jj mccarthy is bleach denard

Previously: The Story 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008.

The internet (and probably some sacred documents) say that the Buddha found enlightenment after sitting under a Banyan tree for seven days. Cool! Way to go, Buddha. Ever try some goalposts?

om [Fuller]

I cannot exactly elucidate why these images have burned themselves into my head, and the heads of many Michigan fans. Maybe it's that the happy-go-lucky McCarthy seems like a breath of fresh air to a Michigan fanbase that was, until recently, beset by woe. Maybe it's just nice to have a guy who's a little different because it makes things more interesting. Maybe, I dunno, it's a different mode of leadership fit for the 24th century:

On J.J. McCarthy’s leadership:

It’s vibrant. It’s infectious; it rubs off on everybody.

Last summer, we took a team trip around Michigan and we got into this wiffle ball game. My kids were playing — a bunch of nine-year-olds, some of Jack's friends. And you couldn’t tell who the nine-year-olds were and who the 18-year-olds were. He's running, he's diving, he’s sliding. One ball gets hit out into the street and he's running out, doesn't even look. Dove into first base one time and barely missed this tree that was planted and had the bricks around it. He missed it by that much.

He's got the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old guy. It’s a beautiful thing. It's that vibrant, it's that infectious and it rubs off on the team.

Maybe next time demand McCarthy wears pads, but… maybe not. In fact, let's not.

I know what it is now.

[After THE JUMP: what it is]

FORMATION NOTES: PSU is generally a standard 4-3, but they show a lot of different fronts and get weird even on standard downs. Michigan added a fair bit of Pistol with a fullback in the backfield (invariably Bredeson). Some of these plays were tackle over, and here's all three things mentioned in one screenshot:

Schoonmaker is the "left tackle" to the bottom of the screen, and PSU has just put five guys to the left of the center when the run strength is to the right. More discussion below.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Nothing of note. Barnhart continued playing RT in Jones's absence. I don't think AJ Henning played. Andrel Anthony was very marginal, it looks like they're heavy in on Bell/Wilson/Johnson. Edwards got more run in this game than previous; CJ Stokes is not rotating in for real snaps.

[After THE JUMP: best RPS ever?]

Schedule note: Sorry this is getting up late. It, uh, ran long.

Well, Brian went and Joel Klatt'ed* me again. I was going to use this space this week to talk about how the threat of a McCarthy keep opened up the two big runs for Corum and Edwards, and then Brian went ahead and Neck Sharpied in his game column. That piece (with his embed replaced with a more permanent clip):

It changes things. I mentioned that JJ McCarthy's legs were an important factor in Michigan's ground game in the Indiana UFR, even and maybe even especially when he didn't have the ball. That's going to come up again in this week's edition because hoo boy the threat of McCarthy keeping the ball was a major factor on both of Michigan's long touchdown runs. The Corum one is obvious; just watch the cornerback to the bottom of the screen:

 

Brian then asserted the threat of McCarthy keeping created the block that sprung Edwards the drive prior. Since it's bound to come up a lot more, and has been a hammer point of ours for years, I figured I might as well dig all the way in. And by all the way in I mean ALL the way in. This isn't going to just discuss a concept or two. We're going to put a lot of pieces together that make up the Michigan QB threat run game, because it was all relevant, and all worked in concert to create a 400+ yard running day against what, in the not too distant past, was considered one of college football's better run defenses.

* [Fox analyst Joel Klatt frequently breaks down events during broadcasts immediately after they occur, preempting our core content that does the same several days later.]

[After THE JUMP: First they crashed, then they burned.]