Offense notes: 'Dawg' J.J. McCarthy's running is another 'weapon' for Michigan

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Michigan Wolverines football offense got some help from its defense, which produced a pair of pick-sixes, but was efficient in a 52-10 drubbing of Minnesota Saturday night.

Junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy proved to be a “weapon” in the red zone, per head coach Jim Harbaugh. The 6-3, 202-pounder ran in 2 touchdowns — 1 from 5 yards out in the second quarter and a 7-yarder in the third stanza. McCarthy was a physical runner, dishing out stiff arms and lowering his shoulder in order to cross the goal line.

“It does tremendous for our downhill runs, because they’ve gotta hold me accountable on any sort of QB run or read,” McCarthy said of the impact of his running, and the threat of it. “It just opens up the offense so much more, especially with what we want to do.”

“It’s like the young people say … ‘yeah, he’s a dawg,'” the Michigan head coach said of his quarterback’s power at the goal line. “D.A.W.G. — disciplined athlete with grit. I put an acronym to it. I thought that really jumped out in my mind watching him play — he’s in total control when he’s making those kind of plays, whether it looks kind of wild, like he’s just no care, no conscience, but he’s really in total control. The athleticism it takes to do that is off the charts. It really is.”

McCarthy finished 14-of-20 passing for 219 yards and a score, a 24-yard deep ball to a wide-open sophomore tight end Colston Loveland. There were also a few dropped passes, Harbaugh noted. Graduate wideout Cornelius Johnson, who led the team with 86 receiving yards on 3 grabs, had a costly third-down drop, leading Michigan to attempt a field goal. Junior running back Donovan Edwards and Loveland also each saw one fall out of their hands.

“There are a lot of great quarterbacks around the country, and I hear a lot of people talking about how this is one of the best quarterback drafts ever,” Harbaugh said. “Sometimes they say that in September or early October, but I know there are. There are a lot of good ones. There’s nobody we’d rather have than J.J. McCarthy. 

“I haven’t watched all the guys. I’m starting to watch some of the others. But I think play for play, J.J. McCarthy — maybe I’m a little biased, but trying not to be — I think he’s the best one. I really do. Certainly nobody we’d rather have. Just so good. So proud of him. And everybody else, too. Great game.”

Michigan went 4-of-8 on third down in the first three quarters and finished 5-of-10. The Wolverines did punt twice with the starters in and three times overall, tying the most junior Tommy Doman has had to boot it away in a game this season (Bowling Green, UNLV). Michigan’s starters were pulled late in the third quarter with a massive lead again.

“It’s extremely beneficial for my body,” McCarthy noted. “My ankle wasn’t feeling 100 percent, and just being able to rest in that time and doing it week by week, it shows how fast we’re starting and how well our defense is playing. I’ll be fine sitting out the fourth quarter every game if it comes down to it, for sure.”

McCarthy has only attempted 4 fourth-quarter passes all season. The Wolverines have won every game by 24 or more points. Things have come relatively easy, but complacency hasn’t seeped in, McCarthy said.

“This win is in the past, just like last week’s win is in the past, and we’re just focused on the next one and out-doing our last performance,” the Michigan quarterback said. “There are always new ways to get better, and we’re going to get in the film room and find those opportunities to get better.”

Blake Corum ties Mike Hart in record book, Kalel Mullings continues ascent

Early in the second quarter, Michigan senior running back Blake Corum punched in a 1-yard touchdown run on 3rd and goal, marking his 41st career rushing score. That moved him up on Michigan’s all-time list, tying him with position coach Mike Hart for fourth in program history. He recorded 9 carries for 69 yards, ripping off a 40-yard run down the Minnesota sideline to set up his touchdown. Excluding last year’s win over Ohio State in which Corum played hurt for only five snaps, Corum has now scored touchdowns in 17 straight games.

Michigan senior Kalel Mullings has emerged over the last two weeks and continued his ascent with a career-high 48 yards on 8 carries. He picked up two 3rd and shorts, and dashed for 23 yards early in the fourth quarter.

“He’s a special player,” McCarthy said. “If he was at any other team right now, he’d probably be starting, and what I saw out of him today was just the confidence went up tremendously. He’s been working that spin move all the time, and it showed up tonight and looked really nice. That confidence is just going to a-whole-nother level.”

Michigan didn’t allow any sacks and has only given up 3 all season, and the Wolverines had only 3 negative plays on the night. U-M averaged 5.8 yards per carry, amassing 191 total yards.

The Wolverines went with graduate LaDarius Henderson at left tackle and classmate Karsen Barnhart at right tackle for the second straight week, and U-M was able to win the trenches. Barnhart was already starting on the left side, but the Wolverines seem pleased with his move to the right and Henderson entering the primary lineup.

“I’d say I’ve done pretty well,” Henderson said when asked to assess his performances in Michigan’s last two games. “There’s always things to improve on. Sometimes you can grade yourself on execution of the assignment or you can grade yourself on dominance of the assignment. And I feel like a lot of guys in our room want to be dominant in our performance. There’s always things we always feel like we can be better at, even when it looks fine. I’ll say I’ve been doing pretty solid.”

Miscellaneous Michigan football offense notes

• The Wolverines’ 52-point performance was their highest of the season. Their previous best came in. a 45-7 victory at Nebraska one week ago. Michigan has now scored 30 or more points in nine consecutive games, which is the longest streak in program history, edging out an eight-game stretch set in 1976.

• Corum’s 40-yard run was his longest of Big Ten play this season and second-longest of the year.

• McCarthy had multiple rushing touchdowns for the first time this season and third time in his career. He now has 8 career rushing scores.

• Michigan averaged 7.7 yards per play, its second highest mark in a game this season, trailing only the 8.1 yards per play it recorded versus UNLV.

• The last time the Wolverines scored more than 52 points against Minnesota was when they blew out the Gophers 58-0 in 2011.

• Johnson’s 86 receiving yards marked his season high, with the previous best being 82 against UNLV.