Four Current or Former Michigan Quarterbacks Started on Saturday
Even in the portal era, this has to be a record. Four current or former Michigan quarterbacks started on Saturday. (With, um, mixed results.)
JJ McCarthy started for Michigan and led his team to a 31-7 victory over Rutgers. He was 15-of-21 passing for 214 yards and 1 TD.
Joe Milton started for Tennessee and led his team to a 45-14 win over UTSA. He was 18-of-31 passing for 209 yards and two TDs. It was a decent outing a week after he had a horrible game in a loss to Florida.
Cade McNamara started for Iowa and his team lost to Penn State, 31-0. It did not go well for Cade. He was 5-of-14 for 42 yards. No TDs and no picks.
Alan Bowman started for Oklahoma State and his team lost to Iowa State, 34-27. It was his first start for OK State after splitting snaps the first three games and his first start for anyone since a 2020 game when he was at Texas Tech. He was 23-of-48 passing for 278 yards, two TDs and two picks.
Cade's struggles might make teams hesitant to raid our QB room in the future, but we should appreciate the moment for the historic nature. And if anyone can find another example of more than four quarterbacks who all played at the same school starting on the same day, let's hear it.
September 24th, 2023 at 4:57 PM ^
I think Ohio State had quite a few starting this year as well. I don’t remember who or where though. Still pretty cool to see talent evaluation is bearing out that these guys are finding the field other places when it’s clear they won’t win the job here.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:01 PM ^
Quinn Ewers and who else?
September 24th, 2023 at 5:17 PM ^
Did Quinn Ewers ever throw a pass for the Bucks, even in mop up? I don't think so. But I guess he still counts.
Also glad he took the Bucks NIL money and gave them a big fucking donut in return.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
I believe Ewers actively shut down even playing backup at OSU; that's why McCord got those snaps in 2021. He showed up at OSU, collected something over half a mil in NIL money, and then bolted for Texas. Just hilarious in the grifting.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
Can’t blame him one bit. And honestly he deserves a place on the Charlie Weis List: coaches (and now players!) who extracted ridiculously large amounts of money from teams I don’t like, without providing commensurate value.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:54 PM ^
What's the grift? He had a brand before even enrolling at OSU.
September 24th, 2023 at 9:12 PM ^
Ewers threw one pass at OSU. Late in their 100 point blowout of MSU in 2021 (Saturday before 42-27)
September 25th, 2023 at 12:22 PM ^
I still smile when I remember that Ewers played them for a free few mil. Wish they'd be burned like that closer to the amount they deserve.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:10 PM ^
Lou Holtz said they weren’t tougher
September 24th, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
Lous not wrong.
September 25th, 2023 at 6:38 AM ^
ND shredded OSU's D-line for much of the second half with its running game or was I watching the wrong game.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:17 PM ^
I think it's just McCord and Ewers for current and former OSU QBs to play this season. Jack Miller transferred to Florida but he doesn't play.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
anOSU has a guy starting in the NFL today.
He's 4-10 for 40 yds through 2 qtrs. With an INT.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Thank you Bears. For rendering yourselves irrelevant for 5-7 yrs with that pick.
Fuktards. Mike Morris' sister coulda been a UFA and been a better baller for you.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:32 PM ^
You weren't kidding. OMG. Just started watching him. Damn. Whatever happened to the bravado.
September 24th, 2023 at 8:10 PM ^
Why bring Mike Morris's sister into it? What a bizarre comment.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:14 PM ^
Cade's struggles are hardly an indictment to our QB room. Brian Ferentz could have Caleb Williams turn in a 8/17 96yds 1int statline.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:36 PM ^
Yeah, I contend that you could make a Heisman contender out of Alex Orji in OSU's offense and a UDFA out of Caleb Williams or Drake May in Iowa's offense.
