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The Michigan Wolverines emerged as the undisputed villain of the college football world this season thanks to the explosive sign-stealing scandal they were implicated in, but JJ McCarthy attempted to downplay that issue while firing a shot at Ohio State in the process.
By now, virtually everyone is familiar with the covert operation former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions spearheaded during his time with the program that kicked him to the curb after the world learned he’d routinely traveled to other stadiums to gain intel on teams the Wolverines were slated to face off against.
When everything was said and done, Jim Harbaugh was forced to serve a three-game suspension that didn’t prevent Michigan from finishing the regular season with an undefeated record before earning the right to face off against Washington as the top seed in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Plenty of fans would tell you Michigan got off with a slap on the wrist after going to great lengths to undermine the integrity of the game. With that said, it would be foolish to suggest the program was the first one to resort to some unsavory tactics to gain an edge—a reality the team’s starting QB called attention to while chatting with the media on Wednesday.
According to On3, McCarthy fielded a question about the sign-stealing scandal during a virtual press conference that was held ahead of the national championship, and he implied it took away from the work Michigan put in to prepare this season while asserting there’s plenty of blame to go around, saying:
“I also feel like it’s so unfortunate because, you know, there’s probably, I don’t want to say a crazy number, but I’d say a good number, 80% of teams in college football steal signs. It’s just a thing about football.
You know, it’s been around for years. We actually had to adapt because in 2020 or 2019 when Ohio State was stealing our signs, which is legal. We had get up to the level that they were at, and we had to make it an even playing field…
You can say it’s all sign stealing but, you know, there’s a lot more that goes into play and you know, a lot of stuff that gets masked. A lot of work that gets masked just because of the outside perception of what sign stealing is all about.”
Michigan will have the chance to get the last laugh against Washington on Monday in a game where they’re currently 4.5-point favorites.