J.J. McCarthy hasn't had many bad games in a Michigan uniform, but his performance on Saturday was certainly subpar, especially given how magnificent he looked in the first two weeks of the season.

The junior was seemingly perfect in Michigan's first two games. Through the first two contests, McCarthy had five touchdowns and only seven incompletions. He didn't see game action in the fourth quarter of either of the first two games — and he still hasn't — and he had seemingly taken the next step, coming off a solid sophomore season.

Michigan's national championship hopes rest largely on McCarthy's effectiveness and on his ability to take the Wolverines' offense to the next level. In the first two weeks, everything appeared to be going according to plan, but things got dicey for McCarthy in week 3.

Jim Harbaugh, who was serving the last of his three-game suspension on Saturday, met with the media on Monday to discuss McCarthy's abnormal performance.

"Law of averages are going to catch up to you at some point," Harbaugh said. "Plenty to learn from, plenty to coach, super excited about it. J.J. is smart enough to know he didn't play a very good game. He's also smart enough to know that he can learn from it as well."

Harbaugh noted that rather than normal quarterback metrics, such as comparing touchdowns to interceptions, McCarthy's numbers were so good that people were comparing touchdowns to incompletions.

"Where were we just at? We were comparing touchdowns to incompletions ratio... there's no way that's going to continue; it's not going to happen that way."

Now, like quarterback stats are normally kept, touchdowns are being compared to interceptions for McCarthy, whose ratio sits at 7:3.

The 20-year-old quarterback knows his performance on Saturday wasn't his best, and he said as much in the postgame press conference.

"I'm gonna take all those [interceptions] on the chin... Put 'em all on me."

A dejected McCarthy didn't have his usual uplifting spirit after the game, but with Harbaugh back with the program full-time, McCarthy will have his head coach to lean on if things go awry again.

Harbaugh broke down the film from Saturday, and he gave his thoughts on what he would've said to McCarthy.

"Specifically, let it rip, but see the throw. See the completion... One [interception] came with eye discipline broke down for J.J., and then he let it rip without seeing the throw or seeing the completion. Threw another one, kind of like a fadeaway jumper that he didn't have to fadeaway on it."

With Harbaugh back on the sidelines starting Saturday, McCarthy will have another voice in his ear to help coach him through the tough times, although if the junior plays like he did the first two weeks of the season, there may not be many more tough times for the Michigan offense.

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