A game we never win, we will win in the fall

[BeastMan]

And that would be Arkansas at Little Rock. They just had 4 players announce they were transferring (always happens w/new coach) including senior QB Brandon Mitchell. He moved to WR last year to get more PT and was a really good athlete. Not a great QB but a playmaker. The guy they are going with is soph Brandon Allen who had 1 td & 3 ints in mop up duty last year. Was also suspended 4 games for arrest. They have nothing at QB,WR, or RB. I think their defense will be better but what they have returning on offense paired with Bielema's offense= worst offense in the SEC next year. Rough year coming for the Hogs.

[Goat Holder]

We will beat them, and one of LSU/Alabama. I think we beat Auburn and Ole Miss too. It's our year, book it.

[FlabLoser]

When I read this title I was thinking LSU. Beating both Arky and LSU would be really good for our W-L.

[Will James]

I say W vs TAM and ARK, L to Bama and LSU.

Coonasses always find a way.

[FlabLoser]

Doesn't that new Arky coach prefer a power running game? It will take a while to switch personnel to that.

[GiggityDawg]

We're not beating A&M at College Station. They may have lost some key guys, but they will still have their way with us.

[dickiedawg]

Doesn't that new Arky coach prefer a power running game? It will take a while to switch personnel to that.

True, but surely he's a smart enough guy to somewhat tailor his game to his players.

[Coach34]

I think we take down UPig as well. The Bielema love will subside as their season progresses
Auburn is the big one to me- that's a toss-up and going to be one we really need to get.
I wanna believe we can beat LSU and this is a year in which we will have a chance, especially with their schedule like it is. I just cant make myself believe it- yet.
We aint beating Bammer and very unlikely we get A&M. A&M still has alot of talent on that team. Mike Sherman- helluva recruiter, terrible coach.
We'll be in a good fight with SC- but that one will be hard to get also

8 wins is certainly attainable

[Goat Holder]

True, but surely he's a smart enough guy to somewhat tailor his game to his players.

They don't have any players. All their decent playmakers are gone, much like Auburn. I 100% believe that we have a better roster top to bottom than both of those teams.

[Pollodawg]

How does AU look on offense this year? Didn't they lose their leading rusher from last season? I know Frazier is back. He will be better simply because Malzahn will know how to use him, but--let's be honest--he aint no Cam Newton. There isn't but one of those.

[Political Hack]

LSU is a distinct possibility. First time in a log time that our offense has a chance to match up we'll against their defense. Tubby, RoJo, Perk, and Malcolm will have to play lights out, but I actually feel like we may be able to score on them this year.

[Pollodawg]

And as far as OM goes, I think we not only beat the bears, I think we destroy them in a revenge game from last season. After three beatings in a row, Mullen got soft on OM. Every season but last year, he made them the emphasis. But I think what happened in Oxford has woken up the fire to embarrass them again.

And LSU......I would love to beat them, but won't be holding my breath. They lost a lot of seasoned talent on D, but will also be replacing that talent with 4 and 5 star guys........I waffle back and forth on this one.

[Pollodawg]

LSU is a distinct possibility. First time in a log time that our offense has a chance to match up we'll against their defense. Tubby, RoJo, Perk, and Malcolm will have to play lights out, but I actually feel like we may be able to score on them this year.

We scored on them last year. Except for one bad pass, Tyler ate LSU up. The dude was 26-38 for 295 yards in BR. Bump had 140 yards all on his lonesome. Defense lost us that game. That long td bomb with 11 seconds before the half killed us. It would have only been 13-10 had we held on.

[Political Hack]

True Pollo. Another reason I think we'll be able to score on them. I also think we'll have a good chance at confusing Met. This is his fourth OC while on college and the guy's bringing an NFL system in. I think they're going to have lots of problems early and then the fans will take over and Met will be boo'd out of BR before having a real chance to shine.

[The Croom Diaries]

If the UPig prediction is correct, then it will be the first time we've ever beaten them up there. And it would keep alive the tradition of beating them under their coach's 1st year - Nutt '98, Petrino '08, and Smith '12....tied with Ford in '93 in Little Rock, which is the only time we have gone to Arkansas and not lost.

[Pollodawg]

True Pollo. Another reason I think we'll be able to score on them. I also think we'll have a good chance at confusing Met. This is his fourth OC while on college and the guy's bringing an NFL system in. I think they're going to have lots of problems early and then the fans will take over and Met will be boo'd out of BR before having a real chance to shine.

