Sunday Morning QB- Nasty Bunch edition

[Coach34]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1mnn8_gM7s


1. What a way to start off the season- a 49-0 woodshed beatdown delivered to the Nasty Bunch. As Mullen said pregame- there is no doubt that this is Our State.

2. Really good 1st drive- nice pass to RoJo, Bear made a pretty good catch on a low thrown ball on that out pattern, JRob running thru tackles, Dakota picking up 7 yards on a 3rd down zone read, and then the big finish to Bear down the seam. We made some personnel adjustments in our trips formation- we had Myles inside, Bear at slot, and someone else on the outside at WR. Myles ran the quick post to occupy the safety, Bear ran the seam, and the WR was down the sideline to stretch the Secondary. Easy throw and catch for a TD. Putting Wilson inside as the #2 will make life hell for Safeties this year in coverage- something to watch going forward.

3. I didnt like us in the double-tight I. As famous detective Austin Powers say "that's not my bag, baby". It's not ours either. We hit it up inside good on 1st down for 2 yards. On 2nd down, we tried the little FB give and Brandon Hill let the DE crash down and make the tackle. If the DE makes that tackle- that means the play is tooooo slowwwww. Ran the option on 3rd down to the 1. I've watched the 4th down play about a dozen times now- the NG just got low and crawled on Day, Malone kicked out the DT and made a good block, Griffin blocked air. Instead of reading Malone's butt like he is supposed to which will tell him where to block- he looks outside where Malone is pushing the DT. That tells me we dont run that shit enough to where everyone knows their assignments- because one of the most basics things on that play for the FB is to read where the bubble is opening. If Griff turns up inside and gets his body on the Mike- we score easily. He didnt, Mike meets JRob in hole untouched, fans panic and think the OL sux. Get back to what we do best Mullen- that shit aint it.

4. FG kicker at Miss State remains the worst job in the America- it's listed right after bathroom attendant at McDonald's. It was wet and Dakota bobbled the snap a little- but it still should have been made.

5. Dakota overall was pretty good. One of the sacks was his fault for holding it too long and not going with his read. He was late with the throw to MoJo down the middle that would have been a big gain. The pick he threw in the end zone was terrible- that was Bo Dirt-like. But he also made some very good choices. He went thru a full progression once and then checked it down to JRob in the flat for 15 yards. He threw some really good passes. Not concerned about him at all.

6. The WR's looked good. Wilson on the inside in a trips set is going to be a match-up nightmare for Safeties (looking at you Cody Prewitt). Ross just shielded off the CB to catch one of his TD's. RoJo is solid. Brown looked good. Stonehands caught both passes his way. We have 2 complete sets of WR's now. We have come a long way since 2009 when we had none.

7. Holloway was only in on Goalline because Mullen was rolling with the 2nd group of skill people all the way on that series. He wasnt going to sub anyone. And I hope he is never back on punt return ever again.

8. Our D is exactly what many of us thought it was- a top 10 in the nation D. Our DL whipped their ass upfront all night. Our LB's were on time filling gaps and running down their guys. Psycho Defense is alive and well.

9. Bennie Brown was doing alot of yelling and directing on D last night. Looked alot like Cam Lawrence. Having that type of player is paramount to any good defense. Good recognition skills and the confidence to take control is exactly what we need at LB. His brother Richie looked pretty good when he played also. Having a 4-star LB like him as a back-up is a good thing to have.

10. Welcome back Jay Hughes. A pick and a TD your 1st game back after sitting 12 and 3/4 games last year. I'm sure father and son had a special moment last night. Great story right there. Hughes, Bennie B, McKinney, Eulls, Smith, Calhoun....the leadership we have on D is incredible. This unit is Alabama good.

11. 550 yards of offense in a game Mullen treated like a scrimmage- thats not bad. According to the announcers- Mullen told them he was putting in the 2nd team on the 3rd series no matter what. It was a reward for all the hard work they had put in. I agree with him. This was exactly the type of game for you to do that. Mullen also put groups together he normally wouldnt have to get a look at how they would perform under pressure. Nothing wrong with that.

