Thoughts on the game

[Coach34]

1. Shapen is a solid Qb. He is not a good QB nor great. But he is solid. Play #1 more but in no way do you change QB's. He aint ready- especially with a beat up OL

2. We kept getting hurt and that changed the playcalling. We did not run it near as well in the 2nd and especially the 4th Q because their DL was dominating us.

3. What a weird game. They dropped a punt and we got 2 picks on a tipped ball and then the ball bouncing off the TE's helmet. They scored 2 defensive TD's. Blame Shapen if you want- but their pass rush was the difference.

4. We didnt run the ball enough in the 1st half. We were gashing them with their 5 man box but somehow felt we needed to throw

5. Heup blew the game in regulation with his clock management. That was awful. We should have lost by 3 on a last second FG

6. Our DC is doing a great job. We played a lot of man coverage. We slowed them down. We got turnovers. We had them frustrated. Our D played good ball.

7. We have the right HC and are moving in the right direction as a program. We got to get #1 some more OL guys and another weapon or 2 for next season. But this program has taken a giant step forward this season.

[BrunswickDawg]

Spot on takes. And in spite of anything negative - we took a top tier SEC team to a draw in regulation. Plenty on here had this as an embarrassing loss.

Let hope we can heal up some. Texas 8&4 will always be beatable so lets focus on doing just that.

[Todd4State]

I agree with everything Coach.

[HoopsDawg]

First time all day I?ve been on a message or social media and I see tons of people blaming the loss on Shapen. That?s utter stupidity.

[dawggrad08]

Good takes. But I have something to add.

5. I think the exact opposite is true. Lebby blew this game when he didn't take advantage of the soft coverage/box with 1:50 and called 3 straight passes. We were still running the ball decently in the 4th. At the very least you force UT to use their TOs. We could have set our FG team up for a walk off...but we wanted Shapen to be the hero again. Shapen hasnt been sharp since ASU for some reason too. That deep pass early in the 4th should have been a TD to Williams but it was poorly thrown.

[Bothrops]

The A&M of old looks to be history. We'll be a broken team headed into Gainesville. Opportunity for Florida's interim. It sucks to be a State football fan.

[Westdawg]

My thoughts:

1. Our 1s were as good as their?s overall. They had us beat at DL, but overall our D unit as a whole was playing lights out tonight.

2. Both teams threw haymakers all game long. Some connected some didn?t. Loved how we really tried to put our foot on their throat tonight. The team never gave up. And we had our shot in OT - Shapen never saw our WR standing at the end zone uncovered for an easy TD

3. Lebby should have never abandoned the run game at the end of the 4th quarter - really the last two times we had possession. I?m left shaking my head on that one.

4. While it was an amazing game and both teams gave it their all - this game cost both teams some wins down the road ?I?d say 2-3 possibly each. We both lost some big time starters tonight and got severely banged up. Hey, that?s the price you pay in the SEC.

5. Hate that we lost - we had our chances?LEGIT chances to win. It?s been a LONG TIME we?ve been able to say that. This is a really good team with a really solid staff.

[MBDawg601]

Spot on.

I will add this though, regardless of how many vol fans invaded Starkville this weekend. That stadium was rocking. The town was buzzing and it has been a long time since I?ve felt that. Other State fans were saying the same.

A couple of vol fans near me said it was the loudest stadium they?ve ever been to and outside of the cowbells, had a blast. Game-day atmosphere has come a long way.

This one hurts, but I walked out of that place with my head held high because we are DRASTICALLY improved from last year. We were going blow for blow with a Playoff team and really we were 1-2 plays away from taking it. They have much more talent throughout their roster. We should have never been in the game and no-one other than a few folks thought it would be close.

Great game, glad I went. Morale victory? I wouldn?t word it that way, but we are a team people should fear and DWS is a place no-one wants to play.

[parabrave]

A bigger question going forward is how bad is the injury that tool out Reese??

[chef dixon]

If a play goes off script at all, Shapen cannot improvise whatsoever. Otherwise he does fine. It was a recipe for disaster today with their pass rush with a direct result of 2 defensive TDs.