I didn't realize that about the OC, but that's a good point. I tried to rep you, but it had been too soon. lol

[M.Fillmore]

We beat Auburn, UM, UK, and UPig. Lose a close one to LSU, get whupped by Bama, aTm, USC.
I'm not convinced Bo Wallace plays a lot next year, shoulder issue will be problematic.

[maroonmania]

We're not beating A&M at College Station. They may have lost some key guys, but they will still have their way with us.

I echo this, Kevin Sumlin is a hell of a coach and Manziel is a hell of a college QB. I certainly don't see us going out to College Station this year and having much of a chance to win. Even with our snake bitten luck against LSU I still see us, given their personnel losses, having a better chance to beat them in Starkville relatively early in the year than winning @A&M. And in regard to Arkansas this is one year I REALLY wish we had them early. They are really going to be just finding their way early on with all the transition so that would be the ideal time to play them but, of course, we have them toward the very end again.

[Dawgface]

I like all the positive predictions but I will believe it when I see it. I'm always a pessimist though.

[Ronny]

..if we will beat UPig this fall (I would say there is a 50/50 chance we will), but if you think UPig football sunk into the abyss last year, go look at their 2013 schedule.

If they win 4 games this fall, their coach should be anointed SEC COTY.

[CadaverDawg]

True Pollo. Another reason I think we'll be able to score on them. I also think we'll have a good chance at confusing Met. This is his fourth OC while on college and the guy's bringing an NFL system in. I think they're going to have lots of problems early and then the fans will take over and Met will be boo'd out of BR before having a real chance to shine.

Good points. You and Pollo are right on the money because you are talking about our defense. Our defense is what has to step up against the big boys in my opinion. If we want to beat LSU, we have got to shorten the game by having some semblance of a running game, but that can't happen unless our defense keeps us in it. If you get in a shootout with LSU, you lose...because they have the best athletes in the country on their defense regardless of age, and you will turn the ball over.

My optimism comes from Collins at DC. I truly don't think we will see any major changes in offensive production this year though. It will look a little different, but the production will be roughly the same. BUT, if our defense is not ****ing worthless like it was last year, then we won't need much more offensive production to have a great year.

I think you are spot on about confusing Mettenberger. I think Collins will come out and blitz his ass to death. Mettenberger showed last year that he panics when he's pressured (so Chris Wilson brought none).

[Coach 57]

It is optimistic overload over hear. Let's take this one step at a time.


1st.) As far as Arky suffering this yr. Count me in as a buyer in this stock for a couple of reasons. The first (as you mentioned) is the loss of key contributors on offense in personnel. But one of the BIGGEST reasons they will suffer is the adaptation of the new scheme. Coach B is a West Coast style coach. He LOVES to ground & pound you with a physical running attack and dink & dunk with the short yardage underneath stuff as you ( a DC) try to compensate for the running game. The biggest hurdle with West Coast philosophies is the verbiage. And the QBs ability to see which front he is facing. Then moving the attention to the 2nd level of the defense to see what the OLB & S is showing you. That takes time to develop. And who knows, the young man MIGHT be able to do so quickly & comfortably without much of a transitional period. But odds are not in his favor to do so. Plus in order for this to work the run game MUST be a dangerous threat to move the chains Vs a defenses base personnel and I think they will struggle to make opposing defenses obligate the extra man to create said threat.

2.) Slow down on the love parade for our beloved bulldawgs. Yes we have some promising prospects for this year. A senior QB, a healthy experienced OL, an ALL-SEC monster at DE and an aggressive DC (hopefully). But we do have some other things that aren't in our favor either. A tougher schedule, inexperienced WRs w/ a passing style QB, unproven DBs, inconsistent LB play (except Skinner), QB depth that is REALLY scarey! The one thing that jumps out at me most is this. What happens if Tyler gets hurt? We will have an entire overhaul of the offense in scheme is what I am thinking. Not saying that it'll be bad or good, but in moat cases the needle on this wheel of fortune normally points to the bad.


3.) If Wallace stays healthy it will be an absolute BARN BURNER of an Egg Bowl! We won't blow them out, you can book it! The biggest thing they & everybody else took from the Egg Bowl was this "if you hit 17 he will fold." The scheme carried over to the Gator Bowl. Tyler was hit repeatedly after the play, during the play. Every time he took a three step drop or more he was on the ground. Heavesy & Mullen can NOT let that continue! It starts to attack his psyche. And before you know it as a DL or LB who is blitzing when you start to see him cringe before full contact is made you have a negative thinking QB who will plague his team of momentum. I was taught by one of the best DL coaches in the state to never stop hitting the QB. When we were piled up he was being hit @ the bottom, after his follow through-smash him! And when his back us to you and he's waiting for his post route to clear the zone "give God praise for blessing you with such a fine gift of glory!" Our staff needs to make sure our OL is absolutely nasty this yr! If they see that they should crush the defensive player for even thinking about it! Be nasty!