September 24th, 2023 at 8:18 PM ^
I contend that you could make a Heisman contender out of Alex Orji in OSU's offense
What? Tell me you don't mean that. Having wide open receivers streaking down the field on the regular is a luxury, but you still need to get an accurate pass to guy running a 4.3. That's actually kinda hard to do. It's why you can have a rocket arm like Shane Morris or Joe Milton and fail as a quarterback: accuracy issues. That and the ability to read coverages are even more important in the offense OSU runs.
September 25th, 2023 at 12:52 AM ^
I wouldn’t quit label Milton as a fail or put him in the Shane Morris category. He went 248 attempts without an int and has 18 tds and 1 int over the last two years. ~63% completion rate with a sizable number of receiver drops this year.
September 25th, 2023 at 1:09 AM ^
He's better now. But failed in sense that he got benched despite being vastly more talented than McNamara. Just look at McCarthy's throws compared to both predecessors. Night and day in terms of accuracy.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:41 PM ^
I only watched a few plays, but it didn't look like Cade had time to throw to receivers that were open. I don't recall reading anything looking like an endorsement of Iowa's offensive line or receiving corps.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:57 PM ^
Iowa also lost their best tight end for the season so the offense will struggle even more.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:08 PM ^
He didn’t have time, but god bless him he tried to make time even so.
Usually, if you know that your OL is going to be turned into hamburger in a game, you coach your QB to throw it quickly. Like REALLY quickly. Like “ball is out in 1.8 seconds” quickly.
If that sounds like a recipe for a lot of TE and RB receptions…you’re correct. For the vast vast vast majority of teams, that’s exactly what they’d do.
Except that isn’t what Cade is doing. He’s holding the ball and holding the ball and hoping against hope that the home run play gets open.
My theory is that Cade is pressing. Maybe he’s putting the pressure on himself to justify Iowa’s NIL deal. Maybe he’s still “competing” with McCarthy, trying to “prove” that he’s a star QB. Maybe it’s as simple as “trying to score 4 TDs in one play” kind of hero-ball. I don’t know. All I know is that he’s holding the ball and hurting the offense.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:18 PM ^
My theory is that Cade is pressing. Maybe he’s putting the pressure on himself to justify Iowa’s NIL deal. Maybe he’s still “competing” with McCarthy, trying to “prove” that he’s a star QB. Maybe it’s as simple as “trying to score 4 TDs in one play” kind of hero-ball. I don’t know. All I know is that he’s holding the ball and hurting the offense.
They touched on this at the beginning of the broadcast. Brian Ferentz’s message to cade has been ‘Don’t press. Don’t try to do too much. You don’t have to compete against JJ or the game manager perception.’
September 24th, 2023 at 9:27 PM ^
I guess Cade ghosted that message too.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
No, he couldn’t. Petras wasn’t very talented. McNamara isn’t, either. Ferentz may not be even a good coach, but he’s not bad enough to hold back someone who’s actually talented.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:39 PM ^
Iowa fans are missing Nate Stanley and already saying that cade is worse than Petras. Some are saying maybe Petras was all that bad.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:56 PM ^
Brian Ferentz couldn't turn Caleb Williams into anything because no good QB would agree to play for him.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:34 PM ^
Happy for Milton that he bounced back from the Florida game. UTSA isn't a good team but Milton needed a good game and he put one together.
Bowman looked fine against Iowa St in the bit I saw, but okie st. just doesn't have many playmakers and it showed.
Also, watching that PSU game I don't put that much of the loss on the QB. They just don't have any weapons or a coherent offensive line or play calling. Case in point - Cade had the longest run of the day for Iowa (18 yards) and Erick All was the only guy to catch more than 1 pass. That's just atrocious from a talent perspective.
Anyway, glad UM has McCarthy and it is crazy that UM has 4 P5 QBs out there.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:08 PM ^
It’s almost unfathomable that a D1 offense can have less than 100 yds. I mean how the hell is that possible? Penn states a good team, but their D isn’t 2021 Georgia for crying out loud.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:37 PM ^
I assume this will be the norm in the age of NIL and the portal. I'm glad that they all have starting positions.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:54 PM ^
What are you even talking about? Did you actually watch the Tennessee-Florida game or are you guessing or just throwing shit against the wall?
