I have several concerns with this team so far...

[BogeyGolfer]

1. Our o- line is not dominating weaker competition. What makes you think we will be able to run the ball on LSU? I don't see it.
2. Dak is getting too much pressure and being forced into bad decisions and at times keying in on one receiver.
3. Our secondary has not played well. You can spin it however you want, but we've looked average against lesser teams.
4. Outside of Smith, we need someone to create havoc on the d-line. It's time for guys to step up.
5. I really don't know if we are a good team or not at this point, I want to believe that we are but I'm just not sold on it.
6. If we beat LSU at BR, I will be convinced,otherwise,we are going to have to play better than we have so far to beat the remaining SEC teams on our schedule. Excluding Vandy..
7 I'm a Mullen supporter as you know but it's time to win a few of the games we haven't in the past, we have a ton of talent on the field!

[Dawgface]

We are all ready to beat someone we haven't in a long time. LSU would be a good start. If we could go 2-2 against LSU,AU,A&M and Bama I would be thrilled. 1-3 would be a start. Got to have improvement in the secondary and oline to have any chance though.

[MetEdDawg]

1) Our offense is more equipped to play teams that are the same size as us. It's why smaller DLs and a guy like Isaac Gross can get penetration against us and have success. Our OL is built to play bigger DL. Not saying LSU will have no success against us. I just think our big OL will tend to have problems against smaller OL

2) The keying on one WR is a problem. I think he feels he's read the defense well enough and will know when a hole will open, but he almost got picked 3 times yesterday because of that. He has to make quicker decisions and not key in. Agreed on that with you.

3) Evans didn't help at all yesterday. He's not ready. We played a lot of Redmond yesterday and Love really hasn't been targeted at all. I once again think we have built a secondary more equipped to play bigger WRs that are possession guys than speed guys. That's where Cox helps with his speed over the top. I'm concerned, but we've always had problems against teams that have smaller WRs. I won't pass judgment yet until I see us against WRs we are more built to defend against.

4) We are getting pressure but sometimes not finishing the deal. I think we had 5 sacks though yesterday so I don't worry about that. Plus we held them to 2.1 yards per carry. We've just been dominant against the run and there are many teams who have played weak opponents (OM I'm looking at you) who have been gashed against bad teams. We haven't so I'm ok with what the DL is doing right now.

5) We have been waiting for LSU. Not saying we will win, but I think a lot of what you are seeing are our guys not focusing on the task at hand and looking ahead to LSU. I'm sure we've been preaching that we will win the first three and the season will start Week 4. Really anxious to see how this week of practice goes.

6) If we lose by a TD or less in Baton Rouge I will be convinced. LSU is 31-1 in their last 32 home games. Saying you won't be convinced unless we win doesn't make a ton of sense because they are just really really good at home.

7) Agreed. This is the year to put up or shut up. In my opinion there are 5 games on the schedule that we should say are good solid wins. Bama, LSU, Auburn, TAMU, OM. We need to win 2 of those with one preferably being OM. Just needs to happen this year. Beat everyone you should, OM, and someone else and you have to say this season is a success at 9-3.

[basedog]

Being 3-0 and playing our so called 1st string half of the time is pretty good. We score enough for me to think we have a good team. I don't see the need to wonder or play the what if game right now. We are a much improved team and we will win more games than we did last year.

I bet Lsu has more concerns about us than the naysayers on here. Btw, I ain't talking about everyone just a few who keep saying or thinking we aren't good enough. We will be more than competitive the rest of the way.

I'm happy and I'm looking forward to the next game!

[Political Hack]

1) OL has always been the concern with this team. 1st true test next week. Have to eliminate penalties in big games.

2) On certain plays Dak doesn't come off his primary. They need to train his eyes to start down the center of the field and them flash out to his primary. He does it most of the time, but sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't matter (1-on-1 fades). Also, CDM could be setting some things up here...

3) Love and Evans got picked on yesterday. Love benefited from a few big drops. Outside of those two, I thought the DBs played really well. I don't know what game y'all were watching, but constantly blaming the guy who makes the tackle is pretty lazy we at to assume coverage responsibilities.

