Q&A from Arnett post game on the 17 passing attempts

[BlackSailsDawg]

Question: Will only had 17 pass attempts. Is that what Arizona was doing?

Arnett: The way that first half played out. We had a really good drive to open it. I decide to go for it. If you don?t get it, you?ve got them backed up. You like your defense?s chances to defend the field. The way the turnovers went, you were in short fields, where route spacing is tighter. Running the ball is beneficial. I told Coach Barbay after the 18-play drive, our defense needed a blow. So it became a clock situation. Try to run the ball and give the defense some wind. Just the way the game went, it became a run heavy game. We?ll see if we missed some opportunities for shot plays.



I'm not even sure what to say about that. You don't pass because of a shorter field? You don't pass it because your defense is winded?

[Dawgface]

Question: Will only had 17 pass attempts. Is that what Arizona was doing?

Arnett: The way that first half played out. We had a really good drive to open it. I decide to go for it. If you don?t get it, you?ve got them backed up. You like your defense?s chances to defend the field. The way the turnovers went, you were in short fields, where route spacing is tighter. Running the ball is beneficial. I told Coach Barbay after the 18-play drive, our defense needed a blow. So it became a clock situation. Try to run the ball and give the defense some wind. Just the way the game went, it became a run heavy game. We?ll see if we missed some opportunities for shot plays.



I'm not even sure what to say about that. You don't pass because of a shorter field? You don't pass it because your defense is winded?

We have a defensive minded coach in charge and that is his number one priority. I don't see him ever letting the offense take chances for fear of turning it over.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Route running pace? We planning to throw it more than 50 yards every pass play or something?

[ZedFedder]

On the postgame show, Arnett said doing that was a bad decision and foolish.

[BlackSailsDawg]

On the postgame show, Arnett said doing that was a bad decision and foolish.

Got a link to that postgame show?

[Lord McBuckethead]

Sorry to Arnett, but in the SEC the learning curve timeline is zero. Our fans expectation is to play in Atlanta for a SEC championship. That is why first time head coaches don?t do well in the SEC their first year usually, and even though that is typical it is never acceptable.

[ZedFedder]

Got a link to that postgame show?

Might be on hailstate.com somewhere. I listened on the radio as I drove home from the game.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

On the postgame show, Arnett said doing that was a bad decision and foolish.

JOMo frequently criticized his own coaching too. Even went run heavy vs Auburn and won and said postgame he "remembered to take his coaching pills this week". What did he do after that? go right back to the same offense that had failed.

Not saying Arnett is JoMo. Not even a bit. I"m saying that coaches being self aware of their mistakes isn't the same thing as them making correct decisions in the future.

In this case, telling the OC to cut every pass play because the D needs a break is such a dumb decision I question what kinds of decisions he'll make in the future. maybe he won't make the same mistake twice, but if he could make that mistake once, what other mistakes will he make once?

I'd rather have my coaches make the correct decisions in the first place than almost lose the game and then be self aware after.

[maroonmania]

This is why so few defensive coaches get HC jobs these days. You can't be conservative and win very much. If we think we are going to ground and pound through the SEC then we are very much mistaken. Arizona was a horrible rush defense last year. I'm sure they've improved but they stopped our run game when they needed to. SEC defenses will be even tougher.

[Biguglyjoe]

"told Coach Barbay after the 18-play drive, our defense needed a blow. So it became a clock situation. Try to run the ball and give the defense some wind."

Sylvester Croom made an almost exact statement in a post game interview. I thought it was the most asinine thing I'd heard a coach say at the time. I can't believe another head coach at Mississippi State has the same approach.

[R2Dawg]

JOMo frequently criticized his own coaching too. Even went run heavy vs Auburn and won and said postgame he "remembered to take his coaching pills this week". What did he do after that? go right back to the same offense that had failed.

Not saying Arnett is JoMo. Not even a bit. I"m saying that coaches being self aware of their mistakes isn't the same thing as them making correct decisions in the future.

In this case, telling the OC to cut every pass play because the D needs a break is such a dumb decision I question what kinds of decisions he'll make in the future. maybe he won't make the same mistake twice, but if he could make that mistake once, what other mistakes will he make once?

I'd rather have my coaches make the correct decisions in the first place than almost lose the game and then be self aware after.

