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JJ McCarthy brings girlfriend to sideline amid Michigan's blowout of Nebraska

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz09/30/23NickSchultz_7

JJ McCarthy and the Michigan offense left no room for doubt Saturday against Nebraska. The Wolverines scored 35 points through less than three quarters of play, which led Jim Harbaugh to pull McCarthy and put Jack Tuttle into the game.

In fact, the game got so out of hand that McCarthy called his girlfriend down to the sideline.

FOX cameras captured the Michigan quarterback and his other half during the game, which the Wolverines eventually took a 38-0 lead. McCarthy continued his impressive season with his showing against Nebraska despite playing less than three full quarters.

McCarthy completed 12 of 16 passes for 156 yards and two touchdowns in the air while adding two carries for 30 yards on the ground, including a 21-yard rushing score. He entered the game with a Big Ten-leading 79.8% completion percentage, and he’ll stay in that spot after his performance against Nebraska.

Tuttle then left the game in favor of Jayden Denegal, who found Peyton O’Leary for an eight-yard touchdown to extend Michigan’s advantage to 42-0. Nebraska then got its first touchdown of the day on a huge, 74-yard run from Josh Fleeks to avoid the shutout.

JJ McCarthy got his head coach back last week and hasn’t missed a beat

Of course, McCarthy started the year without his head coach on the sidelines as Jim Harbaugh served a self-imposed three-game suspension. He returned last week against Rutgers and watched his quarterback go 15 of 21 for 214 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-7 victory.

When asked if his return had an impact on McCarthy, Harbaugh enjoyed the question and gave an honest answer about the QB missing his coach’s “vibe.”

“I’m not going to argue on that one,” Harbaugh said. “I hope that’s the case. Hopefully, agree.”

Ahead of the season opener against East Carolina, Michigan was coached by Jesse Minter but Harbaugh was still on everyone’s minds. They tried to honor the head coach with shirts during pregame warmups. Following the game, McCarthy made his thoughts on the suspension pretty clear.

“I just want my coach back,” McCarthy said. “It’s as simple as that. I just want him back.”

The relationship the two have go back a few years. Of course, Harbaugh was the one to recruit McCarthy to Michigan and he was immediately thrown into a role alongside Cade McNamara. Harbaugh described the quarterback as an impact player from the get-go, being a huge reason why the Wolverines have won back-to-back Big Ten titles and made two College Football Playoff appearances.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.