ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jim Harbaugh saw everything that he needed in the first two games of Michigan’s season.
While the Wolverines won both in convincing fashion, it was the elevated play of quarterback JJ McCarthy that really shined through.
After Saturday’s 56-10 win over Hawaii, Harbaugh named McCarthy the permanent starter moving forward, ending a month-long competition in which he beat out incumbent Cade McNamara.
“By merit, he’s earned that,” Harbaugh told reporters early Sunday morning. “That’s by performance. By merit.”
McCarthy was “near flawless” in his first career start, completing 11 of his 12 pass attempts for 229 yards and three touchdowns, posting an extraordinary 334.5 passer rating and guiding Michigan to a 42-point halftime lead.
“And one was dropped,” Harbaugh correctly pointed out. “That’s tough to do. That’s tough to do on any day of the week in practice.
“I thought he had a great game. He’s playing really well. We’ll start JJ next week.”
More: Takeaways, observations from Michigan’s win over Hawaii
Harbaugh clarified by saying that McCarthy has been tabbed as Michigan’s permanent starter moving forward, bringing to a close a unique quarterback arrangement that stretched into the season.
McNamara, who entered the season with 15 starts under his belt and guided the Wolverines to a 12-2 season, Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance last year, looked below-average in his Week 1 start against Colorado State. The game, which was also lopsided in the final result, saw McCarthy come into the game and spark a touchdown run.
It was more of the same from McCarthy on Saturday against Hawaii, with the sophomore unafraid to take chances down the field — connecting with receiver Roman Wilson on a 42-yard touchdown pass on the very first attempt of the game. McCarthy followed up on the very next drive with a 31-yard completion to Ronnie Bell, and later fired a strike to Cornelius Johnson for a late-second quarter touchdown.
“It’s hard to do that — hit guys in stride 40 to 50 yards down field,” Harbaugh said. “(He) definitely was in the zone, and it was great to see.”
Harbaugh cautioned reporters about holding McCarthy to a near-100 percent completion rate in every game (it’s simply not realistic), but said the quarterback really raised his game the final week of training camp — peaking during Michigan’s final scrimmage of the preseason, the Saturday before the season opener.
“Really from there, it’s been really straight up for him,” Harbaugh said. “That’s two-and-a-half weeks, really, every single day has been about as good as it can be.”
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