It is what is it. Shapen is the best option we got at present. Excited about #1's potential.

Also our wideouts were physically out matched today as well. Bad combo. The run game saved us. Like others have said, hate we abandoned it last drive of regulation and the first play after the fake punt.

[DownwardDawg]

1. Shapen is a solid Qb. He is not a good QB nor great. But he is solid. Play #1 more but in no way do you change QB's. He aint ready- especially with a beat up OL

2. We kept getting hurt and that changed the playcalling. We did not run it near as well in the 2nd and especially the 4th Q because their DL was dominating us.

3. What a weird game. They dropped a punt and we got 2 picks on a tipped ball and then the ball bouncing off the TE's helmet. They scored 2 defensive TD's. Blame Shapen if you want- but their pass rush was the difference.

4. We didnt run the ball enough in the 1st half. We were gashing them with their 5 man box but somehow felt we needed to throw

5. Heup blew the game in regulation with his clock management. That was awful. We should have lost by 3 on a last second FG

6. Our DC is doing a great job. We played a lot of man coverage. We slowed them down. We got turnovers. We had them frustrated. Our D played good ball.

7. We have the right HC and are moving in the right direction as a program. We got to get #1 some more OL guys and another weapon or 2 for next season. But this program has taken a giant step forward this season.

Can't argue with any of that.

[Coursesuper]

We very simply need more players. Got to build the O line into an SEC line.

[Goldendawg]

We very simply need more players. Got to build the O line into an SEC line.

And the D line. Why do we stay in a 3 man front the majority of every game when we get virtually no pressure on the QB, (I know losing Whitson was a tremendous loss)? Our secondary got abused as they can't cover forever.

[Ranchdawg]

1. I noticed several times we used a spy on their QB. He seldom got to their QB because he was to slow. We have got to get speed and size into linebacker room.

2. Both our D-line and O-line did good only a few times in this game. The rest of the time they got abused. And seriously abused!

3. My god I didn’t think SEC officiating could get any worse well these clowns proved that wrong. Could not even spot the ball at the correct yardage. Wow just Wow! On one of their pass plays our lineman could not jump up and attempt to tip the ball because his jersey was being jerked down around his knees by one of their lineman. I could go on and on!

4. I will not blame Shapen for this loss. He is what he is. A nice QB that will never be an upper echelon QB. But will always make some bone headed plays that should never be done by a 5th year senior.

[basedog]

Regardless of what Shapen is, we need to get our freshman some snaps each half going forward. Our last 7 plays can only be described in one word, terrible. We are a work in progress, I enjoyed our effort and never quitting, saw lots of good things! We should and will win some more games this year and break the 12 or 13 Sec losing streak.
May be the most improved team in the country!

[HoopsDawg]

And the D line. Why do we stay in a 3 man front the majority of every game when we get virtually no pressure on the QB, (I know losing Whitson was a tremendous loss)? Our secondary got abused as they can't cover forever.

If Whitson is healthy and we don?t have the 6 other injuries, we win the game. And that?s crazy.

[99jc]

I totally disagree on Shapen . He is a 5th year QB who has limited skills his pick 6 was the difference in the Game a horrible throw. He can't move in the pocket which tells me in a Game like this we should have used KT more as his scrambling ability would have negated a lot of those heavy pass rushes. Shapen never had a chance on the fumble return so he gets a pass for that one. Our future is KT he needs a lot more reps.

[msstate7]

Regardless of what Shapen is, we need to get our freshman some snaps each half going forward. Our last 7 plays can only be described in one word, terrible. We are a work in progress, I enjoyed our effort and never quitting, saw lots of good things! We should and will win some more games this year and break the 12 or 13 Sec losing streak.
May be the most improved team in the country!

Exactly. I was certainly hard on Shapen in the game thread last night, but damn... every pass on the last 2 drives was horrible. A senior qb should be making winning plays there, not losing ones.

If I'm lebby, I'm getting the freshman a series or 2 every game.

