Latest / Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning / JJ McCarthy On His Surprising Past, Michigan vs. Everybody, Ohio State Week Hype

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JJ McCarthy On His Surprising Past, Michigan vs. Everybody, Ohio State Week Hype · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  All right, this is a very special bonus episode of the Buckeyes Tomorrow Morning
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  Podcast. We're going to be dropping a few of these in your feed all
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  week long, So if you were not subscribed to the buck Eyes Tomorrow Morning
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  podcast, make sure you subscribe to that. I'm sure you're also subscribe to
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  the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. Tony Gerba and I going to be doing some bonus
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  shows there as well to help get you through what is going to be I'm
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  sure feel like a very very long week for Buckeye fans and Wolverine fans,
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  counting the days, counting the hours, counting the minutes to kick off at
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  noon on Saturday. Today, we're gonna be hearing directly from Michigan quarterback JJ
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  McCarthy. He was interviewed on Monday, talked about a whole bunch of different
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  subjects that's interesting answers. I'm gonna let you hear a bunch of those,
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  not everything, but just sort of the most interesting of the stuff that he
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  sort of talked about. Some of these are short, some of these are
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  a little longer. Everyone kind of has their own interview style, and McCarthy
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  is not a real particularly long talker. For the most part, So let's
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  just dive right into it. What does this game mean to JJ McCarthy.
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  He is not an Ohio native, he is not a Michigan native, so
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  you know, growing up, what did this game mean to him? You
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  know, just I feel like growing up in the Midwest and being around Big
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  ten football, it's always something that you know, Thanksgiving weekend you always tuned
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  into. It was always the game of the week. So just being a
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  part of that as you know a young in and then you know growing up
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  being a fan of both teams and you know, just always wanted to be
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  a part of this. That's probably the biggest thing I'd say. All right,
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  here is confession time for JJ McCarthy. He was asked, Okay,
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  when you were watching this game as a kid, which team are you rooting
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  for? I grew up first being Ohio State fan. I won't lie I
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  did, but you know, God had different plans for me, and you
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  know, showed me the way, and I'm very blessed and appreciative to being
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  here, that's for damn sure. McCarthy's big moment on the national stage came
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  last year when Michigan beat Ohio State in Columbus. But the year before that
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  he was on the team in Michigan and played a little bit, and he
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  played decent amount that season, played a little bit in that Ohio State game.
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  What does McCarthy remember about that game in twenty twenty one. It's kind
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  of like the meme. It was cinema, It really was. It was
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  just a movie with the snow falling, with the just crowd felt like the
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  crowd. It was really one heartbeat that was messed with the team and you
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  know, just everything about it was just magical. And I don't expect anything
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  less this weekend. This is the time of year when college football coaches and
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  players, who were always pretty guarded about sharing information about their health, they
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  get a little more guarded. So McCarthy was asked he's been kind of banged
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  up, and he's acknowledged he's been banged up the last few weeks. He
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  was asked for an update on his health the week of the Ohio s Date
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  game. Doing really good. Yeah, last week was a little bit rough,
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  but you know, I'm doing fantastic right now. Treatment has been great
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  and h yeah, we'll be ready to go. Michigan has kept winning every
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  week after week after week. But McCarthy has just seemed a little bit off
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  of his game the last few weeks. Is there anything he can put his
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  finger on in terms of what might have caused that? You know, just
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  getting more into a rhythm. You know, I feel like that's going to
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  be great. Just you know, with the touchdowns and all that, I
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  feel like I've just been saving them up. So you know, we're scoring,
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  we're winning, and that's all I care about. McCarthy got a chance
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  to stand out as the Michigan's quarterback and making some very big plays last year
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  in Columbus. Blake Krum did not get that chance. He played a little
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  bit in twenty twenty one when he was a backup. In twenty twenty two,
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  he was banged up, got a couple carries at the very beginning of
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  the game and pretty quickly figured out no, he could not go after suffering
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  knee injury against Illinois. So what does he bring when he can play for
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  the Wolverines on Saturday against Ohio State. You know, Blake in and of
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  itself is just you know, tremendous athlete, tremendous football player, but you
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  know, adding that extra motivation to this game, and you know just who
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  he is. It's going to be, it's gonna be different. Blake out
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  there. I'm already knowing it, so you know, I'm just excited to
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  see and watch him. Let's see how diplomatically we can put this. There
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  has been a lot of conversation recently about a number of several recent Michigan teams
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  and why they were so successful when previous Michigan teams perhaps had not been as
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  successful. Hopefully that was diplomatic enough for you. I think we all can
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  read between the lines there. What does the Michigan team think about the conversation
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  around their success in twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two and whether it was
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  tainted. You know, nobody sees the work we put in. I really
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  do believe we worked the hardest in the entire country, each and every player,
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  each and every coach. And you know, it's so easy to look
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  at headlines, so easy to you know, follow a narrative, but when
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  you're in here and you see what's going on, you wouldn't think for a
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  second that it's anything other than hard work, dedication, and execution. McCarthy
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  put up some big yardage numbers last year against Ohio State and threw a couple