[Pollodawg]

It is optimistic overload over hear. Let's take this one step at a time.


1st.) As far as Arky suffering this yr. Count me in as a buyer in this stock for a couple of reasons. The first (as you mentioned) is the loss of key contributors on offense in personnel. But one of the BIGGEST reasons they will suffer is the adaptation of the new scheme. Coach B is a West Coast style coach. He LOVES to ground & pound you with a physical running attack and dink & dunk with the short yardage underneath stuff as you ( a DC) try to compensate for the running game. The biggest hurdle with West Coast philosophies is the verbiage. And the QBs ability to see which front he is facing. Then moving the attention to the 2nd level of the defense to see what the OLB & S is showing you. That takes time to develop. And who knows, the young man MIGHT be able to do so quickly & comfortably without much of a transitional period. But odds are not in his favor to do so. Plus in order for this to work the run game MUST be a dangerous threat to move the chains Vs a defenses base personnel and I think they will struggle to make opposing defenses obligate the extra man to create said threat.

2.) Slow down on the love parade for our beloved bulldawgs. Yes we have some promising prospects for this year. A senior QB, a healthy experienced OL, an ALL-SEC monster at DE and an aggressive DC (hopefully). But we do have some other things that aren't in our favor either. A tougher schedule, inexperienced WRs w/ a passing style QB, unproven DBs, inconsistent LB play (except Skinner), QB depth that is REALLY scarey! The one thing that jumps out at me most is this. What happens if Tyler gets hurt? We will have an entire overhaul of the offense in scheme is what I am thinking. Not saying that it'll be bad or good, but in moat cases the needle on this wheel of fortune normally points to the bad.


3.) If Wallace stays healthy it will be an absolute BARN BURNER of an Egg Bowl! We won't blow them out, you can book it! The biggest thing they & everybody else took from the Egg Bowl was this "if you hit 17 he will fold." The scheme carried over to the Gator Bowl. Tyler was hit repeatedly after the play, during the play. Every time he took a three step drop or more he was on the ground. Heavesy & Mullen can NOT let that continue! It starts to attack his psyche. And before you know it as a DL or LB who is blitzing when you start to see him cringe before full contact is made you have a negative thinking QB who will plague his team of momentum. I was taught by one of the best DL coaches in the state to never stop hitting the QB. When we were piled up he was being hit @ the bottom, after his follow through-smash him! And when his back us to you and he's waiting for his post route to clear the zone "give God praise for blessing you with such a fine gift of glory!" Our staff needs to make sure our OL is absolutely nasty this yr! If they see that they should crush the defensive player for even thinking about it! Be nasty!


I agree with a lot of this, but if TR goes down, Dak is more than serviceable. We will probably just revert back to the style of offense that won us 9 games with a two star QB and no WR crops to speak of, the offense that Mullen loves, the one we ran for three seasons prior to this one and the offense that most of these players were recruited for........

[CadaverDawg]

I agree with a lot of this, but if TR goes down, Dak is more than serviceable. We will probably just revert back to the style of offense that won us 9 games with a two star QB and no WR crops to speak of, the offense that Mullen loves, the one we ran for three seasons prior to this one and the offense that most of these players were recruited for........

Yep. If I had it my way, we would start the season with the old style of offense, because I don't see Russell having a better year than last year with a tougher schedule and inexperienced WR's. Plus, Danny Two Gloves has proven he can turn chicken shit into chicken salad with that offense, and Dak is far from chicken shit.

[hailmari]

That fumble by either Robinson or Milton was huge too.. Just gave them 7 points.

[Coach34]

It is optimistic overload over hear. Let's take this one step at a time.

QB depth that is REALLY scarey! The one thing that jumps out at me most is this. What happens if Tyler gets hurt? We will have an entire overhaul of the offense in scheme is what I am thinking. Not saying that it'll be bad or good, but in moat cases the needle on this wheel of fortune normally points to the bad

I think Russell getting hurt would be a blessing. I know that sounds crazy, however:

1. We would simplify the offense and get back to the zone read
2. Dak can throw the ball enough to keep teams honest on D
3. We have better deep threats this season than we have had in the Mullen Era- safeties creeping up could get burnt
4. We would depend on the QB and RB's the most- and that is the strength of our offense

[Coach34]

That fumble by either Robinson or Milton was huge too.. Just gave them 7 points.

