Michigan players react to J.J. McCarthy’s performance against Hawai’i

Both in Michigan Stadium and across social media, the reaction to quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s lights out performance against the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors was overwhelmingly positive.

In the post game press conference, those who shared the field with him Saturday night echoed that sentiment, heaping praise upon their newfound starting quarterback.

“He was prepared, ready to go, everything we talked about,” wide receiver Ronnie Bell said. “He was rolling.”

“He controlled the game,” Blake Corum said, piggy backing off of Bell. “He controlled the entire game, he was confident everything he does in practice he transferred over here to Main Street. I expected nothing less.”

On the defensive side of the ball, McCarthy’s performance was noticed as well.

“It’s kinda like we’re talking, and the crowd erupts and we go like ‘oh’, and then we see what happened and we’re like ‘okay’.” edge rusher Braiden McGregor said.

While much of the night’s attention focused on McCarthy, there was of course another side of the QB competition — last year’s starter Cade McNamara.

While McNamara ultimately came up short after a pair of disappointing performances this and last week, Bell spoke about lifting up his captain in and after the games.

“Yeah I talked to him,” Bell said. “Just some unlucky things, you know what I mean? I was proud of him on the way he kind of carried it, cause like a couple things he couldn’t really control so the way he just took it on the chin. He was ready, he would’ve gone right back in, ready to do whatever we were gonna do. So I think he handled it well.”

When push came to shove however, the night undoubtedly belonged to J.J. McCarthy, and it’s clear he has the confidence of both head coach Jim Harbaugh and the locker room as a whole.