92 days until Michigan football: J.J. McCarthy’s play-action success in 2023

There are 92 days until the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field in the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State. Each day until then, we’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.

Today’s countdown to kickoff article will focus on Michigan’s play-action passing game, which was very effective the last two seasons with J.J. McCarthy — who threw for 920 yards using the concept last year — behind center. McCarthy was the No. 10 overall pick to the Minnesota Vikings in this past spring’s NFL Draft.

McCarthy ranked sixth in the country by averaging 11.4 yards per attempt on play-action throws in 2023 (minimum 305 dropbacks on the season), behind LSU’s Jayden Daniels (12.9), Arkansas State’s Jaylen Raynor (12.3), SMU’s Preston Stone (12.3), Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (11.7) and Iowa State’s Rocco Becht (11.6).

The Michigan signal-caller’s 75.3 completion percentage on those passes checked in fifth in the nation. Six of McCarthy’s 22 touchdowns came on play-action throws.

McCarthy was also effective as a play-action passer the season before — even more so, actually — averaging 13.9 yards per attempt to lead the nation. He registered 1.8 yards per pass more than the second-best quarterback at 12.1.

Michigan’s run game was obviously a huge piece of why the Wolverines can have success after faking a handoff. Running back Blake Corum led the way in that regard and credited then-offensive coordinator and now head coach Sherrone Moore for pushing the right buttons.

“It’s great how Coach Moore mixes everything up,” Corum said last September. “With the play fake, we try to grab the defense. Just throw shots so the defense backs up, run the ball once they back up. Just messing with their minds.”

Quarterbacks coach Kirk Campbell, who added offensive coordinator duties after Moore was promoted to head coach, explained why Michigan was confident in its play-action game.

“There is a conscious effort to make sure that our play-action game marries our run game,” Campbell said. “We’ve been doing various studies throughout the season — what are various NFL teams [doing]? There are some good ones locally that we know about, that have been good at the play-action game. Studying them, going back to teams in 2013 — whatever it is, making sure we have the best play-action game that marries our run game.”

Campbell also believes that Michigan’s pro-style offense prepares quarterbacks (and all offensive players) for the NFL.

“I don’t think there’s a better offense in the country that can prepare you to play on Sundays,” Campbell said when asked his recruiting approach. “We’re under center, we’re running play-action, we’re running drop back game, we’re running empty. We do everything. I think that will speak for itself when we net results. Plus, we’re at the University of Michigan. There’s no better place to play.”

Michigan football countdown to kickoff

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