The Kelly/Johnny Football method of beating bama
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CadaverDawg
I'm somewhat disappointed in myself for not being more excited about what could be an 8-4 type season in the SEC. I always told myself during the Croom years that if we could ever become a 6-7 win team consistently I'd never complain again. So let me preface the rest of my post by saying, I'm content with 7-9 win seasons as all MSU fans SHOULD be....but that doesn't mean I dont want us to always strive to be better and take another step.
So with that said, I feel like we've reached a point where we're going to beat the teams we are more talented than, and lose pretty much every game against a team with better talent or a defense that can stop our run. Again, that's still good enough to win 7-8 games most years....but what are we doing to try and improve on that so that complacency doesn't set in?
My first thought is, we're recruiting playmakers at WR. I think that is the absolute right call, bc the only way a team with less overall talent pulls the upset, is to have playmakers that can win you games via 50/50 balls and pure skill. I'm disappointed that our staff allowed us to become so bad at WR considering our QB talent the last 4-5 years...that was just a failure at recruiting. BUT, we are addressing it this year and we desperately need to make sure Heath, Guidry, & hopefully Jason sign the dotted line.
The second part of the next step imo, must come via a philosophy change by our head coach. We have been trying to run our Kentucky gameplan vs the Bama's (& this year AU & UGA's) of the world for 8 years and it hasn't worked. Why? Bc our entire passing success is determined on the ability to run. When we can't run, we can't pass. This is only going to become a bigger and bigger problem until we get the better WR's on campus, bc teams are just going to go all in on the run game.
So my question is, what are we (what is Dan) doing to try to adjust & give us a better shot at competing with a Bama this year for instance? Obviously, we aren't likely to win that game. But what is/has Dan been doing to try to give us a puncher's chance? That's where I'm frustrated. There are always going to be 3-4 teams minimum in this league that can stop our run, so if we are truly trying to compete for Championship's, how are we preparing ourselves to beat those 3-4 teams each year? Are we doing anything? Are we trying to revamp our passing playbook? Or are we just hoping that a better raw passer at QB + a few D1 caliber receivers, will equal a passing game capable of getting us to a new level? Because I don't think it's ONLY a talent issue. I feel like Dan lacks the confidence in coaching a passing game, so he gets ultra conservative and abandons all creativity against these A teams we're talking about. That isn't a talent thing, and I hope he's working on that. During the offseason there was an article where other coaches in the SEC anonymously critiqued their SEC counterparts....one coach said Dan was a good coach, but he wasn't hard to prepare for because you know what he's going to run, you just have to execute. That is concerning to me, and shows a lack of creativity and adjustments.
We are never going to recruit well enough to line up and out-talent the Bama's or this year's UGA's & even AU's of the world.....so are we just going to keep conceding those games, or at some point are we going to try something they aren't expecting. I know many of you have sat at home like me and been able to predict several play calls in a row in big games...if we can, Smart can & Saban can, and many others can.
So with everything I've said above being the case....do you ever see Dan becoming more creative or becoming less tight in those big games? Or do you think we just need to accept that most years with Dan we have a great shot at 7-9 wins, which is awesome, but that we won't even be competitive with the top 2-3 teams in the SEC? And if so, how does that make you feel? I feel like I'm there, and while I don't want to get rid of Mullen and lose the 7-9 wins per year, I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm not a little disappointed thinking that despite how great Mullen has done, we probably don't have a realistic shot at winning the West with Dan, but can count on every year being a great year in "MSU standards".
Ultimately, I'm just curious if anybody else is feeling the same way, and what you think about it? Am I missing some adjustments? Because I could be. Again, this thread isn't bashing Mullen, he's our best ever and I don't want to lose him. I'm just thinking maybe we reached that ceiling and it's time to just adjust my expectations and just enjoy our best years ever and the talent we're putting on the field compared to years' past. It's just a weird feeling, bc I'm very grateful as a long time Dawg that knows how bad it can be...makes me feel guilty to say I wish we could make a few adjustments that could give us a little more, because I definitely think we have one of the best coaches in the country. I'm just wondering if he'll ever have the talent needed for us to compete for the West with his system. But I'll gladly take this over years past if not. Maybe these last 8 years are the MSU mountain top.
Thoughts? Sorry for long post.
Mobile QB that CAN pass
Big WR that can actually catch
Decent OL