12. The Nasty Bunch returned 16 starters from last season and should have been an improved football team. We still dont know if they really are improved and we are just very damn good- or are they just still a very shitty football team that's not any better? That will be answered on down the road. But I do know this- we are a pretty good football team that has a chance to do something this year that we havent done since 1999- and that is have a chance to win every football game we play. 1 down- 11 more to go. And if any Ole Missus fan tries to say something stupid to you like "well Boise beat them 60-7 last year"- just:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goVSQnYnfxk

and then remind them that if it works that way and last year equates to this year- we beat them last year also.


In Mullen We Trust,

C34

[MarketingBully01]

Great write up. Agree with all points!

[FlabLoser]

How about Dak and J Rob getting tackled 1-on-1 at the 1 yard line?

The 4th down play you describe is perfect game application if he Oklahoma drill. There's a hole with a linebacker in it and you've got to assert your will.

That's a tough play. But I want to see my workhorse whom the season depends on making that play.

It was a game where you expect to win by about 50 and we did. And J Rob did have a lot of great ones. But you gotta make that one.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Beckwith blocked air on the 4th and goal also. Looking at it again I think griffin was expecting beckwith to get the backer.

[SDDawg]

C34, thank you for dropping some actual football knowledge into a sea of shitty fan observations from last night (including my own). In Mullen we trust, indeed.

[Dawgfan77]

We still need to hit the JUCO hard got tackels. Beckwith needs to sit in place of claybourn. Still have concerns on OL but hope we can get better. We looked better than OM did in there game

[engie]

I view the Griffin miss as a situation he's generally not in -- we almost always use Shumpert there and probably will going forward...

[ShotgunDawg]

No false starts or pre snap penalties. That's the sign of a discipline, well coached team. Suck on that Rebels

[ShotgunDawg]

Just curious, did our defense blitz one time last night? I can't recall ever seeing it.

[msstate7]

No false starts or pre snap penalties. That's the sign of a discipline, well coached team. Suck on that Rebels

That's really impressive esp for first game

[messageboardsuperhero]

It was pretty obvious that Mullen wasn't going to unleash Dak in the running game last night. When Dak is a part of our running game, the OL is better.

I feel pretty good about the offense, but I'd like to see Clayborn in over Beckwith more times than not.

Defense was lights out, as we expected. I doubt anybody on that unit is going to put up the huge numbers this season because of all the rotating that we do, but the D will be one of the best in the conference. Alabama doesn't usually have guys put up massive defensive numbers either.

Overall, there's not a whole lot we can take from this game. We just need to correct the little mistakes, move on, and continue to play with relentless effort.

[messageboardsuperhero]

No false starts or pre snap penalties. That's the sign of a discipline, well coached team. Suck on that Rebels

Yes, forgot to mention this- I was very pleased with our discipline in the first games. Not many stupid penalties, if any at all.

ETA: The only penalty I can think of that really hurt us was the hold on Day inside the 10. Other than that, very smart football.

[Coach34]

Beckwith blocked air on the 4th and goal also. Looking at it again I think griffin was expecting beckwith to get the backer.

Beckwith was on the backside- no way he could get him.

[Coach34]

I view the Griffin miss as a situation he's generally not in -- we almost always use Shumpert there and probably will going forward...

Mans that could very well be part of it- he hasn't had enough reps there. And if he hasn't-
still Mullen's fault for running it when we weren't sound. I don't like it- it's not who we are

[Ralph]

How about Dak and J Rob getting tackled 1-on-1 at the 1 yard line?

The 4th down play you describe is perfect game application if he Oklahoma drill. There's a hole with a linebacker in it and you've got to assert your will.

That's a tough play. But I want to see my workhorse whom the season depends on making that play.

It was a game where you expect to win by about 50 and we did. And J Rob did have a lot of great ones. But you gotta make that one.

