J.J. McCarthy stepped off the team bus on his way into Michigan Stadium on Saturday morning wearing a homemade 'Free Harbaugh' T-shirt, the same one he wore to the podium after he threw three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 30-3 season-opening win over East Carolina.
"It’s as simple as this: I just want my coach back," McCarthy said.
As Michigan was preparing to kick off its season, Harbaugh was headed over to offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore's house, where the two suspended coaches would watch the game. Harbaugh, serving a three-game ban self-imposed by Michigan for recruiting violations and for allegedly misleading NCAA investigators, got a text from Blake Corum shortly before kickoff.
"I texted Coach, I said, ‘Play as hard as you can, as fast as you can and don’t worry.’ That’s what he tells us before the game," said Corum. "I said, 'We got you, Coach.’ And he said, ‘I know you do.’"
In the first game of his senior season at Michigan, Corum lived up to his word -- not that there was any doubt. While the Pirates, as Corum said, "died trying" to stop the run, which allowed McCarthy to pick them apart with the pass, Corum still rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries. The knee he had surgically repaired in the offseason after a torn meniscus derailed his Heisman hopes last November looked just fine.
"It felt great being back out there, being able to cut, make some long runs," said Corum, who put the NFL on hold in hopes of winning a national championship at Michigan. "For me, that was my first time honestly getting hit since the Ohio State game. It was kind of like a warmup. This is what I’ve been working for and training for, and it just felt great being back out there with the guys. Like I said, more to come."
(To Corum's point, he didn't go over 100 yards in any of Michigan's first three games last year, because he didn't need to. And he had a very similar line in the opener: 13 carries, 76 yards and a touchdown. Then he exploded in Big Ten play.)
As much as the Wolverines rallied around defensive coordinator and fill-in head coach Jesse Minter, both McCarthy and Corum admitted something was missing without Harbaugh in the locker room and on the sidelines. (Moore, suspended one game, will be back for next week's game against UNLV.) The 59-year-old Harbaugh is the face and the voice of the program, and the team wasn't whole without him.
"I’m not gonna lie to you," said McCarthy, who was razor-sharp in completing 26 of 30 passes. "I wasn’t expecting it to be that much different, but I personally just felt like something was missing. He has this presence that is all about winning, all about competing, all about pushing through. As simple as the pregame speech, I was missing that voice."
Corum smiled and nodded his head.
"Yeah," McCarthy went on, "it really sucked going out there, first game, and him not being out there because he put as much blood, sweat and tears into this as we have. It’s unfortunate, but we know we get him back Week 4 and he’s going to be hungrier than ever."
Corum smiled again, even wider than before.
"Like J.J. said, I missed hearing that (pregame speech). It gets me pumped up. Coach Minter did a great job stepping in as the head coach for the day, but I can’t wait to get Coach Harbaugh back," Corum said. "That’s my guy."
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