Davis Warren has proven J.J. McCarthy and Michigan draft theory is nonsense

Michigan fans were longing for J.J. McCarthy on Saturday after the Wolverines were walloped by Texas at The Big House as the defense of their national title gets off to a dismal start.

Quarterback Davis Warren wilted in the face of an elite opponent as Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers and his teammates profited from a string of first-half turnovers to lead 24-3 at the interval. The game would finish 31-12, with the Wolverines looking a far cry from the team that went 15-0 last season en route to the national championship.

Michigan (1-1) lost numerous key pieces over the offseason, notably head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has taken charge of the Los Angeles Chargers, and QB McCarthy – the No. 10 overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings. A garbage-time 31-yard touchdown pass to Semaj Morgan added some respectability to the scoreboard, but McCarthy's former backup Warren finished with just 203 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Warren and head coach Sherrone Moore came in for huge criticism from fans after the program's first defeat since 2022, some of whom demanded an apology for McCarthy. Throughout the team's run to College Football Playoff glory and the NFL Draft process, questions were raised about McCarthy's ability and theories emerged that he was merely a game manager playing at the heart of a rock-solid scheme with gifted players in the skill positions and the trenches.

The outcome of Saturday's game made a mockery of that notion. Michigan could not get their brand of hard-nosed football up and running on their own turf until the game was already over, something that never happened in the final two seasons of McCarthy's collegiate career.

McCarthy will have to wait until next year to showcase his skills at the pro level after suffering a season-ending knee injury in preseason action. But many fans wished he was still wearing the maize and blue on Saturday.

One fan wrote on X: "People say they miss Jim Harbaugh, but today I miss J.J. McCarthy. I was under the impression that Michigan was recruiting well. But if you’re not regularly recruiting and developing QBs, you get games like today. Definitely hope there’s an answer on this team."

Another added: "Texas is that great. Michigan going nowhere this year. Easy prediction. And a lot of people owe J.J. McCarthy an apology." A third added: "Michigan is Iowa minus the killer punt game. I owe J.J. McCarthy an apology. I guess he was that good."

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Moore was proud of his team's fight, despite the humbling scoreline. He said: “We haven’t lost here in a while. We don’t like losing. We didn’t lose at all last year, we lost once [two years ago], twice the year before. For us, you never want to lose, so you’re never thinking about the loss. But for them and for us, I just think about them, how they feel. And what are we going to do to get better? That’s all we’re worried about right now.

“It’s going to take everything we can in all three phases to get better in every little piece. My message to them is, 'We’ve got to do it together'. You can’t finger-point. You find out who you are as a team when adversity strikes, and to watch our guys at the end fight, the offense fight to go down and score, they easily could have just kicked it in."