more fuel

[justwin]

behind getting a full time ST coach. Hell, if ESPN notices it, then it must be really obvious

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/79102/season-report-card-mississippi-state-3

[deltadawg99]

C- may be a little too generous of a grade. Our special teams were absolutely awful.

Punting was decent when the snap wasn't dropped or the punt wasn't blocked.

[Coach34]

C- may be a little too generous of a grade. Our special teams were absolutely awful.
.

No- Our FG kicking was terrible

Punt Coverage? 38th in the country- we only had 13 punts returned all season for a grand total of 78 yards
KO coverage? 46th in the country

We were solid in our coverage units.

KO Return? 60th in the country.

Punting Avg? 78th but alot goes into that. We moved the football and had to attempt to kill alot of punts inside the opponents 20- which hurts your average. We only punted 51 times all season- putting us tied for 99th

People try to act like our ST's were terrible because our FG kickers were awful and Mullen doesnt put alot into punt returns. He wants the ball caught without turnover or penalty. Thats not a bad philosophy. I think our choice of returner was the problem- and a ST's coach isnt going to change that- the HC has ultimate say there.

[SignalToNoise]

Let's just put someone back there that has the threat of breaking a big play. If he doesn't that's fine just don't turn it over.

[quickstrike2]

I think the continuous missed field goals, and bad snaps and drops directly resulting in points for the other team does make people think our special teams is bad. That's not scoring points and giving points because of the unit.

Now, I will say our punters were pretty solid when they were able to kick it, and our coverage was solid as well. Playing it safe on punt returns is not a bad idea, as long as you don't fair catch it on the damn 5 yard line.

[justwin]

I like holloway taking 90% of KO returns as hes our only threat of returning one for a td.

[HoopsDawg]

No- Our FG kicking was terrible

Punt Coverage? 38th in the country- we only had 13 punts returned all season for a grand total of 78 yards
KO coverage? 46th in the country

We were solid in our coverage units.

KO Return? 60th in the country.

Punting Avg? 78th but alot goes into that. We moved the football and had to attempt to kill alot of punts inside the opponents 20- which hurts your average. We only punted 51 times all season- putting us tied for 99th

People try to act like our ST's were terrible because our FG kickers were awful and Mullen doesnt put alot into punt returns. He wants the ball caught with turnover or penalty. Thats not a bad philosophy. I think our choice of returner was the problem- and a ST's coach isnt going to change that- the HC has ultimate say there.

Did u forget punt returns? What about just the lack of plays we make on special teams such as the key punt block or fake? U have completely lost ur balance as a poster since starting this board.

[Coach34]

Did u forget punt returns? .

I clearly talked about Punt returns- "Mullen doesnt put alot into punt returns. He wants the ball caught without turnover or penalty. Thats not a bad philosophy. I think our choice of returner was the problem- and a ST's coach isnt going to change that- the HC has ultimate say there."

[Coach34]

What about just the lack of plays we make on special teams such as the key punt block or fake? U have completely lost ur balance as a poster since starting this board.

What about us stuffing UPig's fake punt to completely change the momentum of the game?
What about the punt that pinned the BearSharks inside the 5 yd line- and got us an interception on a tipped pass inside their 20? (too bad Brown fumbled it back to them)

Those are just two that come off the top of my head

I showed clearly that our ST's are not "terrible". We do some good things there- but the FG situation is awful and has to get better, and we also have to be more consistent fielding punts so that we dont lose that yardage.

[hacker]

board is much better with hoopsdawg on ignore

[CadaverDawg]

Did u forget punt returns? What about just the lack of plays we make on special teams such as the key punt block or fake? U have completely lost ur balance as a poster since starting this board.

Balance? You of all people should Not mention balance. Early on I liked some of your posts, but for ****s sake, would it kill you to throw .001 % of optimism into your posts?

You don't have to be a sunshine douche, but there is a lot to be positive about with this class. Comparing it to others this year was going to look bad regardless, bc if u follow recruiting like you act like u do..,you would know this wasn't going to be a huge class.

Not to mention, we cannot offer much immediate playing time right now, which is usually a big sell for us. Think a little bit about the whole picture, and maybe add at least a drop of water to that glass 100% empty cup you've got there.

You've become damn near unreadable lately. You make some good points, but you exaggerate to the negative more than Genespage exaggerates to the positive.

[State82]

Balance? You of all people should Not mention balance. Early on I liked some of your posts, but for ****s sake, would it kill you to throw .001 % of optimism into your posts?

You don't have to be a sunshine douche, but there is a lot to be positive about with this class. Comparing it to others this year was going to look bad regardless, bc if u follow recruiting like you act like u do..,you would know this wasn't going to be a huge class.