My hope is Shump will get the job done here in the future

[JDog13]

I saw a terrible OM twitter poster smacking our fans after the Boise game. His come back to everyone was let me know when Dak throws for 340 yards and 4 td's. Well....Dak threw for 284, 4 td's, only 1 int compared to their turnover machine... CBS. Dak did this in only 2 1/2 quarters. As a team we threw for 349 yds and 5 td's. I'd say if we didn't have 201 yards rushing, we'd had more passing yards than that. We had 550 total yards to their 458. We also held USM to 71 yards rushing, the same number the Boise D held the bears to. Anyone think a SEC D can hold them under 71 rushing yards? I think so. I wish we had done more than what we did last night given the opponent, but it was just the first game. I'm happy with what I saw last night, and I think adjustments will be made. Mistakes like the few last night will get fixed as the season progresses, and we will have a formidable team this year.

[Coach34]

Just curious, did our defense blitz one time last night? I can't recall ever seeing it.

yeah- we went after them a few times

[MarketingBully01]

It was pretty obvious that Mullen wasn't going to unleash Dak in the running game last night. When Dak is a part of our running game, the OL is better.

I feel pretty good about the offense, but I'd like to see Clayborn in over Beckwith more times than not.

Defense was lights out, as we expected. I doubt anybody on that unit is going to put up the huge numbers this season because of all the rotating that we do, but the D will be one of the best in the conference. Alabama doesn't usually have guys put up massive defensive numbers either.

Overall, there's not a whole lot we can take from this game. We just need to correct the little mistakes, move on, and continue to play with relentless effort.

Agreed, not much you can take away from that game other then we took care of business, a lot of substitutions and no injuries. All and all, a great first game. Also would add if Mullen had unleashed Dak in the run game, those two sacks don't happen. It was obvious they told him to stay in the pocket for whatever reason.

[MarketingBully01]

I am curious to see what Alabama's score is against USM. I think it will be similar to our score.

[JDog13]

Agreed, not much you can take away from that game other then we took care of business, a lot of substitutions and no injuries. All and all, a great first game. Also would add if Mullen had unleashed Dak in the run game, those two sacks don't happen. It was obvious they told him to stay in the pocket for whatever reason.

Yeah I was thinking hey may have told him not to go all out. Something along the lines of get through these 3 cupcakes uninjured, then turn it on. Whether it was for injury prevention, or not showing our hand.....I think Dak is still the same Dak, with an improved passing game.

[SDDawg]

I am curious to see what Alabama's score is against USM. I think it will be similar to our score.

I don't think they'll be as effective. This is not to say we're better than Bama (we won't know for a while), I just think that they have major QB issues to sort through after watching them against WVU. That's a 7 or 8 win team that took them to the wire. Kiffin is a disaster and it's going to show in games like USM this year.

[TheRef]

Here's the question that Defensive Coordinators will have to answer. Who is your biggest threat? Jameon Lewis or Bear Wilson? Who do you leave one-on-one?

[MarketingBully01]

Add in Fred Ross as well. I think he will eventually beat out RoJo. We have a lot of great weapons. This offense will be hard to stop.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Yeah I was thinking hey may have told him not to go all out. Something along the lines of get through these 3 cupcakes uninjured, then turn it on. Whether it was for injury prevention, or not showing our hand.....I think Dak is still the same Dak, with an improved passing game.

I seriously doubt Dan told Dak to "not go all out." I just think Mullen made an effort last night to keep Dak from taking hits in the running game- which is something most of us were hoping would happen anyway. You'll definitely see more Dak read option plays when the conference games start.

[MarketingBully01]

I seriously doubt Dan told Dak to "not go all out." I just think Mullen made an effort last night to keep Dak from taking hits in the running game- which is something most of us were hoping would happen anyway. You'll definitely see more Dak read option plays when the conference games start.

Semantics. Okay he might not have said "do not go all out" but he could have said on all read options give to the RB (which Dak did) and stay in the pocket (which Dak did). To me and the other poster, that could be construed as not going all out.

[CadaverDawg]

Great write up, Coach. Very well said.

[messageboardsuperhero]

Semantics. Okay he might not have said "do not go all out" but he could have said on all read options give to the RB (which Dak did) and stay in the pocket (which Dak did). To me and the other poster, that could be construed as not going all out.

Fair enough.

[JDog13]

Fair enough.

Yeah by not goin all out I meant don't take unnecessary risks/hits.

[SDDawg]

Am I the only one who thought that Wilson looked like Randy Moss last night? He doesn't have the same kind of speed, but he is dangerous in space and really tough to bring down. What a special player he's going to be for us.