[Dawgface]

7. We have the right HC and are moving in the right direction as a program. We got to get #1 some more OL guys and another weapon or 2 for next season. But this program has taken a giant step forward this season.
Agree with everything. I’m more than pleased with where Lebby has us at this point. I sure hope we get some of the injured back soon as we need them…..to state the obvious.

[Pinto]

My only two complaints are:
1) why didn?t we run the ball after the fake punt? Run it and put it in the end zone there and we break Tennessee.
2) our fans suck. We don?t deserve a championship program if we have fans selling season tickets like was done on the east side. The team gave us everything they had last night and our fans shit the bed on them. If you want a championship program, you have to be in the stands cheering or put other dogs in the stands to cheer. Do better fans and do your part.

[chef dixon]

1st and goal in OT we should have brought KT on quickly. Also why not use a TO for 4th down? Can't take em with you

[BulldogBear]

My only two complaints are:
1) why didn?t we run the ball after the fake punt? Run it and put it in the end zone there and we break Tennessee.
2) our fans suck. We don?t deserve a championship program if we have fans selling season tickets like was done on the east side. The team gave us everything they had last night and our fans shit the bed on them. If you want a championship program, you have to be in the stands cheering or put other dogs in the stands to cheer. Do better fans and do your part.
If I had to guess, a lot of those were sold before the season started or at least before ASU. The Vol fans I know were very eager to go this game, especially the local ones. They haven't played here since 2012.

[basedog]

If I had to guess, a lot of those were sold before the season started or at least before ASU. The Vol fans I know were very eager to go this game, especially the local ones. They haven't played here since 2012.

Can't blame Msu ticket office for selling tickets to anyone, winning solves this problem moving forward for Msu fans buying tickets.

[Bdawg]

We very simply need more players. Got to build the O line into an SEC line.

Injuries hurt us more than others. Our talent level drops too much with each injury it seems. I think this is one game where we could say Whitson could have made the difference. Such a blow to lose your best players. And now our OL looks shaky at best. Also, a healthy Lewis took his lumps at LT and is a starter! We need trench players bad!

[BrunswickDawg]

If I had to guess, a lot of those were sold before the season started or at least before ASU. The Vol fans I know were very eager to go this game, especially the local ones. They haven't played here since 2012.

And TN has always done that here - 1994 was the same way. It also doesn't help that traffic cone orange stands out big time against all the white.

[Bdawg]

1. Shapen is a solid Qb. He is not a good QB nor great. But he is solid. Play #1 more but in no way do you change QB's. He aint ready- especially with a beat up OL

2. We kept getting hurt and that changed the playcalling. We did not run it near as well in the 2nd and especially the 4th Q because their DL was dominating us.

3. What a weird game. They dropped a punt and we got 2 picks on a tipped ball and then the ball bouncing off the TE's helmet. They scored 2 defensive TD's. Blame Shapen if you want- but their pass rush was the difference.

4. We didnt run the ball enough in the 1st half. We were gashing them with their 5 man box but somehow felt we needed to throw

5. Heup blew the game in regulation with his clock management. That was awful. We should have lost by 3 on a last second FG

6. Our DC is doing a great job. We played a lot of man coverage. We slowed them down. We got turnovers. We had them frustrated. Our D played good ball.

7. We have the right HC and are moving in the right direction as a program. We got to get #1 some more OL guys and another weapon or 2 for next season. But this program has taken a giant step forward this season.

Agree with all but I thought Fluff was pounding them in the second half at times. Not running after that fake punt was awful imo. We got a kicker that could possibly hit from 60 if he had the chance. But damn it feels so good to be competitive. Just hurts so bad to let a big time win get away from us

[TrapGame]

Agree with all but I thought Fluff was pounding them in the second half at times. Not running after that fake punt was awful imo. We got a kicker that could possibly hit from 60 if he had the chance. But damn it feels so good to be competitive. Just hurts so bad to let a big time win get away from us

I posted on SVS thread that Heupel knew after that fake punt we were going deep and his DC called max pressure. Running Fluff on 1st down would have gotten a 20 yard gain. The defense was protecting the pass and Fluff would have gashed them good.

