Jim Harbaugh assesses the play of Cade McNamara in win over Washington
Thanks to a huge win over Washington on Saturday night, Michigan has entered the AP top-25 for the first time this season. The Wolverines rushing attack racked up 352 total yards, thrashing the Huskies’ defense.
But the one thing missing from Michigan’s offensive attack was a solid passing game. Quarterback Cade McNamara threw for just 44 yards on seven completions. He threw for 30 yards in the first half with a long completion of 33 yards.
The game did turn into an old school showdown, however, as Michigan ran the ball 56 times and Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh seemed content to pound the ball on the ground. Still, at some point this season, Michigan will need to ride McNamara’s arm to a win.
“I think he did good,” Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference. “That’s a real strength for Washington. Their pass defense is outstanding, their corners are tremendous. Winning the game, going throw-for-throw with those guys, we didn’t think was the best formula to win the football game.”
McNamara did show off his arm strength. On a third-and-15 late in the first quarter, he found Cornelius Johnson for a 33-yard gain to give Michigan a new set of downs.
“Made a big third-down conversion on a go-route to CJ early in the game,” Harbaugh said. “Had back shoulder, he saw how well-covered it was but CJ made a great adjustment on the ball and that was a big conversion that led to points.”
On Cade McNamara
A junior, McNamara won the starting job this offseason after just starting one game a year ago. The top-ranked prospect out of Nevada in the 2018 class, he beat out freshman J.J. McCarthy and Texas Tech transfer Alan Bowman for the job.
“Cade McNamara is our starter,” Harbaugh said when he made the announcement. “He’s shown constant improvement in a lot of different areas. The biggest one is consistency. Consistency of doing his job. He also makes everyone around him better and that’s maybe the most important job of our quarterback.”
Michigan is not expecting Cade McNamara to be someone he is not. When he took over for Joe Milton late last season, he showed he was going to be a solid game manger for Michigan. He played well off of the bench against Wisconsin and led a triple-overtime comeback against Rutgers. And throughout the quarterback competition in Ann Arbor this offseason, McNamara proved he can be the leader needed at the position. He wants to be, too.
“I think my leadership style began by example, just because of the position I was in the last two years,” McNamara said after he was named Michigan’s starter. “I feel like my leadership style is demanding more out of my teammates and contributing more with my voice, I wasn’t able to do that as a non-starter. I feel like my position now has really given me the ability to be myself again. It feels really good.”
Bringing maturity to the position is not only something he wants to do. He believes that is what the bar should be at Michigan. Last season was a disappointing one for McNamara and the Wolverines as they had to cancel their final three games due to COVID-19 and finished 2-4 overall.
Even when he was Michigan’s fourth-string quarterback, McNamara was always competing. His all-business personality separates him, too, especially compared to Milton’s laid back approach.
“I think a level of seriousness from my position is something that should be expected, to be honest,” McNamara said.
In Michigan’s Week 1 win over Western Michigan, McNamara was 9-of-11 passing for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Some have thought McCarthy should receive playing time, especially after showing off his arm strength late in the win over the Broncos.