Sunday Morning Thoughts-Back Off The Ledge Edition

[StarkVegasSteve]

Well last night sucked for the most part. Signs of life in the second half made things look better and made feel marginally better. We still have to be SO MUCH better.

1. Defensively we are who we thought we were going to be. It was universally known that our D was going to be bad. Our recruiting on D under the last two staffs was atrocious and we struck out on D targets in the portal. However, our tackling was beyond awful in the first half last night as well as our angles. I thought we got better in the second half and that is encouraging.

2. I have to wonder how different the game looks had Seydou caught the first pass. By my recollection, we would have had the ball at around the 35 and would have been in tempo due to scripting. I mean that is probably at least 3 pts taken off the board and maybe 6.

3. The OPI on Craver was absolutely BULL. SHIT. That is legit never called. That coupled with the next play scoop and score is a 14 pt swing.

4. Shapen should have eaten the ball on that play. I understand what he is trying to do, but that was trying to do too much on a lost play. Just eat it or throw it away earlier.

5. I liked our fight. Past teams, especially last year, would have rolled over when it got to 20-3, much less 30-3. Proud of the way we dusted ourselves off and started playing.

6. We have to figure out the subbing situation. They were standing over the ball last night multiple times letting them sub after we HAD NOT subbed. You cannot do that. That killed our tempo multiple times.

7. Loved the fake draw pop pass TD call. Thought Shapen executed it to perfection.

8. Find someone who can make an XP with consistency. It is incredible we have went through this long without finding a kicker that can consistently make XPs while other teams have kickers booting 45-50 yarders.

9. It got better late, but we have to get some consistency going in the run game. I do not know if that is more designed runs for Shapen or finding a back that will go down hill, but we need to find it.

10. O-Line is more of a work in progress than we thought, especially in the run game. Our O line looked ok last night, but when they looked bad they made sure to look REAL BAD.

11. If you are a reactionary fan, then you need to find another team. We are going to have some frustrating drives, quarter, halves, and probably whole games this year. But the second half showed you what this team can be. If you are just going to bitch and complain every time something goes wrong then I suggest tuning out this year. It will help you calm down.

12. Donate to the Bulldog Initiative. If you want us to get better, then stop sitting on your hands waiting for someone else to do it, otherwise known as the Mississippi State Way. Do something. Donate whatever you can because 50,000 donating just $100 A YEAR(less than $10 a month) is an extra $5,000,000.

ON TO TOLEDO AND HAIL STATE.

[TrapGame]

Craver was pulled by the arm by the defender. His reaction was to take that arm and push. It was PI alright but in was on the defense.

There was a shit ton of holding by ASU's OL that was not called. Scrappy Doo had some of those big holes b/c an O linemen had a hand full of jersey on our DL. Yeah, some of it's ticky tack. You got to get off your block but I saw some blatant holding that should have been a flag.

Hutzler loading the box late was a joke. He's gotta do better than that.

The dagger was Shapen turning over the ball for a defensive TD. That can't happen. That close to the end zone just take the sack.

[RiverCityDawg]

Well last night sucked for the most part. Signs of life in the second half made things look better and made feel marginally better. We still have to be SO MUCH better.

1. Defensively we are who we thought we were going to be. It was universally known that our D was going to be bad. Our recruiting on D under the last two staffs was atrocious and we struck out on D targets in the portal. However, our tackling was beyond awful in the first half last night as well as our angles. I thought we got better in the second half and that is encouraging.

2. I have to wonder how different the game looks had Seydou caught the first pass. By my recollection, we would have had the ball at around the 35 and would have been in tempo due to scripting. I mean that is probably at least 3 pts taken off the board and maybe 6.

3. The OPI on Craver was absolutely BULL. SHIT. That is legit never called. That coupled with the next play scoop and score is a 14 pt swing.

4. Shapen should have eaten the ball on that play. I understand what he is trying to do, but that was trying to do too much on a lost play. Just eat it or throw it away earlier.