[basedog]

Dak will improve a whole lot before the year is over, we had a very basic offensive plan. Playing so many players both on offense and defense was like a major scrimmage and will help down the road. Good win over a very bad Usm team. I gotta say thou, that ******* kid is one tough mofo for Usm at QB, man did he ever more take a beating. I can't imagine how sore he is this morning.

I think Williams was ok at QB last night, I don't think he played his best, but he can spin the ball and he will only get better as well. I also think the surface was a little soft and that played a little factor on how we looked on offense.

Crowd was great considering the condition! Also my complaint was the shuttle bus service, they sucked bad ass last night and man there were hundreds of pissed off folks, including me!

[TheRef]

Dak will improve a whole lot before the year is over, we had a very basic offensive plan. Playing so many players both on offense and defense was like a major scrimmage and will help down the road. Good win over a very bad Usm team. I gotta say thou, that ******* kid is one tough mofo for Usm at QB, man did he ever more take a beating. I can't imagine how sore he is this morning.

I think Williams was ok at QB last night, I don't think he played his best, but he can spin the ball and he will only get better as well. I also think the surface was a little soft and that played a little factor on how we looked on offense.

Crowd was great considering the condition! Also my complaint was the shuttle bus service, they sucked bad ass last night and man there were hundreds of pissed off folks, including me!

Multiple shuttles broke down last night so that's why shuttles were slow. That and the bad traffic.

[GreenheadDawg]

Add in Fred Ross as well. I think he will eventually beat out RoJo. We have a lot of great weapons. This offense will be hard to stop.

This x 100. When Fred Ross went up and blocked the DB with his body and caught the ball at its highest point got me wooly. That was a hell of a play. I think the Fred's will end up being very good for us this year

[MarketingBully01]

This x 100. When Fred Ross went up and blocked the DB with his body and caught the ball at its highest point got me wooly. That was a hell of a play. I think the Fred's will end up being very good for us this year

He is a Texas HS receiver that OSU wanted badly. He is finally fully healthy and you saw some of the skills he brings to the table last night. I think he could be the best of the bunch when it's all said and done.

[Coach34]

I think he could be the best of the bunch when it's all said and done.

Depends what you consider best at what? Bear working the inside against Safeties will be like what Jimmy Graham does to defenses in the NFL. I really hope we are planning to use this alot this year. Combo routes with Wilson and Ross to the same side will be tough to stop

[DudyDawg]

1. I loved the jerseys.
2. Fred Ross is a stud.
3. I can't remember seeing us miss a tackle honestly. The pressure and stuff was great, but we tackled really well.
4. I was surprised how much 17 and 11 played at safety (Caban and Evans?). Woulda like to see more of cox, but those two were feet surprisingly good.
5. Stadium is now a real football stadium. Felt a lot louder

[smootness]

1. I loved the jerseys.
2. Fred Ross is a stud.
3. I can't remember seeing us miss a tackle honestly. The pressure and stuff was great, but we tackled really well.
4. I was surprised how much 17 and 11 played at safety (Caban and Evans?). Woulda like to see more of cox, but those two were feet surprisingly good.
5. Stadium is now a real football stadium. Felt a lot louder

Caban? 11 is Coman, 17 is Evans.

[msstate7]

Caban? 11 is Coman, 17 is Evans.

Must have his mind on recruiting*

[DudyDawg]

Sorry. Coman. Wasn't sure, hence the ? Didn't know who that was. Those two seemed to play a lot of safety together

[MarketingBully01]

Depends what you consider best at what? Bear working the inside against Safeties will be like what Jimmy Graham does to defenses in the NFL. I really hope we are planning to use this alot this year. Combo routes with Wilson and Ross to the same side will be tough to stop

That is just my opinion of course. :). I think we have at least two NFL receivers in Bear and Ross. When we have Ross, Bear and Lewis with Johnson as the TE out there to go along with Dak and our running game, I would put our offense up against any offense in the SEC. This offense will break all of our records by a lot by the end of the year.

