– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN — Though his coach was not there in person to see it, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy put on a performance that made sure that, wherever Jim Harbaugh was watching, that he would be proud.
McCarthy threw three touchdown passes, all to Roman Wilson, as the second-ranked Wolverines defeated East Carolina 30-3 in the season opener at Michigan Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Running back Blake Corum, coming off offseason knee surgery, carried the ball 10 times for 73 yards and a touchdown as Michigan started its mission of competing in the College Football Playoff for the third consecutive season in style.
Harbaugh coached the team this week before starting the first of a school-imposed three-game suspension for violating NCAA rules. In his absence, defensive coordinator Jesse Minter stepped into Harbaugh’s place as the head coach — but the Wolverines did not skip a beat. McCarthy went 26-for-30 on the day, at one point completing 15 consecutive passes. His touchdown passes to Wilson came in the first, second and third quarters.
Before Michigan’s first offensive play from scrimmage, all 11 of the Wolverines offensive players lined up in a single file behind the ball, and all raised an arm above their head before breaking the line and jogging toward the position on the line of scrimmage.
“That was definitely a tribute to coach Harbaugh,” McCarthy said after the game. “That was pretty cool to do that.”
The only points of the game for the Pirates came when Andrew Conrad made a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the game to avoid the shutout.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with all photos taken by Detroit-area photographer Aaron J. Thornton. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 16 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