Butter-fingers Milton fumbled and change the momentum of the LSU game

[BeastMan]

When I read this title I was thinking LSU. Beating both Arky and LSU would be really good for our W-L.

I never count LSU as a win, ever. I pencil them in as a loss

[Pollodawg]

I think Russell getting hurt would be a blessing. I know that sounds crazy, however:

1. We would simplify the offense and get back to the zone read
2. Dak can throw the ball enough to keep teams honest on D
3. We have better deep threats this season than we have had in the Mullen Era- safeties creeping up could get burnt
4. We would depend on the QB and RB's the most- and that is the strength of our offense

Let Holloway get behind a db on a play. It's over. I would be willing to say that there are few to no DBs in this conference or any others that could flat footed run him down from behind. He would be deadly on the option as shifty and fast as he is. By the time he was corralled, it be too late in most cases.

[Pollodawg]

But to reiterate, I don't give a shit about passing records or how pretty a ball a QB can throw. I want a gritty, tough S.O.B. that's gonna put a team on his shoulders and get that foot on fourth and goal. We are built to be an option team. We are not, nor have we ever been a pass first offense. Mullen needs to wake up and stop trying to pound square peg into round hole.

[maroonmania]

It is optimistic overload over hear. Let's take this one step at a time.


1st.) As far as Arky suffering this yr. Count me in as a buyer in this stock for a couple of reasons. The first (as you mentioned) is the loss of key contributors on offense in personnel. But one of the BIGGEST reasons they will suffer is the adaptation of the new scheme. Coach B is a West Coast style coach. He LOVES to ground & pound you with a physical running attack and dink & dunk with the short yardage underneath stuff as you ( a DC) try to compensate for the running game. The biggest hurdle with West Coast philosophies is the verbiage. And the QBs ability to see which front he is facing. Then moving the attention to the 2nd level of the defense to see what the OLB & S is showing you. That takes time to develop. And who knows, the young man MIGHT be able to do so quickly & comfortably without much of a transitional period. But odds are not in his favor to do so. Plus in order for this to work the run game MUST be a dangerous threat to move the chains Vs a defenses base personnel and I think they will struggle to make opposing defenses obligate the extra man to create said threat.

2.) Slow down on the love parade for our beloved bulldawgs. Yes we have some promising prospects for this year. A senior QB, a healthy experienced OL, an ALL-SEC monster at DE and an aggressive DC (hopefully). But we do have some other things that aren't in our favor either. A tougher schedule, inexperienced WRs w/ a passing style QB, unproven DBs, inconsistent LB play (except Skinner), QB depth that is REALLY scarey! The one thing that jumps out at me most is this. What happens if Tyler gets hurt? We will have an entire overhaul of the offense in scheme is what I am thinking. Not saying that it'll be bad or good, but in moat cases the needle on this wheel of fortune normally points to the bad.


3.) If Wallace stays healthy it will be an absolute BARN BURNER of an Egg Bowl! We won't blow them out, you can book it! The biggest thing they & everybody else took from the Egg Bowl was this "if you hit 17 he will fold." The scheme carried over to the Gator Bowl. Tyler was hit repeatedly after the play, during the play. Every time he took a three step drop or more he was on the ground. Heavesy & Mullen can NOT let that continue! It starts to attack his psyche. And before you know it as a DL or LB who is blitzing when you start to see him cringe before full contact is made you have a negative thinking QB who will plague his team of momentum. I was taught by one of the best DL coaches in the state to never stop hitting the QB. When we were piled up he was being hit @ the bottom, after his follow through-smash him! And when his back us to you and he's waiting for his post route to clear the zone "give God praise for blessing you with such a fine gift of glory!" Our staff needs to make sure our OL is absolutely nasty this yr! If they see that they should crush the defensive player for even thinking about it! Be nasty!

Number 3 is dead on. People forget that we beat those pansies up north 3 years in row with the Rebel Killer (Relf) because he was a tough hombre' and we ran it down their throat by manhandling them. Russell is a finesse player and always will be. I will give Russell credit for at least not having happy feet in the pocket, he will stand in there til the bitter end but its obvious when he does that it has a big effect on him as the game wears on.

