Michigan Football: No time to abandon playing J.J. McCarthy

There are a lot of what-ifs thinking back to Michigan football’s loss to Michigan State. But one thing that shouldn’t change is playing J.J. McCarthy.

J.J. McCarthy was involved in one of two Michigan football‘s two turnovers against Michigan State. He was also part of one of the Wolverines’ two red-zone touchdowns.

Playing McCarthy has already resulted in some great plays for Michigan football. It also resulted in a couple of bad ones against Michigan State.

The fumble in the red zone with the game tied hurt, but not as much as the lost fumble with Michigan leading 33-30. Whether Cade McNamara was healthy enough to play has been debated. There has also been talk about who is to blame for the fumble –McCarthy or Blake Corum.

But does it matter?

At this point, the only thing that matters is that McCarthy learns from his mistakes, which he will. He’s still the most talented quarterback on the roster and the Wolverines would be insane to relegate him to the bench, outside of garbage time, because of the MSU game.

McCarthy’s role shouldn’t change

McNamara should be the starter and he should see the majority of the snaps. He proved once again on Saturday that he’s more than up to the task. In fact, he looked like a guy who could play in the NFL, which QB coach Matt Weiss said earlier about Cade this offseason.

But the red-zone offense is lacking and Michigan is smart to take advantage of McCarthy’s talents down there. He can run obviously, but having his athleticism can also open up some windows when throwing the ball and we saw he can make plays with his arm as he did on the touchdown pass to Andrel Anthony.

Jim Harbaugh said that Michigan was going to continue playing McCarthy and that’s absolutely the right move. He brings a different element to the offense and it is one that’s needed.

Certainly, there is a time and place for everything and maybe the final series with Michigan up three wasn’t the time to insert McCarthy if Cade was able to go, but that doesn’t mean the Wolverines should waste his talent because of a couple of errors.

McCarthy is too talented to sit on the bench. It’s simply up to the coaching staff to find the best, most creative ways to utilize his talents, which could help the offense overcome some of its red-zone woes, especially against better defenses.