4) DL is not a concern. We have two DLs and can rotate a lot of people. We are getting pressure. We are stuffing the run. When we blitz, we hit home. That's what you want, with your front 4 getting pressure sometimes.

5) Good teams gain 500+ yards of offense in 4 of their last 5 games. Good teams don't allow a n offensive TD in 4 of our last 5 games. Question is, are we a great team? Big games will tell.

6) If we beat LSU, Auburn, or A&M we're ahead of where we have been in recent years.

7) If he can't win the big games with this squad, there's no reason to think well do it at any time in the near future. This is a program defining year for CDM.

[MaxedOutMaroon]

On your pressure point, we lead the SEC by a long shot in TFL and second nationally. Had 5 or 6 sacks and about 10 QBH yesterday. That's all

[MaxedOutMaroon]

Not. 10 QBH but plenty

[Political Hack]

yeah, I don't get the pressure argument. when we dial it up, it's coming.

[ShotgunDawg]

As the offensive line goes, I believe this position is unfairly criticized. I saw LSU play last night and ULM had defenders in the back field every other play and LSU is supposed to have a good o line.

Every team has o line problems. There are going to be sacks, & TFL. The main thing is to limit the damage of the bad plays and maximize the potential of the good ones.

Think about this: how many times have you seen Josh Robinson get the hand off this year and get tackled for a loss? I'm not sure he has.

[Bully13]

I know Dan catches a lot of grief for no "signature SEC" wins, but it appears to me that no MSU coach in our football history has ever had as difficult a task in this current era of SEC football. It's just brutally sickening.

We're all hyped about LSU and are thinking maybe this time we do it and a lot of people are going to be upset if we don't. But think about this: LSU gave up 97 yards of TOTAL defense Sat. I don't care what directional LA school it was, that's 17'd up crazy D. We will have our hands full, especially on the road against a team that's only(**) 31-1 over the last 32 home games.

We're going to have to keep their D guessing and on their hills because we are NOT going to be able to run straight at these guys in vanilla fashion.

[blacklistedbully]

On your pressure point, we lead the SEC by a long shot in TFL and second nationally. Had 5 or 6 sacks and about 10 QBH yesterday. That's all

1) USM
2) UAB
3) USA

Take those stats with a grain of salt. The jury is still out. We should dominate those teams in every category. We have done it in most, but not every one. Our secondary overall has been extremely worrisome. After the UAB game, we all felt sure ur DB's wouls catch hell at practice and be ready going forward. Yet they still got burned far worse than the stats or score showed. USA stopped themselves in the passing game due to so many dropped passes.

Had they not dropped so many, who knows how long they might have hung with us? The better teams on our schedule will not suffer multiple drive-killings drops like that. That is why I am now concerned. Hopeful, but concerned. I began the year feeling extremely optimistic, even thinking 11 wins highly possible.

Immediately following UAB I felt much sheared, but grew back some of my wool after I calmed down a bit and thought we'd just got caught preparing for a running team, plus knowing they wouldn't beat us through the air no matter what. I grew it back because I just knew our secondary was going to show us the real deal versus USA, after getting humbled versus UAB. Then came yesterday, a day that wasn't statistically as bad as UAB for our secondary, but again, is masked by all those dropped passes.

I have officially gone from extremely confident to nervously hopeful. Never thought we'd lose to any of the 3, but did not expect our secondary to be so porous and to so often get burned deep.

[FlabLoser]

I know Dan catches a lot of grief for no "signature SEC" wins, but it appears to me that no MSU coach in our football history has ever had as difficult a task in this current era of SEC football. It's just brutally sickening.



That's not completely true. Sherrill played and beat good teams. He just didn't play as many good teams week in and week out.

[DownwardDawg]

I hope Dak can bounce back mentally if he throws an early pick six against LSU. If he throws it like he did against USA, a pick six is coming. We need to run, run, and run some more against LSU.

[Coach34]

1. Our o- line is not dominating weaker competition. What makes you think we will be able to run the ball on LSU? I don't see it.