[Coach 57]

Guys you don't understand. The offense we have practiced all spring and this coming fall will be tailored to Tyler. Not to Dak. There's a reason Mullen keeps saying "we will go as far as Tyler will take us" because he as a coach knows it's easy for people to say "we'll just revert back". Doing that in the middle of a season riddled with difficult opponents is something else entirely. Do you guts not remember myself, Cadaver & C34 saying we "will be a better TEAM with Dak"? Do you guys not remember guys like Cookie blasting us saying we were idiots on the ole SPS? Excuse the reference but Dan has gone "ALL IN" with Tyler. If he goes down (I pray he doesn't) you will see what I'm saying. There's a reason our OLmen are getting heavier we are now tailoring the offense to Tyler. Watch, when he leaves our OL will start to shed weight because spread OLmen are lighter and zone block, pull and cut. They need to be lighter to accommodate a quicker and mobile QB. YOU CANT CHANGE THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON! That is a spring and fall developmental process not done in the heat of the season!

[CadaverDawg]

Guys you don't understand. The offense we have practiced all spring and this coming fall will be tailored to Tyler. Not to Dak. There's a reason Mullen keeps saying "we will go as far as Tyler will take us" because he as a coach knows it's easy for people to say "we'll just revert back". Doing that in the middle of a season riddled with difficult opponents is something else entirely. Do you guts not remember myself, Cadaver & C34 saying we "will be a better TEAM with Dak"? Do you guys not remember guys like Cookie blasting us saying we were idiots on the ole SPS? Excuse the reference but Dan has gone "ALL IN" with Tyler. If he goes down (I pray he doesn't) you will see what I'm saying. There's a reason our OLmen are getting heavier we are now tailoring the offense to Tyler. Watch, when he leaves our OL will start to shed weight because spread OLmen are lighter and zone block, pull and cut. They need to be lighter to accommodate a quicker and mobile QB. YOU CANT CHANGE THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEASON! That is a spring and fall developmental process not done in the heat of the season!

Yep.

And how stupid is it to make all of those changes for 1...not 2....but 1...more season of Tyler Russell? That's one of the many reasons I just wanted us to move on from Russell. It makes no sense to stray that far from what you're built to do so that ONE guy can "fit".

And spare us the "bbbbut Russell is our best QB EVER" bull shit, because he is not. He may be our best "passing QB" ever, but we could win as many games, if not more, games with Dak and the Spread option than we can with Russell and this new "let's give this a shot" offense.

It's kind of a shame that Gabe Jackson will be gone before we ever get back to the type of offense that we could really utilize him in.

[Todd4State]

Yep.

And how stupid is it to make all of those changes for 1...not 2....but 1...more season of Tyler Russell? That's one of the many reasons I just wanted us to move on from Russell. It makes no sense to stray that far from what you're built to do so that ONE guy can "fit".

And spare us the "bbbbut Russell is our best QB EVER" bull shit, because he is not. He may be our best "passing QB" ever, but we could win as many games, if not more, games with Dak and the Spread option than we can with Russell and this new "let's give this a shot" offense.

It's kind of a shame that Gabe Jackson will be gone before we ever get back to the type of offense that we could really utilize him in.

There's a reason why QB is the position it is. Because EVERY offense is built around what the QB can do and their strengths. I doubt Barry Brunetti could do what Bo Wallace does at Ole Miss. It's the same offense, but it's different. Unless it's some primitive offense from the 1920's or something that no one runs.

Did we not rail Croom's ass for not tailoring his offense around Omarr Conner, but yet Dan gets criticized because he is building his offense around what Tyler can do?

I'm sorry- but if Dan told Tyler who was committed to MSU- "hey, we you don't fit our offense"- and he goes to Alabama and becomes a star there- it would be another "I can't believe MSU let __ QB slip through our fingers." We would look like dumbasses if we did that.

[CadaverDawg]

There's a reason why QB is the position it is. Because EVERY offense is built around what the QB can do and their strengths. I doubt Barry Brunetti could do what Bo Wallace does at Ole Miss. It's the same offense, but it's different. Unless it's some primitive offense from the 1920's or something that no one runs.

Did we not rail Croom's ass for not tailoring his offense around Omarr Conner, but yet Dan gets criticized because he is building his offense around what Tyler can do?

I'm sorry- but if Dan told Tyler who was committed to MSU- "hey, we you don't fit our offense"- and he goes to Alabama and becomes a star there- it would be another "I can't believe MSU let __ QB slip through our fingers." We would look like dumbasses if we did that.

I'm in no way saying you can't tailor your offense to a star player....but I don't see Tyler as a star player. And I think Mullen would have been nuts not to sign Tyler. We had nothing.

And I'm not even sure how I would handle not playing Tyler this year, because that would be a tough thing to do...so I'm not "criticizing" him necessarily. I'm just looking at how this current team is built perfectly for a ground attack this year, and we have what looks like a damn good spread guy in Dak. So I hate to put one guy over the program. But I'm not naive in the fact that it would not look good to bench Tyler his Senior year after a bunch of passing records.

