Wolverine Digest

Michigan Football: JJ McCarthy's advice to Davis Warren ahead of Ohio State game

After going 3-0 in his Wolverine career against the Buckeyes, J.J. McCarthy passes some wisdom down to U-M starting quarterback Davis Warren...

Matt Lounsberry

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy knew nothing but success against Ohio State during his three-year career in Ann Arbor.

The rivalry was personal for the national champion and three-time Big Ten champion quarterback, who was highly interested in playing for the Scarlet and Gray but was spurned by OSU head coach Ryan Day, who hand-picked Kyle McCord over McCarthy in the 2021 recruiting class.

The rest is history.

McCarthy was a perfect 3-0 in his career against the Buckeyes, including a 2-0 mark as the Wolverines' starting quarterback. Meanwhile, McCord was run out of Columbus via the transfer portal following his lone start against the Wolverines — last year's 30-24 victory for the Maize and Blue.

With his days playing in 'The Game' now behind him, McCarthy passed on some sage advice for current Michigan starting quarterback Davis Warren during a recent appearance on 'The L.A.B.' podcast with Jake Butt.

The first part of McCarthy's advice was about handling the nervous energy of playing in such an important game.

"This is coming from me...Michigan-Ohio State, that was my entire life. So, being out there that first drive you saw a little bit of that," McCarthy said, while indicating shaky, nervous hands. "But, you saw the calmness in my eyes though, and that's the thing.

"I'm going to tell him, your body, everything inside of you, is going to want to scream, but if you just tell yourself...that it's okay, it's normal, I get it, I'm human, I'm a little excited, I'm a little nervous, it's a big game, you'll see soon after that that's going to fade away. You're going to get back to the mindset of, 'What's my job on this play?' And that's going to give you the best success, kid."

That led to McCarthy's second piece of advice, which involved focusing on execution and controlling the controllables.

"The more you get wrapped up in the bells ringing on third down, and [Ohio State defensive end] Jack Sawyer trying to get in your head and [fellow OSU edge rusher] J.T. [Tuimoloau] trying to give you some mean look — the more that comes into play, the less you're focused on your task at hand for that play, which is ultimately going to be the best success for the football team."

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