Milton easily had the best night last week. He was 20-37 for 287 yards 2 tds and 1 int. The int was his first in 248 attempts. He got hit by a 430 lb DT as he released the pick. He played a solid game and had very little help from his receivers and like 2020 they started behind the chains and was in & long situations for 3 quarters.
But, if 20-37 for 287, 2 tds and 1 int... in the swamp, at night is horrible then I don't know what adjective you'd use to describe the other M-affiliated qb's last weekend.
- JJ was 8-13 for 143, 2 tds and 3 ints at home against Bowling Green
- cade was 9-19 for 103 yards, 2 tds and 2 ints against Western
For the Season:
JJ: 71-89 (79.8%) 930 yards, 8 tds and 3 ints
Joe Milton: 80-128 (62.5%) 925 yards, 8 tds and 1 int
cade: 43-85 (50.6%) 459 yards, 4 tds and 3 ints
Bowman: 23-48 (47.9%) 278 yards 2 tds and 2 ints
September 24th, 2023 at 6:02 PM ^
The difference in attempts between JJ and Milton in very interesting. Clearly two different philosophies yet very similar net results (aside from completion percentage).
September 24th, 2023 at 6:04 PM ^
I’m still mystified that anyone thought Michigan should’ve gone with McNamara over McCarthy.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:31 PM ^
This is my honest and candid take. I think that people had a soft spot for the scrappy, gritty, high iq quarterback who took over for the big, raw Cam Newton 2.0 Joe Milton.
They felt like they found their guy after Rutgers. The idea of cade was much greater than cade. The idea of cade turned a 2 win team into a B1G champion. People pinned the team success on this scrappy, gritty, high iq kid.
the reality is that cade is a ~50% passer who was along for the ride. He’s the Franklin Pierce of quarterbacks and Mgoboard was like his Washington Irving
September 24th, 2023 at 8:41 PM ^
Yeah, it dates back to the competition with Milton, and backtracking from that to Brady vs. Henson. J.J. slotted in neatly as the Milton/Henson role to McNamara's Brady as a foil. Thinking of all five quarterbacks this way mischaracterizes them all, but whatever.
September 25th, 2023 at 12:25 PM ^
I'd pose the same question to you- have you actually watched Milton at Tennessee? He's still not a good QB, he's running a kindergarten level offense with NFL level surrounding talent.
September 25th, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
I guess you know more than Tennessee writers and their take on the Florida game. NFL talent? HA.
On the Florida game and the offensive line:
Addressing Joe Milton III performance
Joe Milton III put together arguably Tennessee's best offensive drive of the season to that point on the Vols' opening possession.
In two minutes, Milton connected with Squirrel White down the sideline on a 42-yard gain and hit Ramel Keyton for an 11-yard touchdown on the next play to give Tennessee a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Vols couldn't replicate that success the rest of the way, mostly because of their offensive line struggles, which rarely allowed Milton to get passes off or put drives 10 or more yards back with pre-snap penalties.
Despite that, Milton was adequate, finishing 20-of-34 passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns, including a 55-yard score to Bru McCoy late. His lone interception was more of a result of being hit as he released the ball instead of bad decision making.
From 247: The offensive line had 8 pre snap penalties:
The opening score was Tennessee's only points in the first half and one of just two scores for the game. UT's offense struggled mightily because of penalties, as the unit was responsible for eight of the 10 penalties the Vols were whistled for in the contest.
“Extremely disappointing start to the football game," Vols coach Josh Heupel said. “Eleven guys operating and doing their job at a really high level. Pre-snap penalties killed us. We had a busted protection, turnover. Momentum’s real if you allow it to be real. You know what I mean? It’s your job, our job as a competitor to reset and go play the next play. Efficiency in the pass game — all of it. First half, man, you guys saw it. It wasn’t very good football.