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  long touchdowns against the Buckeyes in the Wolverines win in the Horseshoe. How much
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  just having that game under his belt, having played a game in this rivalry
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  help him as he prepares for this year's game huge. I think experience is
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  one of the greatest edges you can have as a player, And just going
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  into last year, that first drive, just all those emotions that were creeping
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  in it was something I've never felt before. So now it's predictable, therefore
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  manageable, and I'll know how to, you know, handle my emotions and
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  get them down to where they need to be. And yeah, just say
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  it does a lot for me, that's for sure. As we mentioned,
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  McCarthy had a very big game against the Buckeyes last year. This year's Ohio
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  State defense a very different thing from last year's Ohio State defense. So what
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  in JJ McCarthy's eyes is the difference in this year's Buckeye defense. They definitely
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  keep a lot more in front of them. They try to make you earn
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  it each and every drive. And I love that because that's what our defense
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  does too. So we've seen it all year and went against it all year,
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  so, but they are a great defense, athletes all over the board,
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  and it's gonna be it's gonna be a fun one. JJ mcarth These
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  numbers have tailed off a little bit the last couple of weeks, and there
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  are plenty of theories. Everyone has their own theory as to what's caused it.
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  Is it injury, is it just better competition? Is it the lack
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  of Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines. Is it the lack of Connor Stallions on
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  the sidelines. Is it Sharon More? Having to multitask lots of possible explanations.
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  What does JJ McCarthy think it is? You know, I think each
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  and every game is unique and different, and I feel like these, you
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  know, past couple of games where coach Harba hasn't been there have been extremely
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  unique. So just getting on the same page with Coach Moore, making sure
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  that there's no confusion throughout the week with the game plan and what he expects
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  of me, and just you know, going out there and doing the best
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  I can every single play, no matter what's called, and just doing my
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  job at the end of the day. One of the things that we anticipated
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  would be a huge storyline this week that has really not gotten talked about all
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  that much, other than the fact that we're talking about the fact that we
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  aren't talking about it as much as we thought we might is JJ McCarthy andle
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  McCord. Those two were linked in recruiting, both very highly ranked quarterbacks in
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  the class of twenty twenty one. Both were interested in going to Ohio State.
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  Ryan Day pointed at Kyle McCord and said, you're the guy. JJ
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  McCarthy ended up going to Michigan. That has worked out just fine for him
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  as well. But as those guys were sort of on the quarterback circuit going
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  through the recruiting in the camps and all that stuff when they were in high
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  school, what is JJ McCarthy's relationship with Kyle McCord like? And you're going
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  to hear a quick follow up from reporter and McCarthy you'll share a little more
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  information. H Kyle's my guy, you know, ever since growing up and
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  going to all these satellite camps and all these rivals two four seven and all
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  that, we were always there together and we just kind of meshed, you
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  know, had two like personalities and just it's gonna be really cool It's gonna
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  be really surreal to see him out there in this environment, this game and
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  just going out there and wish him, you know, safety and make sure
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  he stays healthy. But he's going to give our defense a little bit of
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  a you know, some trouble at times, and we got to respond and
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  be able to, you know, attack him in any way possible. How
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  much have you interacted with him during during the season. I haven't really interacted
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  with him much. Don't really interact with any other quarterbacks during the season,
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  but yeah, I might chewme with text this week and just see how he's
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  doing. Check in. We mentioned earlier that JJ McCarthy has been banged up.
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  He's had kind of an ankle thing he's been dealing with it sounds like,
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  and that has meant that his running ability has been limited the last couple
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  of weeks. He had only two carries for negative seven yards against Maryland.
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  That is very much not what he typically does with the football in his hands
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  in the open field. So what is JJ McCarthy expecting in terms of is
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  he going to be asked to run this weekend against the buck Eyes. You
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  know, who knows what coach Moore wants and expects out of me. But
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  I would just predict that, you know, we're gonna do anything and everything
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  to win this football game, whether it's me running the ball or just throwing
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  the ball. So I feel like things will arise just from scrambling and taken
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  off. But you know, no matter what he asked me, I'm just
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  going to go out there and execute. Saturday's game will be the sixth that
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  Jim Harbaugh has not coached this year for Michigan. He has had a fifty
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  percent off. With Black Friday coming up, Jim Harbaugh has gotten a fifty
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  percent off deal by twelve games, only have to coach six three game suspension
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  at the beginning of the season, three game suspension at the end of the
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  season. So the Wolverines have been without their head coach a lot this season,
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  especially on game days. But is this week to jj McCarthy, is
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  this week different from the previous five because well, it's Ohio State, I
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  would say so, just like the whole process and throughout the day of just
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  not having him there, It's just it was different at first and just now
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  with that experience and knowing how it works and how the coaches react to certain
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  things and how they go about coaching the game. It's going to be you
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  know, tremendous for us this Saturday because it's one of the bigger games.
