Michigan Football: 3 Keys to beating Wisconsin Badgers

2. Feature J.J. McCarthy in Some Capacity

The Wolverines are 4-0. There isn’t going to be a quarterback change. Get over it.

But what can happen? How can the Wolverines improve the quarterback position without outright benching Cade McNamara before the biggest game of the season thus far? Work J.J. McCarthy into the offense in some capacity.

McCarthy brings a different dynamic to this offense that Cade McNamara simply doesn’t offer. J.J. has a cannon for an arm as evidenced in this play.

Not only does he throw a much better ball than McNamara, but he also is much more athletic and would open up the run game.

Think about it. Cade McNamara is a traditional “gamer” quarterback. Undersized, not a huge arm, not super athletic but tries to deliver the ball where the coaches ask him. What he doesn’t do, however, is put the defense in any sort of conflict in the run game.

How many times have we seen through the first four games Cade has a chance to turn the corner and instead hands it off to Hassan Haskins or Blake Corum up the middle. It’s called a read-option for a reason, and well folks, Cade ain’t reading it.

With McCarthy’s athleticism, those runs that McNamara is passing on will be used. The defense will have to respect the running ability J.J. brings which in turn opens up the rest of the run game and the offense as a whole.

Granted, McCarthy won’t start this game, and to be honest, probably shouldn’t. But for Michigan football to win, it needs to get creative and work one of their best offensive players and the future of the program into this game.