Interior blocking was horrendous
In addition to numerous false start penalties, the Vols’ interior blocking was terrible. They couldn’t run the ball in the first half, and Milton’s first interception with UT came because he was hit as he threw from both sides. For the first time all year, Cooper Mays was missed. Three penalties by Ollie Lane and multiple missed blocks by everybody on the inside proved costly.
September 25th, 2023 at 3:36 PM ^
All I have is that Squirrel White is an awesome name.
September 24th, 2023 at 5:55 PM ^
It has to be a record and even in the age of the transfer portal, I doubt it will ever be broken. The Covid year helped make this possible, but four? That’s crazy.
There’s a lot of good football being played across the college landscape and from a pure entertainment perspective, I would love to see Michigan play Washington. Hopefully it happens in the playoffs, but I’m guessing they’ll drop at least one game to USC or Oregon, but who knows.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:12 PM ^
I don’t know if I wanna play Oregon or Washington, at least right now. Lanning has Oregon playing with a mean streak and tons of speed, while Washington’s O is about as finely tuned as I’ve saw in awhile. Not saying we’d lose but we have some work to do before I want that to happen.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:00 PM ^
While I am unaware of another former UM quarterback starting yesterday, it was interesting to see that Dante Moore started for UCLA as a freshman.
He might best be considered an almost, former University of Oregon qb.
September 24th, 2023 at 6:52 PM ^
Not just started. Started at Power Five schools.
I've noted this elsewhere. None other than Sparty has a Power Five former QB (Thorne) and a Group of Five former QB (Lombardi).
September 24th, 2023 at 7:57 PM ^
Michigan doesn’t need a championship QB to win championships. They usually grind it out with lines and RBs. The potential JJ has will add a championship QB to an already stacked team. Could be amazing - he just needs to shake the inconsistency but he is much better than Cade and I think Cade knew it from day 1 - probably had one look at his arm talent and saw the writing on the wall. Shocks me he didn’t understand the move but bias is a thing.
September 24th, 2023 at 8:51 PM ^
One other former Michigan quarterback played yesterday for an undefeated Power Five school, but didn't start. He also no longer plays quarterback, but tight end Dan Villari had one reception for 11 yards for 4-0 Syracuse.
September 24th, 2023 at 9:11 PM ^
Does this mean Harbaugh is back to being considered the QB whisperer?
September 24th, 2023 at 9:24 PM ^
What is crazy is that since Jim took over, he has had 8 QBs transfer. Only two did not transfer to a Power 5 school, and those two were the highest rated QBs of the transfers out of High School (Morris and McCaffrey).
Speight-UCLA
Peters-Illinois
Milton-Tennessee
Vilari-Syracuse
McNamera-Iowa
Bowman-Okie St
Morris-CMU
McCaffrey-Northern Colorado
September 24th, 2023 at 9:27 PM ^
JT Daniels, Kedon Slovis, Jaxon Dart, and Caleb Williams. Technically Williams came from elsewhere. But in 2022 JT started for WVU, Kedon started for Pitt, Jaxon started at Ole Miss and Williams started for USC.
The year before might have been Kedon, JT, Jack Spears, and Jaxon at USC. I’m not sure Spears started on a day that Jaxon did.
Texas, off the top of my head, would have Ewers, Thompson, and Hudson Card potentially.
Bama when Hurts transferred? Hurts, Tua, Blake Barnett started at USF. That might be it for them.
September 24th, 2023 at 9:41 PM ^
Oklahoma had, Rattler, Caleb Williams, and Austin Kendall in 2021. I’m surprised they didn’t have more guys transfer after Riley left.
September 24th, 2023 at 11:05 PM ^
Didn't Mordecai start out there as well? I could have sworn he was a Sooner before transferring to SMU.