All eyes were on JJ McCarthy tonight as he led the Michigan Wolverines on the field in his first career NCAA start. Never mind that it came an hour later than anticipated due to lightning in the area, all 100,000+ fans in Michigan Stadium wanted to see what McCarthy could do. The answer they got: against a putrid Hawaii defense, it was spectacular. McCarthy went 11/12 for 229 yards and 3 TDs. He rushed one time for 16 yards and his lone incompletion was a drop by Ronnie Bell. The sophomore QB was poised, he was dead-on accurate, and his physical talents popped up under the evening Big House lights. In the process, McCarthy boosted Michigan to a 42-0 halftime lead and an easy 56-10 victory over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. 

Michigan's McCarthy-led offense didn't need long to dazzle. On their opening possession, Blake Corum took a hand-off for 24 yards on the first play, and then McCarthy hit Roman Wilson for a 42 strike and a TD. Two plays, 66 yards, seven points. The next drive was nearly all rushing plays with the occasional McCarthy check down, and the 'Bows did nothing to stop the Wolverines or Corum. Drive #3 included the lone McCarthy keeper and was finished off with a fancy 21-yard end-around for Wilson. Less than 11 minutes into the game, it was already 21-0 Wolverines. 

The first half would not entirely be that easy, but almost. Michigan did punt on their next offensive possession due to a series of Ronnie Bell errors, a drop followed by a fumble during a catch-and-run third down sequence. Michigan recovered but sent out Brad Robbins to boot it away. The next two drives after that were more McCarthy magic. He uncorked a missile to Bell, then hit Cornelius Johnson on a 54-yard strike, and capped it with a 13-yard laser to Bell for a TD. The drive after that saw a 25-yard rush for Donovan Edwards, a 33-yard pass by McCarthy to Edwards, who was lined up as a WR, and then a 1-yard TD dive by Edwards to put Michigan ahead 35-0. 

The Hawaiian showed out against Hawaii [Patrick Barron]

After a Cade McNamara drive that will be discussed in a minute, McCarthy was sent back out for a two-minute drill before halftime. He gave the ball to CJ Stokes twice for a combined 29 yards, then connected with Ronnie Bell for six yards, and then patiently waited in the pocket, rolled to his left, and uncorked another dart to Cornelius Johnson for a sixth Michigan TD. 42-0 at halftime. 

As you can guess from that score, Michigan's first team defense did its part in the first half. Hawaii had eight full possessions and gained two first downs. They gained 47 total yards, 14 on 14 rush attempts, and 33 passing yards on 17 attempts. They ran 31 plays for an average of 1.5 yards per play. The Rainbow Warriors did better than previous weeks at protecting the football, but otherwise, they were completely overmatched. The yardage numbers sat at 410 for Michigan and 47 for Hawaii at halftime. When both teams were playing their first-stringers, Michigan was lightyears better, as expected. That's the only story of the game, to be frank. 

If there's a second story, it would be about the QBs. McCarthy was indeed as spectacular as the numbers sound. He was strikingly accurate, hitting receivers in stride, right on the numbers. He looked comfortable and the offense's play was electric. The offense felt different with McCarthy in the game. Of course, there are some things I expect the coaches will talk over with him. There were a few moments where Michigan struggled to get lined up with McCarthy in the game, for one. But as a whole, this was the game you wanted to see if you want JJ McCarthy as QB1 this season. 

Not what Cade wanted [Patrick Barron]

Unfortunately, it was also a game to forget from Cade McNamara. Though his lone first half series started well, with a quick completion to Ronnie Bell and a long run from Blake Corum, he got little help after that. The first team offensive line's lone wobbly series ensued on several consecutive plays, in addition to a drop from CJ Stokes. After McNamara was sacked for a loss of 10 on 3rd down, Michigan was forced to punt. Grumbling over Cade's performance was heard after that, but it really escalated in the second half. 

Michigan got the ball first, ran it once, McNamara dumped it off to Matthew Hibner for five yards, and then Tavierre Dunlap was stuffed on 3rd down. Another punt with Cade in the game. His second chance of the second half didn't go any better. Again he got little help from his OL, as backup G Connor Jones allowed a sack, and McNamara opted to check-down to Colston Loveland rather than throw down the field on 3rd & 13. Another punt. His fourth and final drive was a reversal of that conservative tendency: McNamara was extremely un-McNamara and took a shot down the field, but he massively under-threw it. The pass, intended for Andrel Anthony, was intercepted by Hawaii's Virdel Edwards II. In total, Cade finished 4/6 for 26 yards (4.3 YPA) with no scores and 1 INT. 

The struggles of the McNamara offense were exacerbated on the first series after his exit. With third-string QB Davis Warren in, Michigan moved the ball swiftly, with Warren throwing a beautiful ball to TE Max Bredeson, followed by a significant run after the catch. CJ Stokes scored on the next play, and Michigan had another TD. After the Wolverines scored again on the next possession, thanks to a 38-yard TD run from Isaiah Gash, the final numbers were pretty stark: Michigan had 13 real drives in this game and they scored TDs on eight of them. None came with Cade McNamara at QB, and McNamara was on the hook for 4 of 5 drives without a TD. 

[Barron]

The second half was entirely played by the second and third team defense, which was pretty clearly not ready for prime-time. Credit to Hawaii, who left their starting QB Joey Yellen in the game, and refused to mail it in despite being run out of the building against Michigan's 1s. Hawaii kept battling and got some quality reps in against Michigan's reserves, who are still learning. The Rainbow Warriors stitched two double-digit play drives together, one ending in a FG and one in a turnover on downs, in addition to a 6-play, 75-yard drive that got them their only TD of the contest.

That came on a 54-yard run from Tylan Hines, thanks to breakdowns at all three levels of Michigan's reserve defense. However, it should be noted that it came only after a Rayshaun Benny drive-ending sack was nullified due to a questionable defensive holding call tacked to Amorion Walker, Michigan's freshman WR who was wearing #1 and playing corner for some reason. The odd nature of that previous sentence tells you all you need to know about the second half defensively for the Wolverines, as it pertains to the rest of the season: nothing. 

Michigan was miles better than Hawaii on the whole, and exceptionally so when both teams had their starters in. That was expected, and the giant margin of victory reflected that. Most of the focus coming out of this game will be on the QB battle, and rightfully so. There's little else that can be learned in a game where the two teams should not be on the field with each other. Unfortunately, that will be the case next week as well, when Michigan hosts 1-2 UConn, who was defeated soundly by Syracuse today. That game is slated for noon and will be broadcast on ABC. 

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