Jim Harbaugh announced before the first game that the two would battle for the starting job with McNamara starting the first game of the season and McCarthy starting the second. McNamara was the starter last season, helping Michigan to a 12-2 record, its first Big Ten title under Harbaugh and a berth in the College Football Playoff. “I would definitely say it’s pretty unusual,” McNamara said. “It was something I didn’t expect until the end of camp. I thought I had my best camp. I thought I put myself in a good position and that was exactly the decision with the coach.”
McNamara finished the opener completing nine of 18 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown with 61 of those yards coming on a touchdown pass to Roman Wilson. Harbaugh acknowledged there were some dropped passes, but when asked about his assessment of McNamara’s performance, he was coy. “I thought he was pretty good,” Harbaugh said. “He had some dropped balls. Very good execution, like I said, no issues. You have to give credit to the quarterbacks when that happens in the offense. Moving the football, he scored points and I thought he had a really good game.” McNamara said Harbaugh doesn’t want to rotate both quarterbacks during the season like we saw some of last season. The quarterbacks expect the starter to get the most snaps, but as the battle continues, McCarthy and McNamara will continue to split duties. “I was confident in the way I was playing in camp,” McNamara said. “I definitely felt that way. It’s just not my decision though. So whatever it is, whatever my role is, I’m honored that my teammates recognize me for the role that I’m in right now and that’s about.” McCarthy got time in the second half against Colorado State, completing four of four passes for 30 yards and running for 50 yards and a touchdown. Harbaugh said it was part of the plan to get McCarthy snaps and thought it was a good time to put him in the game as the Wolverines had a comfortable lead to give him more opportunities to evaluate the quarterbacks. “(McCarthy) was electric when he came in, there’s no doubt about it,” Harbaugh said. “I thought he also had a really good time with his reads and it was great to see him play really calm, cool and focused. I don’t think it was for nothing, but he’s also doing a great job and he’s really improved a lot as you would expect going from year one to year two.” McCarthy will now get his chance to start the game against Hawaii at home and prove his case for the starting spot. McNamara will also likely get snaps if the outcome is similar to the first game, but the final decision will be out of the hands of both. “It was fine. That’s something I’ve dealt with wherever I’ve been in my career,” McNamara said. “Whether it was before I played with Joe (Milton), or it was finally going, or it was last season and now it’s this season. I think at this point, I have a hard time thinking about how to deal with these things. “