[Coach34]

Not counting the fake punt- we had 36 yards on 12 carries in the 4th Q. 3 yards per. The OL injuries took their toll. Our last 3 drives in the 4th we had 20 yards on 8 carries. Thats probably why we threw 3 straight passes on that last drive. That's what I mean by injuries affecting playcalling

[Ranchdawg]

I also wanted to say for the fans that did show and especially the students way to show up and make DWS a tuff place to play again. I had family members at the game from Ft Worth Tx. that had never attended a game at DWS. They said the atmosphere was something they had never experienced before.

Also a “BIG” thumbs up to the team what appeared max effort.

[HancockCountyDog]

I still don?t like the decision to not run KT in OT when we got to 5 yard line.

It does feel good to feel something again.

[Bdawg]

Not counting the fake punt- we had 36 yards on 12 carries in the 4th Q. 3 yards per. The OL injuries took their toll. Our last 3 drives in the 4th we had 20 yards on 8 carries. Thats probably why we threw 3 straight passes on that last drive. That's what I mean by injuries affecting playcalling

The fake punt was within the first minute of the first quarter. We were running the ball with authority up to that point. We should have run the ball after that play to get things moving. Later in the fourth, the injuries took there toll, which I’m sure is what you’re referencing.

[Coach34]

The fake punt was within the first minute of the first quarter.

What? I see somebody was drinking early yesterday

15-yd Run
14:09 - 4th
Sam West run for 15 yds to the MSST 48 for a 1ST down
4th & 7 at MSST 33

aGAIN- we had 36 yards on 12 carries in the 4th Q. We were not running it with "authority"

10 of our 12 rushes in the 4th Q were 3 yards or less

[Maverick91]

Injuries hurt us more than others. Our talent level drops too much with each injury it seems. I think this is one game where we could say Whitson could have made the difference. Such a blow to lose your best players. And now our OL looks shaky at best. Also, a healthy Lewis took his lumps at LT and is a starter! We need trench players bad!

Whitson was out there the whole second half making plays.

[Bdawg]

What? I see somebody was drinking early yesterday

15-yd Run
14:09 - 4th
Sam West run for 15 yds to the MSST 48 for a 1ST down
4th & 7 at MSST 33

aGAIN- we had 36 yards on 12 carries in the 4th Q. We were not running it with "authority"

10 of our 12 rushes in the 4th Q were 3 yards or less

Ha sorry. Meant fourth. Was around the 13-14 min mark in the FOURTH for the punt fake. And you’re twisting my words. I didn’t say we ran it well in the fourth. But Fluff was running it well up to that point. All 3rd quarter, we ran it pretty well. Should not have thrown it 3 times after the punt fake. But I do understand later in the fourth the run was not as strong.

[Goldendawg]

And TN has always done that here - 1994 was the same way. It also doesn't help that traffic cone orange stands out big time against all the white.
You guys do know why TN, Fl, and AU wear orange, don't you?
A. They can hunt in it on Saturdays.
B. They can go to church in it on Sundays.
C. They can pick up trash on the sides of the road in their state for the Department of Corrections on Mondays.

Hail State! Beat A&M!

[NCMSTFAN]

I totally disagree on Shapen . He is a 5th year QB who has limited skills his pick 6 was the difference in the Game a horrible throw. He can't move in the pocket which tells me in a Game like this we should have used KT more as his scrambling ability would have negated a lot of those heavy pass rushes. Shapen never had a chance on the fumble return so he gets a pass for that one. Our future is KT he needs a lot more reps.

I completely agree, Shapen is a solid QB but he wont go out and single handedly win games for us. I like Shapen alot but our future is with KT and I think he needs the reps, yes he is a Freshman but he brings so much at the QB position. Alot of you guys will disagree but I would like to see him get more reps and at some point this season take the team over.

[Bdawg]

Whitson was out there the whole second half making plays.

You mean Williams? Last I checked, Whitson has an ACL and done for the year. Plus, you made me check the stats and I didn’t see a registered tackle.

[gtowndawg]

You mean Williams? Last I checked, Whitson has an ACL and done for the year. Plus, you made me check the stats and I didn’t see a registered tackle.

