Skip to main content
Michigan

Newsstand: J.J. McCarthy leads comeback win in first NFL start

Anthony Broomeby: Anthony Broome09/09/25anthonytbroome
The Wolverine Daily Newsstand Sponsor Thumbnail

Former Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy made his first-career NFL start on Monday for the Minnesota Vikings, leading a 27-24 comeback victory after a first few quarters that did not go well.

McCarthy finished the game 13-for-20 for 143 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception along with 2 carries for 25 yards and a score. All three of his touchdowns came in the fourth quarter with the Vikings trailing 17-6. McCarthy threw a pick-six in the third quarter before going off in the fourth.

“I told him at halftime, ‘You are going to bring us back to win this game,'” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said in his postgame press conference. “And the look in his eye was fantastic.”

“It meant everything,” McCarthy said. “That guy is one of the best, if not the best head coach, in my opinion, in the National Football League. So any kind of compliment or belief like that, it means the world. That just gave me all the confidence to go out there and just execute the ball plays and have a fast arm and make quick, decisive decisions. And, you know, it worked out.”

McCarthy and the Vikings are back in action on Sunday Night Football in Week 2, where they will host the Atlanta Falcons. It will be a national championship rematch of sorts with McCarthy and Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. doing battle, echoing their last matchup as the signal-callers of Michigan and Washington, respectively. The Wolverines won that game 34-13 on Jan. 8, 2024, finishing off a 15-0 season.

Tweets of the day

Michigan quote of the day

“ It was 21-13 with the football in the fourth quarter. Michigan could have come down and scored a touchdown and a point conversion to tie, but if he had hit that field goal earlier in the game, a touchdown would’ve given them the lead after everything that had happened in that game. It’s a credit to taking advantage of the mistakes from the Oklahoma interception and the muffed punt that Cole Sullivan jumped on. He’s a baller. He just goes and gets the football. Michigan didn’t turn it over themselves, but so much went wrong outside of just that. The offensive line, I think, was the number one thing that doomed Michigan in this game because they had no run game. Outside of the 75-yard run from Justice Haynes.”

– The Wolverine’s Clayton Sayfie on Michigan’s loss at Oklahoma

Headlines of the day

Podcast: Michigan red flags after Oklahoma, interim coach, more
Michigan football podcast: Balas and Skene on offensive line, offense woes at Oklahoma, more
Michigan football projected win total drops after loss at Oklahoma
Into The Blue: Latest on top remaining target DQ Forkpa, Michigan LB recruiting