5. I liked our fight. Past teams, especially last year, would have rolled over when it got to 20-3, much less 30-3. Proud of the way we dusted ourselves off and started playing.

6. We have to figure out the subbing situation. They were standing over the ball last night multiple times letting them sub after we HAD NOT subbed. You cannot do that. That killed our tempo multiple times.

7. Loved the fake draw pop pass TD call. Thought Shapen executed it to perfection.

8. Find someone who can make an XP with consistency. It is incredible we have went through this long without finding a kicker that can consistently make XPs while other teams have kickers booting 45-50 yarders.

9. It got better late, but we have to get some consistency going in the run game. I do not know if that is more designed runs for Shapen or finding a back that will go down hill, but we need to find it.

10. O-Line is more of a work in progress than we thought, especially in the run game. Our O line looked ok last night, but when they looked bad they made sure to look REAL BAD.

11. If you are a reactionary fan, then you need to find another team. We are going to have some frustrating drives, quarter, halves, and probably whole games this year. But the second half showed you what this team can be. If you are just going to bitch and complain every time something goes wrong then I suggest tuning out this year. It will help you calm down.

12. Donate to the Bulldog Initiative. If you want us to get better, then stop sitting on your hands waiting for someone else to do it, otherwise known as the Mississippi State Way. Do something. Donate whatever you can because 50,000 donating just $100 A YEAR(less than $10 a month) is an extra $5,000,000.

ON TO TOLEDO AND HAIL STATE.

Good stuff.

On #6, are you sure we weren't subbing? I watch a lot of football and can't recall ever seeing a crew stand over the ball like that consistently if the offense isn't subbing. I don't think the camera showed but we have to have been subbing... Which begs the question - Why were we doing that? Either way, I think we'll see it resolved against Toledo.

[CaptainObvious]

Well last night sucked for the most part. Signs of life in the second half made things look better and made feel marginally better. We still have to be SO MUCH better.

1. Defensively we are who we thought we were going to be. It was universally known that our D was going to be bad. Our recruiting on D under the last two staffs was atrocious and we struck out on D targets in the portal. However, our tackling was beyond awful in the first half last night as well as our angles. I thought we got better in the second half and that is encouraging.

2. I have to wonder how different the game looks had Seydou caught the first pass. By my recollection, we would have had the ball at around the 35 and would have been in tempo due to scripting. I mean that is probably at least 3 pts taken off the board and maybe 6.

3. The OPI on Craver was absolutely BULL. SHIT. That is legit never called. That coupled with the next play scoop and score is a 14 pt swing.

4. Shapen should have eaten the ball on that play. I understand what he is trying to do, but that was trying to do too much on a lost play. Just eat it or throw it away earlier.

5. I liked our fight. Past teams, especially last year, would have rolled over when it got to 20-3, much less 30-3. Proud of the way we dusted ourselves off and started playing.

6. We have to figure out the subbing situation. They were standing over the ball last night multiple times letting them sub after we HAD NOT subbed. You cannot do that. That killed our tempo multiple times.

7. Loved the fake draw pop pass TD call. Thought Shapen executed it to perfection.

8. Find someone who can make an XP with consistency. It is incredible we have went through this long without finding a kicker that can consistently make XPs while other teams have kickers booting 45-50 yarders.

9. It got better late, but we have to get some consistency going in the run game. I do not know if that is more designed runs for Shapen or finding a back that will go down hill, but we need to find it.

10. O-Line is more of a work in progress than we thought, especially in the run game. Our O line looked ok last night, but when they looked bad they made sure to look REAL BAD.

11. If you are a reactionary fan, then you need to find another team. We are going to have some frustrating drives, quarter, halves, and probably whole games this year. But the second half showed you what this team can be. If you are just going to bitch and complain every time something goes wrong then I suggest tuning out this year. It will help you calm down.

12. Donate to the Bulldog Initiative. If you want us to get better, then stop sitting on your hands waiting for someone else to do it, otherwise known as the Mississippi State Way. Do something. Donate whatever you can because 50,000 donating just $100 A YEAR(less than $10 a month) is an extra $5,000,000.

