J.J. McCarthy managed to catch the attention of Ohio State fans during Wednesday’s College Football Playoff teleconference.
Buckeye fans have been focused on McCarthy’s comments in response to a question about Michigan’s sign stealing scandal.
“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,” McCarthy said, via On3Sports. “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.”
On X/Twitter, it seems like most Ohio State fans responding to McCarthy’s quotes aren’t focused on him saying the Buckeyes legally stole signs. Rather, they are arguing that he seems to be making a tacit admission of Michigan being guilty of illegally doing so.
So the players did know about the entire thing…
NCAA: https://t.co/KsihvzPtTS pic.twitter.com/lND21b0MPq
— The Victory Bell (@VictoryBellOSU) January 3, 2024
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“Yes we cheated to catch up to everyone else that was attempting to do it legally”
-JJ McCarthy
His quote proves that players and staff knew the whole time 🤣 https://t.co/cgrO8lPwUN
— MHJ Enthusiast (@BDFITL) January 3, 2024
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Ohio State stole signs in 2019* and 2020**?
*When Don Brown called Engage Eight or Cover One Safe on every snap for years
**When Michigan did not play Ohio State https://t.co/Dtmpqfru8B
— Spencer Holbrook (@SpencerHolbrook) January 3, 2024
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Did JJ just rat out the coaches and players that they knew they were cheating? Wow https://t.co/jMVQbLXTT4
— FFBuck (@FFbuckCLE) January 3, 2024
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NCAA investigator in the back: “Please, say more.” https://t.co/b8xLSqGF9r
— Tom Orr (@TomOrr4) January 3, 2024
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There was no game in 2020, so is he basically saying the players were aware? https://t.co/vcOqzzEizR
— jbook™ (@jbook37) January 3, 2024
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While OSU fans discuss what McCarthy was implying here, Michigan fans are reveling in the team’s first national championship game appearance in the College Football Playoff era.
The Wolverines will take on Washington Monday night in Houston as they try to win the program’s first national title since 1997.