Five-star freshman quarterback J.J. McCarthy might be the future face of Michigan football, but he is not the Day 1 starter. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh tabbed junior Cade McNamara as QB1 for the Wolverines season-opener against Western Michigan.

“Cade is the starter,” Harbaugh told Big Ten Network. “Cade’s got these traits of being very talented, but also the competitive traits that he has, I don’t see him giving that up. J.J.’s got the same traits. But I think that’s the best thing for our team, for J.J. and for our ball club.”

McNamara completed 60.6% of his passes as a sophomore. He threw for 425 yards and five touchdowns after taking over for Joe Milton III. McNamara stepped up at Rutgers last November, throwing for 260 yards and four touchdowns in the triple-overtime win. He added a rushing touchdown. But he has just 165 career passing yards outside of that game.