[Todd4State]

1. That's why I like playing USM. I think that finally erased some memories of them beating us 42-14 in 1980. Now we have 49-0- and it should have been worse. It will also make that one recruit who wants to follow his girlfriend tell her LOL.

2. I wonder if using 6'5" WR's like Bear in the slot is going to start becoming a trend. The 49ers used to do that with Jerry Rice some- and it usually resulted with Rice being covered by a LB. Most people think of a slot WR as a guy like Wes Welker, but it can be a H-back, TE, or outside WR as well.

3. Yeah- my thought after that play was maybe we should zone block on goal line too. No doubt Shumpert would have helped as well. Plus, I have a feeling that if this were a SEC game, it would have been Dak going over the top. Just like the Egg Bowl.

4. I'm not disagreeing that our kickers aren't awesome, but at what point does the snapper get some of the blame? The blocked extra point was on a bad snap as well.

5. I agree about Dak. And he'll be even better once we unleash him on the option once SEC play rolls around. But if we're objective, Bo was better if you count Dak's near interceptions.**

6. Fred Brown is my boy. I'd like to see him in the slot some. I still think Morrow is better than some of our fans give him credit for. I think he's a victim of the "recruiting stars"- but in reality he was always a guy that was going to have to be developed. So far, he has made progress every year.

7. Holloway is a track guy playing football.

8. The scary thing about our defense is the second unit is almost as good as the first. First shutout since 1999 over Lou Holtz's South Carolina team.

9. LB and RB are two positions I'm never concerned with at MSU.

10. Jay Hughes was awesome. With his injury, he shouldn't have been expected to be at 100% until NEXT year. What a come back for him.

11. I heard some fans complaining about Dan putting the second offense in during the first quarter, but I'm not sure why. If the game were to be close, we risk not getting them in the game at all. Plus, it was pretty clear at that point to me that we were dominating them despite the goal line stand. We'll probably do the same against UAB and UT-Martin as well.

12. I think USM is probably slightly better, but still pretty bad. I'm thinking like 3-9, 4-8 type of team.

[DanDority]

How about Dak and J Rob getting tackled 1-on-1 at the 1 yard line?

The 4th down play you describe is perfect game application if he Oklahoma drill. There's a hole with a linebacker in it and you've got to assert your will.

That's a tough play. But I want to see my workhorse whom the season depends on making that play.

It was a game where you expect to win by about 50 and we did. And J Rob did have a lot of great ones. But you gotta make that one.

Excellent point!

[justwin]

I too hate when we bunch it up when we get close...plays right into the defense's hand. Keep it semi spread out to give JRob a one vs one vs a LB that's worked the whole drive. We do this bunch set way too much inside the 3 and it never works against the teams that matter...Bama, LSU, etc. When we get 1st & goal inside the 5, I'd like to see a few WRs spread out for spacing and a give to the RB up the middle once & a qb option to the corner at least once. End of the day, JRob needs to run behind Malone when in doubt ala Gabe.

I liked seeing Malone @ LG. Guard is marque spot in our offense and glad our #1 OL is there. On one of the few plays were Dak ran up the middle, Malone pulled and just cleared out the space ~ beauty. Senior looked good to me and has filled out his body. Looks like he beat out Clayborn for that 5th OL spot.

The 2nd OL was:
Carter - looked really tall and in great shape. Nice bend and looks like he's changed his body in 2 years on campus.
Clayborn - LG
Muniz - C. glad he's contributing
Desper. Really happy to see him contributing in year 3.
Warren - looks the part. Would like to see he and J. Thomas platoon throughout the year.

Finally, Fitzgerald should've played the 4Q especially after Damien's TD throw.



[QUOTE=Coach34;236481]

I didnt like us in the double-tight I. As famous detective Austin Powers say "that's not my bag, baby". It's not ours either. We hit it up inside good on 1st down for 2 yards. On 2nd down, we tried the little FB give and Brandon Hill let the DE crash down and make the tackle. If the DE makes that tackle- that means the play is tooooo slowwwww. Ran the option on 3rd down to the 1. I've watched the 4th down play about a dozen times now- the NG just got low and crawled on Day, Malone kicked out the DT and made a good block, Griffin blocked air. Instead of reading Malone's butt like he is supposed to which will tell him where to block- he looks outside where Malone is pushing the DT. That tells me we dont run that shit enough to where everyone knows their assignments- because one of the most basics things on that play for the FB is to read where the bubble is opening. If Griff turns up inside and gets his body on the Mike- we score easily. He didnt, Mike meets JRob in hole untouched, fans panic and think the OL sux. Get back to what we do best Mullen- that shit aint it.