ON TO TOLEDO AND HAIL STATE.

I disagree with 11 and 12.

Thanks for playing.

[Ranchdawg]

Steve I think #11 is a lot fans upset that they see other teams have huge roster turnover and bring in massive amounts of transfers and do way better than the previous year. Fans upset because they saw 3down D linemen (3-5 defense) against a team that has shown very little passing game and a running back that was gnashing our D line. Fans also know that we have SEC teams that we will be playing that are WAY better than what we’ve played in these first two games. Lebby’s pillars of building a program one is accountability. He should be held accountable also for failing to change defense.

[Bdawg]

Can’t agree with #6. I would have to believe Lebby would be throwing a fit if they were stopping play only to let ASU sub. Jt if we want to go fast, I can’t believe we would be subbing that much. Kinda blew my mind.

[DEDawg]

8. Unfortunately I imagine schools are paying those kickers more than we are offering a DE here

12. Good luck with this crowd. They just want to complain how unfair the system is and not even try

[DEDawg]

I disagree with 11 and 12.

Thanks for playing.

What exactly do you disagree with? Literal math? That $5M in more NIL doesn?t improve this team?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Can’t agree with #6. I would have to believe Lebby would be throwing a fit if they were stopping play only to let ASU sub. Jt if we want to go fast, I can’t believe we would be subbing that much. Kinda blew my mind.

I really do not know. Maybe I just did not see the subs or they did not show them.

[Bothrops]

Alabama got a away with a timely omitted PI call that could have changed the end of that game. We get called for a fake Offensive PI call that took us out of the game. These guys know what their doing.

[StarkVegasSteve]

What exactly do you disagree with? Literal math? That $5M in more NIL doesn?t improve this team?

People do not want to be part of the solution. They want to be different than every other fan base. They want to know where their $15/month donation is going. Trust me, the people who donate enough know exactly where their money is going and how much we have.

[MoreCowbell]

Sick of hearing this. I hate that the buck has passed to the regular fan and that it is ?our own fault? if we suck.

If every fan of an SEC school gave $100 a year we would be last. We are at a disadvantage numbers wise and money wise. Even if we had as much money as other schools we would have to pay more to get them to Starkville. So a lot of people feel like it is a lost cause/waste of money in the NIL era to give it to 18-21 year old kids that may or may not be here next year all so we can have a shot at playing in Shreveport in January. Very reasonable for them to feel that way.

I absolutely hate it but its true.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Sick of hearing this. I hate that the buck has passed to the regular fan and that it is ?our own fault? if we suck.

If every fan of an SEC school gave $100 a year we would be last. We are at a disadvantage numbers wise and money wise. Even if we had as much money as other schools we would have to pay more to get them to Starkville. So a lot of people feel like it is a lost cause/waste of money in the NIL era to give it to 18-21 year old kids that may or may not be here next year all so we can have a shot at playing in Shreveport in January. Very reasonable for them to feel that way.

I absolutely hate it but its true.

So instead of getting in the game our solution should be to just say oh well we cannot compete so let’s not even try. I mean that is how you are left out of a super conference and the athletic budget dries up to about a tenth of what it is now.

[Offshore Dawg]

Give it a rest, as bad as the team played in the first half. They only lost by one touchdown. Reading the message boards you would think they lost by 70 points.

[DawgFromOxford]

Give it a rest, as bad as the team played in the first half. They only lost by one touchdown. Reading the message boards you would think they lost by 70 points.

We lost by a touchdown because the team we played was content to chew clock up before they scored. They started the 2nd half by having the ball for 8 minutes before our offense saw the field. Had we played an up tempo team the score would look a lot worse.

[PMDawg]

Well last night sucked for the most part. Signs of life in the second half made things look better and made feel marginally better. We still have to be SO MUCH better.

1. Defensively we are who we thought we were going to be. It was universally known that our D was going to be bad. Our recruiting on D under the last two staffs was atrocious and we struck out on D targets in the portal. However, our tackling was beyond awful in the first half last night as well as our angles. I thought we got better in the second half and that is encouraging.

