no longer stealing signs from the opposition.
McCarthy’s production declined significantly in the second half of the season, post-Jim Harbaugh suspension for the Michigan football sign-stealing scandal. In the first seven games of this season, the QB threw 14 touchdowns and averaged 10.6 yards per attempt. However, in his final five games, McCarthy only threw one touchdown pass at a 7.04 yards-per-attempt clip.
Big Ten coaches have noticed this line of demarcation and tell The Athletic that they wonder if the Michigan QB is as good as they thought he was without the football program's sign-stealing.
“‘It does make you wonder,’ said one defensive analyst whose team faced Michigan in the last month of the season. ‘Going into our game, I thought he was among the best in the country. Afterward, I didn’t think the same. Once all that stuff happened, he just doesn’t look the same. I don’t know if he’s hurt. I thought he was a Heisman candidate. Heisman quarterbacks don’t throw only eight passes in a game. I think before, he was ready for it, and he was confident.’”
Despite several coaches asking questions about McCarthy and the sign-stealing, there are others who admit that factors such as the Jim Harbaugh suspension, a relatively unknown injury, or the strength of the Wolverines’ second-half schedule could be the reason for McCarthy’s statistical decline.
No matter what the reason, if JJ McCarthy doesn’t figure something out by the time Michigan and Alabama go at it in the College Football Playoffs, the QB’s time as a Wolverine could be ending sooner than he would like.