So basically what I'm saying is...in a perfect world where we wouldn't have to worry about hurting Russell's feelings or looking bad towards future QB recruits...I would want Dak to start behind this experienced OLine and these inexperienced WR's. BUT, since it isn't a perfect world, I think Mullen is doing the only thing he Can do, which is if you're going to have to play Tyler, tailor it around him as best you can and hope to pull some magic.

I actually am doing the opposite of criticizing Mullen because he is in a very tough spot....I just selfishly hate that we can't get back to the spread option THIS year, because we have a team that seems built perfectly for it this season. It's not really Mullen's fault that Tyler has been what we thought he would be, which is a damn good passing QB. He just doesn't fit Mullen's bread and butter offense. It's neither of their faults.

ETA: Ok, looking at my previous post, maybe I was a little critical...but I know Mullen is doing the only thing he can do. Had he gone with Dak last year, he wouldn't be forced to play Tyler this year. But Dak wasn't ready, so it is what it is. It's still unfortunate though in my opinion.

[Pollodawg]

Yep.

And how stupid is it to make all of those changes for 1...not 2....but 1...more season of Tyler Russell? That's one of the many reasons I just wanted us to move on from Russell. It makes no sense to stray that far from what you're built to do so that ONE guy can "fit".

And spare us the "bbbbut Russell is our best QB EVER" bull shit, because he is not. He may be our best "passing QB" ever, but we could win as many games, if not more, games with Dak and the Spread option than we can with Russell and this new "let's give this a shot" offense.

It's kind of a shame that Gabe Jackson will be gone before we ever get back to the type of offense that we could really utilize him in.


Yep. Spot on. Why spend two off season building around a QB that won't be here in a matter of months when we've spent years building a spread team?

[Pollodawg]

I'll never say Tyler isn't a good QB. He just isn't the kind Mullen likes to run. It's not his fault. It's not Dan's fault. I just would like to us start integrating Dak into the offense in bigger and bigger chunks. He will be the future, after all.

[Coach34]

I'll never say Tyler isn't a good QB. He just isn't the kind Mullen likes to run. It's not his fault. It's not Dan's fault. I just would like to us start integrating Dak into the offense in bigger and bigger chunks. He will be the future, after all.

Well, we had to do something. That shit we tried to run last year was terrible. Had we faced this kind of schedule last year- Tyler's numbers wouldnt look near as good asthey did.

Changes had to be made. I'll just be very happy when the Tyler Russell Era is done and we can get back to the Spread Option

[FlabLoser]

Standing by for Dan to run an offense with his own QB recruit. Starting year 5 and still don't have that guy.

QB recruiting is my biggest slam on Mullen. Huge swing with Cord, back to the wall, and.....

[woozman]

I'll never say Tyler isn't a good QB. He just isn't the kind Mullen likes to run. It's not his fault. It's not Dan's fault. I just would like to us start integrating Dak into the offense in bigger and bigger chunks. He will be the future, after all.

You're assuming that Dak will return 100% from his turf toe. Hasn't that injury sent numerous NFL guys into retirement?

[Coach34]

Standing by for Dan to run an offense with his own QB recruit. Starting year 5 and still don't have that guy.

QB recruiting is my biggest slam on Mullen. Huge swing with Cord, back to the wall, and.....

Well, Russell is a 4-star QB that was signed by Mullen. He has to count. And he has to play- Mullen has no choice. He just doesnt fit Mullen's system. We have a 4-star QB backed up by a 3-star who was offered by LSU and TCU. It's really hard to say we are in bad shape at QB.

Our lack of WR recruiting is far far more discouraging than QB. We havent had a legit pro caliber WR yet. They are much easier to find than QB's

[Coach34]

You're assuming that Dak will return 100% from his turf toe. Hasn't that injury sent numerous NFL guys into retirement?

Dak's toe is not a big concern. He is ready to go

[Political Hack]

this is assanine to even compare the two at this stage. One is coming into his fourth year taking snaps. The other, his second (and missed spring). It's not even close.

Just for the record, I think this is our best chance to beat LSU in a long time. Not that we'll actually do it. I see 6-7 wins right now.

[Ronny]

..into a Tyler Russell thread, here is my 2 cents on that:

1st, I blame the vast majority of Russell's shoddy play in the last 5 games on our shitty defense.

Against elite SEC competition, that was the worst display of MSU defense I have seen since the final years of Jackie's tenure.

They were constantly out of position, & when they were in the rare mood to hit somebody, they didn't know who to hit. And you call say all you want about Jon Banks, but he was constantly hamstrung by being force to play in a defensive backfield with a bunch of indecisive dumbasses.