Not to mention, we cannot offer much immediate playing time right now, which is usually a big sell for us. Think a little bit about the whole picture, and maybe add at least a drop of water to that glass 100% empty cup you've got there.

You've become damn near unreadable lately. You make some good points, but you exaggerate to the negative more than Genespage exaggerates to the positive.

Gonna have to second this motion.

[HoopsDawg]

Balance? You of all people should Not mention balance. Early on I liked some of your posts, but for ****s sake, would it kill you to throw .001 % of optimism into your posts?

You don't have to be a sunshine douche, but there is a lot to be positive about with this class. Comparing it to others this year was going to look bad regardless, bc if u follow recruiting like you act like u do..,you would know this wasn't going to be a huge class.

Not to mention, we cannot offer much immediate playing time right now, which is usually a big sell for us. Think a little bit about the whole picture, and maybe add at least a drop of water to that glass 100% empty cup you've got there.

You've become damn near unreadable lately. You make some good points, but you exaggerate to the negative more than Genespage exaggerates to the positive.

U just remember my negative posts more than my positive. Our special teams were horrible last year and it's ridic to try and defend them. Falls somewhere b/t sheepish and delusional.

In another thread, I tried to let the board know we wouldn't sign carter, Thomas, smith, or griffin and 8 posters went batshit. Called me a rebel and "always wrong" when that's clearly not the case.

[Coach34]

U just remember my negative posts more than my positive. Our special teams were horrible last year and it's ridic to try and defend them.

No matter how many times you say it- it doesnt make it true

Our coverage unts were in the top 1/3 of college football. That is in no way "horrible"

Our FG kicking was horrible. And we need a more consistent PR guy that will catch the damn ball consistently and not allow the ball to roll on us

[HoopsDawg]

No matter how many times you say it- it doesnt make it true

Our coverage unts were in the top 1/3 of college football. That is in no way "horrible"

Our FG kicking was horrible. And we need a more consistent PR guy that will catch the damn ball consistently and not allow the ball to roll on us

Our punt coverage was decent bc our punter kicked the ball 38-40 yards. Personnel decisions could be solved by an intelligent...wait for it....special teams coach. We never let d slay return kicks or punts for goodness sake. And not just personnel with the return men, you have to get the right guys out there to block too. At msu we need to WIN the special teams. We need to excel on special teams. The proper focus could be the catalyst to a special season next year.

[Coach34]

Our punt coverage was decent bc our punter kicked the ball 38-40 yards. Personnel decisions could be solved by an intelligent...wait for it....special teams coach. We never let d slay return kicks or punts for goodness sake. And not just personnel with the return men, you have to get the right guys out there to block too. At msu we need to WIN the special teams. We need to excel on special teams. The proper focus could be the catalyst to a special season next year.

No- our punt coverage was in the top 1/3 on college football. I've shown you the stats.

Personnel decisions will always be made in the end by Mullen. Even if we had had a ST's coach- Slay was not going to return punts for us. Mullen wasnt going to take extra risks with Slay and the Thorpe Award winner getting hurt on ST's when we had no depth behind them.

[HoopsDawg]

No- our punt coverage was in the top 1/3 on college football. I've shown you the stats.

Personnel decisions will always be made in the end by Mullen. Even if we had had a ST's coach- Slay was not going to return punts for us. Mullen wasnt going to take extra risks with Slay and the Thorpe Award winner getting hurt on ST's when we had no depth behind them.

Umm, Banks returned punts.

[justwin]

This is it. So how do we get 3+ ST touchdowns a season? Holloway on KO returns exclusively & Lewis / Ross / rojo on punts.

We do need a steady FG kicker and I think that's a byproduct of a FT ST coach.

Saint Mullen needs to be the OC ala Spurrier.


[ At msu we need to WIN the special teams. We need to excel on special teams. The proper focus could be the catalyst to a special season next year.[/QUOTE]

[smootness]

I don't think anyone disagrees that it would be better for us to have a ST coach, but if you grade out each are of ST...

Punt coverage - B
KO coverage - B to B-
KO return - C
Punt return - D
Punting overall - C
Kicking - F

then I don't think an overall grade of C- is crazy. And by the way, C- is not good. No one is claiming that. C- is below-average, meaning we need to improve there. And we certainly need to improve FG kicking since it's a huge part of the game.

[sleepy dawg]

"They came in gritty fashion, but overtime victories over Arkansas and Ole Miss ultimately turned the narrative of the season, casting the Bulldogs as the comeback kids and Mullen as a coach securely headed into his fifth season in Starkville."


Did anyone else know we were known as the "comeback kids"? Also, it's good to see Mullen gets to do his 5th year again next year. That means he should have 5 bowls in 5 seasons.