[GreenheadDawg]

I want to see a lot more Hutcherson in the redzone. I paid attention to him last he has quick feet and is a pretty good blocker. What DB can cover a 6'7 260lb TE? Throw the ball up and let him get it. Hope we are just saving his plays for LSU

[WinningIsRelentless]

Beckwith was on the backside- no way he could get him.

Bullshit the lb was head up beckwith and he didn't block down. Beckwith almost ran in to him in accident. Goal line situation you always block down on backside and continue inside to pick up backside middle backer.

[Coach34]

Bullshit the lb was head up beckwith and he didn't block down. Beckwith almost ran in to him in accident. Goal line situation you always block down on backside and continue inside to pick up backside middle backer.

Ummmm- Beckwith is the RG. We ran the lead to the left. The LB was stacked behind the NG- Beckwith had no chance to get him. There are plenty of things to get on Beckwith about- that play wasn't one of them

[WinningIsRelentless]

Beckwith was on the backside- no way he could get him.


Ummmm- Beckwith is the RG. We ran the lead to the left. The LB was stacked behind the NG- Beckwith had no chance to get him. There are plenty of things to get on Beckwith about- that play wasn't one of them

Lb was stacked a gap on backside. You block down to the ball you clean him up. Watch it again he damn near ran right in to him before turning looking to the right.

[Coach34]

I'll make sure and do that- but I already know the Mike was stacked behind the nose.

And he doesn't "block down" on the backside- he scoop blocks to make sure nothing shoots that backside A gap then climbs

[WinningIsRelentless]

Beckwith was on the backside- no way he could get him.


I'll make sure and do that- but I already know the Mike was stacked behind the nose.

And he doesn't "block down" on the backside- he scoop blocks to make sure nothing shoots that backside A gap then climbs

If he blocks down a gap (scoop block) and continues you down he picks up the backer that was a gap.

[sandwolf]

4. I'm not disagreeing that our kickers aren't awesome, but at what point does the snapper get some of the blame? The blocked extra point was on a bad snap as well.

What blocked extra point? Did I miss that?

[Todd4State]

What blocked extra point? Did I miss that?

I was talking about the missed extra point in the Liberty Bowl. Should have clarified.

[FlabLoser]

How about Matt Wells. Playing LB, he can cover as good as a DB can.

[CadaverDawg]

How about Dak and J Rob getting tackled 1-on-1 at the 1 yard line?

The 4th down play you describe is perfect game application if he Oklahoma drill. There's a hole with a linebacker in it and you've got to assert your will.

That's a tough play. But I want to see my workhorse whom the season depends on making that play.

It was a game where you expect to win by about 50 and we did. And J Rob did have a lot of great ones. But you gotta make that one.

I agree. If we're going to bunch it up like that, we either need to go over the top with a dive, or play action to Hutch or a FB out of the backfield.

When we get near the goal line, I think we should take advantage of our big RB's, and big WR's/TE's on play action. Try JRob on a dive over the top, and if that doesn't work, play action roll out with a run pass option and Hutcherson and a full back in the flat rolling the same way. Kinda like the old Jackie days. Our TE's are so good and so big, we should have a huge advantage there.

[Coach34]

If he blocks down a gap (scoop block) and continues you down he picks up the backer that was a gap.

I just watched it another 5 times and it was as I thought. Southern was in a 5-3 stack goalline D and had the CB's walked up on the LOS- Mike stacked behind the Nose. The Sam and Will were inside shoulder of the OT's. The Mike read the play and was gone- Beckwith, being the backside Guard- had zero chance to get to him. Beckwith stepped down to make sure NG didnt shoot the A and then climbed- he got a piece of the Sam but it didnt matter- the Mike had stuffed JRob because Griff didnt look inside to make the block like he is supposed to.