Correct. Whitson did not play, he's out for the year.

[Maverick91]

Correct. Whitson did not play, he's out for the year.

Idk what you folks talking about. I saw him a few times. Go to 3:10 in the 3rd quarter and like 7 minutes in the 4th. Number 35 is out there.

https://youtu.be/lY-zx2Qpv_o?si=Kfpie4f5pWCQ77BX

[BravesDoggy]

The A&M of old looks to be history. We'll be a broken team headed into Gainesville. Opportunity for Florida's interim. It sucks to be a State football fan.

Shut up. We don?t need fans with this stupid of an attitude. Bye.

[Maverick91]

Shut up. We don?t need fans with this stupid of an attitude. Bye.

I mean like, we need fans. Not like we have a plethora of them. But dang he needs to change his attitude.

[Coach34]

All 3rd quarter, we ran it pretty well. Should not have thrown it 3 times after the punt fake. But I do understand later in the fourth the run was not as strong.

We had 9 carries for 34 yards in the 3rd Q. So 21 carries for 70 yards (22/85 when you count the fake punt) in the 2nd half. We did not run the ball very well in the 2nd half. We ran the ball well in the 1st half for over 100 in spite of the sacks taking yardage away. Should have run it more

[LC Dawg]

Not counting the fake punt- we had 36 yards on 12 carries in the 4th Q. 3 yards per. The OL injuries took their toll. Our last 3 drives in the 4th we had 20 yards on 8 carries. Thats probably why we threw 3 straight passes on that last drive. That's what I mean by injuries affecting playcalling

I agree we weren't running it well late but I think we should have also considered the clock on the last drive in regulation. We gave it back to them with too much time and timeouts and, as you said, were lucky that Huepel mismanaged the hell out of their drive.

[Bdawg]

Idk what you folks talking about. I saw him a few times. Go to 3:10 in the 3rd quarter and like 7 minutes in the 4th. Number 35 is out there.

https://youtu.be/lY-zx2Qpv_o?si=Kfpie4f5pWCQ77BX

35 is Dinkins, right?

[Coach34]

I agree we weren't running it well late but I think we should have also considered the clock on the last drive in regulation. We gave it back to them with too much time and timeouts and, as you said, were lucky that Huepel mismanaged the hell out of their drive.

Oh I can certainly agree that we could have called at least 1 run play in that sequence. I'm just saying I understand why Lebbo went with 3 straight passes. To say he is bad playcaller because of that is ridiculous. Data tells us that we didnt run the ball very well in the 2nd half. Should we have called a run to get Tenn to burn a TO? Possibly.

[Maverick91]

35 is Dinkins, right?

Dang. You right. My dyslexia got me again.

[Bdawg]

We had 9 carries for 34 yards in the 3rd Q. So 21 carries for 70 yards (22/85 when you count the fake punt) in the 2nd half. We did not run the ball very well in the 2nd half. We ran the ball well in the 1st half for over 100 in spite of the sacks taking yardage away. Should have run it more

Actually we had 12 carries for 48 yds (one being a Shapen sack for -5 and another being a 1 yd TD run by Fluff). That gives the RBs 11 carries for 53 yds, where one run could only be a 1 yd gain because it was a TD. Fluff averaged 5.7/carry and Booth had 3.3( he had the only negative run of -3 on that crazy scramble play). They averaged 4.8 together while 1 run could only be 1 yard for the TD. While not world beating, I would call that pretty solid and affective. Fluff ran hard and got a tough first down and a goal line run for a score. If they could do that for 4 quarters you have over 210 for the game. So the 3rd was not that shabby.
I agree would should have ran more first half for sure. 2nd quarter the RBs plus KT were 12/96. With Shapen we were 14/82.

[1eyedog]

Great observation Coach......

[Bdawg]

Dang. You right. My dyslexia got me again.

Ha No problem bud

[Maverick91]

Ha No problem bud

I was really hoping he was out there. Dinkins did a great job though. I didn't see him much in the first half but he made his name known in the second.