2. I have to wonder how different the game looks had Seydou caught the first pass. By my recollection, we would have had the ball at around the 35 and would have been in tempo due to scripting. I mean that is probably at least 3 pts taken off the board and maybe 6.

3. The OPI on Craver was absolutely BULL. SHIT. That is legit never called. That coupled with the next play scoop and score is a 14 pt swing.

4. Shapen should have eaten the ball on that play. I understand what he is trying to do, but that was trying to do too much on a lost play. Just eat it or throw it away earlier.

5. I liked our fight. Past teams, especially last year, would have rolled over when it got to 20-3, much less 30-3. Proud of the way we dusted ourselves off and started playing.

6. We have to figure out the subbing situation. They were standing over the ball last night multiple times letting them sub after we HAD NOT subbed. You cannot do that. That killed our tempo multiple times.

7. Loved the fake draw pop pass TD call. Thought Shapen executed it to perfection.

8. Find someone who can make an XP with consistency. It is incredible we have went through this long without finding a kicker that can consistently make XPs while other teams have kickers booting 45-50 yarders.

9. It got better late, but we have to get some consistency going in the run game. I do not know if that is more designed runs for Shapen or finding a back that will go down hill, but we need to find it.

10. O-Line is more of a work in progress than we thought, especially in the run game. Our O line looked ok last night, but when they looked bad they made sure to look REAL BAD.

11. If you are a reactionary fan, then you need to find another team. We are going to have some frustrating drives, quarter, halves, and probably whole games this year. But the second half showed you what this team can be. If you are just going to bitch and complain every time something goes wrong then I suggest tuning out this year. It will help you calm down.

12. Donate to the Bulldog Initiative. If you want us to get better, then stop sitting on your hands waiting for someone else to do it, otherwise known as the Mississippi State Way. Do something. Donate whatever you can because 50,000 donating just $100 A YEAR(less than $10 a month) is an extra $5,000,000.

ON TO TOLEDO AND HAIL STATE.

On 11. A huge % of fans are reactionary fans. For every team. For every sport. If they didn't care, or losing didn't bother them, they wouldn't really be fans. If you don't like that, then I would suggest not engaging in game threads. It will help you calm down.

See how that can be turned any way you want? I don't really think you should quit game threads, just making a point. Let people fan the way they want to fan. Just bc you don't like their way doesn't make you right and them wrong. Chill on it already. We get that you hate 7. You don't have to keep beating that drum.

[Cooterpoot]

We sucked! There's no denying that at all. But that game still came down to two plays- the fumble and score and the questionable PI call. You can throw in a kick too but my point is, we still could've won being that bad if we catch a break. That probably kills the bowl talk with this shitaliciously pathetic schedule the SEC is burying us with but it was only game two with a whole new unit on offense and first time coaches calling plays. If we don't see offensive improvement down the road (looking at you soft OL puzz ees), then I'll be disappointed. Defense is a lost cause

[StarkVegasSteve]

On 11. A huge % of fans are reactionary fans. For every team. For every sport. If they didn't care, or losing didn't bother them, they wouldn't really be fans. If you don't like that, then I would suggest not engaging in game threads. It will help you calm down.

See how that can be turned any way you want? I don't really think you should quit game threads, just making a point. Let people fan the way they want to fan. Just bc you don't like their way doesn't make you right and them wrong. Chill on it already. We get that you hate 7. You don't have to keep beating that drum.

I dont hate 7. I appreciate his passion and fandom. Fan bases need ultra passionate fans and even ultra reactionary fans. We all have different ways we watch games. As I have grown out of my 20s and into my 30s I have gotten less reactionary and wanting to fire the coach after a bad game. There have been more than a few times that I have had to go back and delete tweets calling out our teams or coaches. Never individual players, but definitely teams. The 16 Super Regional immediately comes to mind. 7 is still in that mode. Most of the time he has to walk those comments back, see his hate of Chris Jans. But no, I do not hate him.