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  Michigan typically has one of, if not the best offensive lines in the nation.
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  This year, maybe not so much. There has been some shuffling along
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  the offensive line the last couple of weeks as they sort of try to figure
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  out those tackle spots, had some injuries, had some tackles not being able
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  to block defensive ends, which is rather significantly a problem. So how does
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  JJ McCarthy feel about the cohesion of the line as they've had to sort of
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  shuffle guys around a little bit the last couple of weeks. Cohesive is all
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  get out. You know, those guys are always on the same page.
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  You know, they love each other. They you know, do whatever they
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  can to just be you know, one tight unit and go out there every
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  single play to you know, dominate the man in front of them, protect
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  me, protect the backs. And you know, it doesn't matter who's in
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  there, there are always just one cohesive unit that plays really well. This
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  is the kind of game that draws the attention of just about everyone, and
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  they're going to be some very famous Michigan alumni in attendance, Charles Woodson,
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  Desmond Howard. They're both part of pregame shows that will be at in ann
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  Arbor for this game. McCarthy has talked in the past about the fact that
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  he texts with Tom Brady every once in a while, So is he hearing
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  from those guys this week? Is he hearing from other big Michigan alumni about
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  this game and boy, you need to win this game. Nah, they're
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  not because they know exactly what our mindset is. They know what this game
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  means to us, just like it was the same way for them. And
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  you know, they just know that this is a team that's focused on getting
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  better every single day and doing all the right things. So the text might
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  come, you know, the night before the game where it's just a little
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  pump up or something like that, get our minds right, But you know,
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  they know exactly what we're about and they trust us, that's for sure.
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  The Michigan Versus Everybody's slogan has gotten a workout recently, like Cora moarrey
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  Michigan versus Everybody's shirt to his interviews, but that's sort of been a rallying
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  cry for the Wolverines this fall, especially as the Jim Harbaugh thing has sort
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  of spread and the Connor Stallions thing has sort of spread. So what does
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  Michigan Versus Everybody mean? To JJ McCarthy. It really does feel like that,
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  really does, you know? I feel like it's a blessing in disguise
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  because it's brought us closer as a unit, brought us closer as an organization,
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  as an entire Michigan family. You know, just all the Michigan faithful
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  reaching out and showing their support, it just means everything to us, and
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  we are so greatly appreciative of it. And you know, it means a
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  lot that you know, we have all the Michigan alumni have in our back
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  end. It just gives us more motivation to get out here every single day
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  and do our best for those guys, but most importantly for ourselves. There
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  is a lot on the line this weekend in ann Arbor. Buck Guys and
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  Wolverines are always playing for bragging rights for the next twelve months. This game
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  also comes with the Big Ten East Championship a shot at IOWA, and the
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  Big Ten Championship a shot at continuing to be in the top four of the
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  college football playoff standings, and a whole lot more. But on a bigger
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  picture scale, how big is this game in terms of defining the narrative around
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  the Michigan program. Yeah, I would say every single year it's always like
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  that. This game is one of the defining moments for a season. You
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  know, big ten East title on the line, and you know, it
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  defies the future of the program. So we're just gonna try our best to
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  keep it simple, focus on day to day wins, and you know,
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  do our best within each snap when the game comes. When you're playing in
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  a game with all the stuff going on and all the storylines and the top
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  three teams and the history of the rivalry and Michigan just won their thousandth game
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  and the Jim Harbaugh thing and all everything going on right now, how hard
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  is it for JJ McCarthy and his teammates to avoid getting caught up in all
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  of the hype. No, I wouldn't say so, just because we're so
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  ingrained to just you know, stay in the present moment and really focus on
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  the task at hand and the day at hand. So you know, that
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  just goes to credit, you know, Coach Harball and Coach Herb and just
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  the rest of the staff keeping us, you know, in this mindset of
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  you know, focusing on the daily victories. It's almost habitual. Now.
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  Well, there has been a lot of inkspilled and a lot of words spoken
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  about the Michigan program over the last six to twelve months. Couple separate NCAA
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  slash Big Ten scandals going on, what bothers JJ McCarthy the most about what's
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  getting said about that Michigan program right now. It's just like, you know,
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  knowing how much blood, sweat and tears we put into this season and
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  all the hours that we put in just being you know, deluded by you
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  know, a scandal and all that. It's it's unfortunate, but it's out
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  of our control and we only focus on what we can control and try to
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  get better every single day and not worry about that stuff. But it's just
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  unfortunate that you know, people don't think we put in the work to get
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  to where we are. Well, that will do it for this episode.
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