J.J. McCarthy sticks it to Sam Darnold after Michigan's win over Southern Cal

The Vikings quarterbacks alma maters faced off in a Big Ten matchup Saturday.

Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy (9) and Sam Darnold (14) warm up during practice at Vikings training camp in Eagan, Minn, on Aug. 2, 2024. / Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images

While the quarterback's job is to throw the ball, Vikings rookie J.J. McCarthy was loving his alma mater Michigan's run-heavy approach Saturday. And he used it as an opportunity to troll a teammate.

McCarthy's Wolverines, the 18th-ranked team in the country, ran the ball 45 times for 291 yards and three scores in a 27-24 victory over No. 11 Southern Cal, quarterback Sam Darnold's alma mater.

The heavy rushing attack, combined with the fact the Wolverines attempted just 12 passes and had just 32 passing yards, prompted a lot of jokes on social media. Among them was a meme of a running play from the College Football 25 video game with the play renamed to "Run Through a Mother*****r's Face." McCarthy must've gotten a kick out of the meme, and used it as a bragging rights opportunity.

McCarthy posted the meme to his Instagram story, tagging Darnold with "Go Blue" written across the post. Adding some salt in the wound is the fact that the Trojans hadn't lost coming into the game.

JJ McCarthy trolling Sam Darnold on Instagram after Michigans win over USC today 🤣 pic.twitter.com/cufEpvejNZ

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) September 22, 2024

Darnold threw for 7,229 yards, 57 touchdowns and 22 interceptions while completing 65% of his passes across two seasons at Southern Cal in 2016-17. Darnold was a college phenom, which eventually culminated with him being selected No. 3 overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 draft.

McCarthy, meanwhile, threw for 6,226 yards, 49 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 68% of his passes across three seasons at Michigan from 2021-23. He led the Wolverines to a national championship in 2023, throwing for 2,991 yards, 22 touchdowns and just four picks while completing 72% of his passes. McCarthy became the highest-drafted quarterback in Vikings history when Minnesota traded up to select him with the No. 10 overall pick in this year's draft.