Reaction to Michigan's Week 2 UNLV game
JJ McCarthy for Heisman??
JJ McCarthy completion percentage Week 1 against East Carolina: 87%
JJ McCarthy completion percentage Week 2 against UNLV: 88%
Michigan has found their quarterback. McCarthy has played back to back flawless games. Every single throw has been placed with perfect accuracy and perfect placement.
In my opinion, the most impressive part of McCarthy’s game was his poise. He seemed entirely unaffected by pressure. He didn’t come close to being sacked. His pocket presence was perfect, and he evaded the pash rush to extend plays with no trouble.
The Michigan passing game has been seemingly unstoppable so far. This is also due to the outstanding play of Roman Wilson. Wilson, who caught 4 TDs last season, already has 5 this season. He has been on the receiving end of every one of JJ’s passing touchdowns. This duo has totaled 167 yards on top of the 5 touchdowns. This is what Michigan has been lacking for so many years. In the past, they’ve had dominant run games with strong offensive lines. They’ve had great defenses. What they’ve never had was a dependable WR1 that can score at any time. Roman Wilson changes the way Michigan can call plays.
Roman Wilson is not the only bright spot in the Michigan offense. Veteran WR Cornelius Johnson had a great game, as well as the young WR Tyler Morris. These three WRs should be excellent down the line.
So far, at least, the passing game has been far better than the running game. I mentioned in the previous week that this may be by design. Now, I still see that their plan is working. These defenses have to prepare for two of the best backs in the nation. They can’t stop both of them. This means they will have to bring an extra 2-3 guys to stop them. However, this plan leaves big holes down the field, and so far McCarthy has found them every single time. Will this continue to work against tougher defenses like Iowa and Penn State? Only time will tell.
Here is the other small problem with this offensive strategy: It relies on the running backs being able to generate decent run plays (or not losing yards altogether) against tougher defenses. As of now, Blake Corum hasn’t struggled with this. While he hasn’t broken off a big run yet, he has made great surges at the line and has been really efficient. Donovan Edwards is another story, and frankly might be a cause for concern. While getting slightly fewer carries, he has been given the same run packages as Corum. However, Edwards is so far unable to make up the same ground that Corum has. Too many times I’ve seen Edwards get stuck with a gain of 1 or 2 yards on first down. This shouldn’t happen against East Carolina and UNLV.
The defense had a great game today. 5 sacks in the first half is all you can ask for. While there were some hiccups in the secondary, I’m not too concerned about this. Michigan was missing three starters in Will Johnson, Makari Paige, and Rod Moore. The defense will recover before facing any real challenges.
The only real issue I see is the special teams. In the first game, the kicking was spotty. Today, there were numerous penalties on special teams play. On top of that, a kickoff went out of bounds, giving UNLV a start at the 35 yard line. Michigan has prided themselves on always having a dependable special teams. So far, this is not the case. This is the only real issue that needs to be fixed before Big 10 play begins.