Back to Russell: What Russell brings to the table is something rarely seen on a MSU football team: Leadership. And I mean leadership from the QB position. For all of Relf's positives, he didn't possess the personality to lead from the QB position. Russell possesses such a personality.

Add to Russell's 2012 woes a cadre of mediocre underachievers @ the WR position. Bumphis disappeared in every big game. The rest are utterly unforgettable in what they contributed to the 2012 campaign.

It looks like Mullen is going to use his big uglies to run the ball this fall. Sounds good to me, except he doesn't have a physical, punishing FB in the mold of Michael Davis. If Mullen wants to play Jackie-ball, I'm all for it. Just find you a 6'2" 210 lb FB who can wear out a defense.

As far as the passing, all I hear is how awesome our TE's will be, yet everybody acts like if we actually throw a pass to one of our TE's it will mark the defining moment in Mullen's downfall. From where I am sitting, Russell will have his 2013 WR targets locked & loaded. All I ask is there is no Chad Bumphis-type who will fall off the face of the earth in games against LSU, aTm, Bama, Ole Miss, etc.

If you wanted a top-notch SEC QB, you will have it this fall. If you wanted an OL that is big & mean & can take over a game, you will have it this fall.

So I don't get all the bitching.

My only bone of contention is the defense. Will they finally hit somebody in 2013 after taking 2012 off? We'll find out vs. OSU.

Lastly, get the special teams up to snuff, Dan. Enough of having to endure that Circus Maximus year after year after year.

[Pollodawg]

..into a Tyler Russell thread, here is my 2 cents on that:

1st, I blame the vast majority of Russell's shoddy play in the last 5 games on our shitty defense.

Against elite SEC competition, that was the worst display of MSU defense I have seen since the final years of Jackie's tenure.

They were constantly out of position, & when they were in the rare mood to hit somebody, they didn't know who to hit. And you call say all you want about Jon Banks, but he was constantly hamstrung by being force to play in a defensive backfield with a bunch of indecisive dumbasses.

Back to Russell: What Russell brings to the table is something rarely seen on a MSU football team: Leadership. And I mean leadership from the QB position. For all of Relf's positives, he didn't possess the personality to lead from the QB position. Russell possesses such a personality.

Add to Russell's 2012 woes a cadre of mediocre underachievers @ the WR position. Bumphis disappeared in every big game. The rest are utterly unforgettable in what they contributed to the 2012 campaign.

It looks like Mullen is going to use his big uglies to run the ball this fall. Sounds good to me, except he doesn't have a physical, punishing FB in the mold of Michael Davis. If Mullen wants to play Jackie-ball, I'm all for it. Just find you a 6'2" 210 lb FB who can wear out a defense.

As far as the passing, all I hear is how awesome our TE's will be, yet everybody acts like if we actually throw a pass to one of our TE's it will mark the defining moment in Mullen's downfall. From where I am sitting, Russell will have his 2013 WR targets locked & loaded. All I ask is there is no Chad Bumphis-type who fall off the face of the earth in games against LSU, aTm, Bama, Ole Miss, etc.

If you wanted a top-notch SEC QB, you will have it this fall. If you wanted an OL that is big & mean & can take over a game, you will have it this fall.

So I don't get all the bitching.

My only bone of contention is the defense. Will they finally hit somebody in 2013 after taking 2012 off? We'll find out vs. OSU.

Lastly, get the special teams up to snuff, Dan. Enough of having to endure that Circus Maximus year after year after year.

We have a between the tackles, every down back in Robinson. LP, in my opinion, is not such a back. He is more of an option style scat back. The same with Jameon Lewis.

[Ronny]

We have a between the tackles, every down back in Robinson. LP, in my opinion, is not such a back. He is more of an option style scat back. The same with Jameon Lewis.

..are no Michael Davis types on our roster.

Or to put it another way, there is nobody on our roster who possesses the Michael Davis build, the big bruiser that can go head-to-head with a LSU LB & gain 2 yards via pure meaness & muscle.

Since the SEC has gone to the West Coast/Spread offense, the Michael Davis brand of FB's have become all but extinct.

Too bad, since this is the year when a Michael Davis would flourish behind our huge, physical OL.

[Todd4State]

I'm in no way saying you can't tailor your offense to a star player....but I don't see Tyler as a star player. And I think Mullen would have been nuts not to sign Tyler. We had nothing.