Joe wasn't being self aware, he was being a smartA. CZA seems to be willing to learn. Think we got to give him some time. Heck we gave Leach years to get his O going after he's been doing it for decades. CZA is starting from scratch so to speak.

CZA is very self aware of situations but he has to learn HC stuff. He is always asking for advice, he seems to listen like he did to former players about the farm, etc.

[R2Dawg]

"told Coach Barbay after the 18-play drive, our defense needed a blow. So it became a clock situation. Try to run the ball and give the defense some wind."

Sylvester Croom made an almost exact statement in a post game interview. I thought it was the most asinine thing I'd heard a coach say at the time. I can't believe another head coach at Mississippi State has the same approach.

Well when an O is getting the best of you, the best D is keeping the ball away from them. However, his mistake is that means do whatever it takes to keep the ball, not just run every play and let D pin their ears back - which is what teams do with Will because he isn't a run threat. Hard for us to do against a running QB, hard for any D. Test gets tougher this week though.

[DownwardDawg]

I've lost a LOT of confidence in our Head Coach after two weeks into the season. Hopefully he'll get it figured out but he seems lost right now.

[Leroy Jenkins]

...and before the season he said "it doesn't make sense for me to get involved with the offensive play calling when I've never coached a down of offense".

He was trying to milk that 14 point lead and it nearly bit us in the ass.

[viverlibre]

Sorry to Arnett, but in the SEC the learning curve timeline is zero. Our fans expectation is to play in Atlanta for a SEC championship. That is why first time head coaches don?t do well in the SEC their first year usually, and even though that is typical it is never acceptable.

No State fan with an IQ above 50 has that expectation and hasn't had that expectation since JoMo took an 11-1 team to 8-4. Any common sense fan has a 7-5 expectation (6-6 floor/8-4 ceiling) for this year's team.

[EdwardDrayton]

What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so.
Mark Twain

[coachnorm]

When you have a quarterback that can not execute a pass more than 15 yards up field bad things are going to happen. All over college football, last Saturday, quarterbacks launched the football up field based on pre snap alignment observations. In other words, in that nano second before the ball is snaped, the decision was irrevocably determined to throw to that receiver. When this execution is achieved, defenders cannot get to the quarterback on time. Also, this quick execution will lock the defense in a one on one personnel situation even on zone coverage because the defenders cannot double up in time providing the top of the defense is at risk. This execution was understood by scores of quarterbacks in college football yesterday and possibly hundreds of contested passes were attempted and many completed.

Because Rogers has not learned what is stated, none of this applies to Mississippi State Football. This means a higher amount of offensive line holding calls, sacks, and fumbles etc. because of the deer in the headlights holding on to the ball getting confused. Remember, this does not happen in the 50-50 game that was executed in college football yesterday?

If I were calling the offense, I would be scared of another Egg Bowl misfire like in the 4th quarter. I understand the feelings about the play calling but I blame our offensive shortcoming 80% on the quarterback.

[Leroy Jenkins]

The thought process behind those Arnett comments is rough. What's best for the defense may not always be what's best for the team.

[BlackSailsDawg]

When you have a quarterback that can not execute a pass more than 15 yards up field bad things are going to happen. All over college football, last Saturday, quarterbacks launched the football up field based on pre snap alignment observations. In other words, in that nano second before the ball is snaped, the decision was irrevocably determined to throw to that receiver. When this execution is achieved, defenders cannot get to the quarterback on time. Also, this quick execution will lock the defense in a one on one personnel situation even on zone coverage because the defenders cannot double up in time providing the top of the defense is at risk. This execution was understood by scores of quarterbacks in college football yesterday and possibly hundreds of contested passes were attempted and many completed.

Because Rogers has not learned what is stated, none of this applies to Mississippi State Football. This means a higher amount of offensive line holding calls, sacks, and fumbles etc. because of the deer in the headlights holding on to the ball getting confused. Remember, this does not happen in the 50-50 game that was executed in college football yesterday?

If I were calling the offense, I would be scared of another Egg Bowl misfire like in the 4th quarter. I understand the feelings about the play calling but I blame our offensive shortcoming 80% on the quarterback.

That's false and it was proven in another thread. Rogers had more tds where the ball was 20 or more yards in the air than the famed Bryce Young.

Total BS

[HoopsDawg]

The thought process behind those Arnett comments is rough. What's best for the defense may not always be what's best for the team.

I think Arnett was just covering for Barbay a little. It was a poorly called game and Arnett knows it.