And I'm not even sure how I would handle not playing Tyler this year, because that would be a tough thing to do...so I'm not "criticizing" him necessarily. I'm just looking at how this current team is built perfectly for a ground attack this year, and we have what looks like a damn good spread guy in Dak. So I hate to put one guy over the program. But I'm not naive in the fact that it would not look good to bench Tyler his Senior year after a bunch of passing records.

So basically what I'm saying is...in a perfect world where we wouldn't have to worry about hurting Russell's feelings or looking bad towards future QB recruits...I would want Dak to start behind this experienced OLine and these inexperienced WR's. BUT, since it isn't a perfect world, I think Mullen is doing the only thing he Can do, which is if you're going to have to play Tyler, tailor it around him as best you can and hope to pull some magic.

I actually am doing the opposite of criticizing Mullen because he is in a very tough spot....I just selfishly hate that we can't get back to the spread option THIS year, because we have a team that seems built perfectly for it this season. It's not really Mullen's fault that Tyler has been what we thought he would be, which is a damn good passing QB. He just doesn't fit Mullen's bread and butter offense. It's neither of their faults.

ETA: Ok, looking at my previous post, maybe I was a little critical...but I know Mullen is doing the only thing he can do. Had he gone with Dak last year, he wouldn't be forced to play Tyler this year. But Dak wasn't ready, so it is what it is. It's still unfortunate though in my opinion.

I'm not saying you tailor your offense around Tyler because he is a star. I'm saying you build your offense around him because he is the QB.

Just like John Skelton is not a star QB in the NFL, but the Arizona Cardinals had to tailor their offense around him because he is their QB.

It's really not any different than when we tailored the offense around Relf when he was the QB.

[Todd4State]

Well, Russell is a 4-star QB that was signed by Mullen. He has to count. And he has to play- Mullen has no choice. He just doesnt fit Mullen's system. We have a 4-star QB backed up by a 3-star who was offered by LSU and TCU. It's really hard to say we are in bad shape at QB.

Our lack of WR recruiting is far far more discouraging than QB. We havent had a legit pro caliber WR yet. They are much easier to find than QB's


THIS all day long. Of all the complaints about Dan's recruiting- for me this is the biggest. For some reason he sometimes doesn't fill needs for some reason. A couple of years ago, it was the o-line the year we had to move Carmon over to OT. And last year, despite having Tyler on the roster for years, we had ONE WR over 6'3", and he was a redshirt freshman. How do you not know that you don't have some WR's with size who you can use to stretch the field and go up and get the ball? We basically started three slot WR's last year.

[FISHDAWG]

exactly my thoughts as well - except for Auburn - it appears that Kyle Frazier is going to be their QB again this season and I believe that is a big part of their problems ... I see them better defensively than they were last year but still unable to move the ball ...... we are gonna beat those guys on their home field this year and I will be there to extoll the emotional taxes that are owed to us

[Coach 57]

1.) Turf toe not properly treated in fact CAN end your football career. It ended mine.


2.) Stop blaming the defense on the last 5 games. 3 out of 5 I will totally agree. But we lost to tsun because of the offense and bad play calling. The defense forced 3 turnovers and a shanked punt in the first half of the Egg Bowl. What more can you ask for? The Gator Bowl actually the defense AGAIN created opportunities to be victorious. Tyler forced balls and cost us that game and Dan compounded the problem by keeping him in the game.

[Coach34]

2.) Stop blaming the defense on the last 5 games. 3 out of 5 I will totally agree. But we lost to tsun because of the offense and bad play calling. The defense forced 3 turnovers and a shanked punt in the first half of the Egg Bowl. What more can you ask for? The Gator Bowl actually the defense AGAIN created opportunities to be victorious. Tyler forced balls and cost us that game and Dan compounded the problem by keeping him in the game.

Exactly, I cant understand why people blame the defense so much- yet completely forget that we didnt get our 3rd first down against A&M until halfway in the 3rd quarter.

[Pollodawg]

1.) Turf toe not properly treated in fact CAN end your football career. It ended mine.


2.) Stop blaming the defense on the last 5 games. 3 out of 5 I will totally agree. But we lost to tsun because of the offense and bad play calling. The defense forced 3 turnovers and a shanked punt in the first half of the Egg Bowl. What more can you ask for? The Gator Bowl actually the defense AGAIN created opportunities to be victorious. Tyler forced balls and cost us that game and Dan compounded the problem by keeping him in the game.

We lost to the bears because Mullen didn't and Co. didn't give a rat's fat ass about that game last season. Horrible play calling and game planning cost us that one. Not to mention piss-poor effort all the way around. I honestly think we beat them by double digits this go around to erase the embarrassment of that loss.