Dakota/JRob combined for 216 yards on 26 carries. That's 8.3 per carry. What the ****ing hell would they have to do for you to say we dominated? Score every play?

[MarketingBully01]

1. Our o- line is not dominating weaker competition. What makes you think we will be able to run the ball on LSU? I don't see it.
2. Dak is getting too much pressure and being forced into bad decisions and at times keying in on one receiver.
3. Our secondary has not played well. You can spin it however you want, but we've looked average against lesser teams.
4. Outside of Smith, we need someone to create havoc on the d-line. It's time for guys to step up.
5. I really don't know if we are a good team or not at this point, I want to believe that we are but I'm just not sold on it.
6. If we beat LSU at BR, I will be convinced,otherwise,we are going to have to play better than we have so far to beat the remaining SEC teams on our schedule. Excluding Vandy..
7 I'm a Mullen supporter as you know but it's time to win a few of the games we haven't in the past, we have a ton of talent on the field!

Of course you do....

[MarketingBully01]

Dakota/JRob combined for 216 yards on 26 carries. That's 8.3 per carry. What the ****ing hell would they have to do for you to say we dominated? Score every play?

Yep and I am thinking Dak will take off against LSU instead of staying in the pocket and taking a sack. I think we see the real Prescott this weekend against LSU which will make it almost impossible for LSU to blitz.

[MarketingBully01]

I hope Dak can bounce back mentally if he throws an early pick six against LSU. If he throws it like he did against USA, a pick six is coming. We need to run, run, and run some more against LSU.

Ahh yes, we are already talking about Dak throwing early pick 6's. I just love MSU fans!

[DudyDawg]

I hope Dak can bounce back mentally if he throws an early pick six against LSU. If he throws it like he did against USA, a pick six is coming. We need to run, run, and run some more against LSU.

What an idiotic statement. Why assume our heisman dark house savior of a qb will throw an early pick six that he has to recover from

[DownwardDawg]

What an idiotic statement. Why assume our heisman dark house savior of a qb will throw an early pick six that he has to recover from

Uuummm, maybe I watched the game? I'm as big a Dak fan as anybody. I talk highly of him everywhere I go. God forbid I talk amongst MSU fans, in a thread discussing concerns that I saw an issue. Did you ******s not see the passes that should have been picked and returned??? Good god some of yall are such p u s s i e s.

[DownwardDawg]

Is it ok for me to point out that our corners will probably get burned during the aTm game if they play like they did Saturday.

[DudyDawg]

Uuummm, maybe I watched the game? I'm as big a Dak fan as anybody. I talk highly of him everywhere I go. God forbid I talk amongst MSU fans, in a thread discussing concerns that I saw an issue. Did you ******s not see the passes that should have been picked and returned??? Good god some of yall are such p u s s i e s.

So me thinking that you're an idiot for saying he will throw a pick six is being a *****? Makes as much sense as your first post. I understand he needs to play better, but to act like an early pick six is a given is just idiotic

[DownwardDawg]

So me thinking that you're an idiot for saying he will throw a pick six is being a *****? Makes as much sense as your first post. I understand he needs to play better, but to act like an early pick six is a given is just idiotic

Ok, let me re-phrase my "idiotic" statement. If Dak throws a few passes against LSU like some of the ones he threw toward the sidelines against USA, he will get picked and the LSU athletes will take it in for 6. If that happens, I hope Dak will shake it off and stay within "his game". Of course, Mullen can help by letting Dak and J-Rob run the damn ball until LSU is only thinking run. That makes Dak's passing game much more dangerous.

[DudyDawg]

Ok, let me re-phrase my "idiotic" statement. If Dak throws a few passes against LSU like some of the ones he threw toward the sidelines against USA, he will get picked and the LSU athletes will take it in for 6. If that happens, I hope Dak will shake it off and stay within "his game". Of course, Mullen can help by letting Dak and J-Rob run the damn ball until LSU is only thinking run. That makes Dak's passing game much more dangerous.

I agree

[Political Hack]

Is it ok for me to point out that our corners will probably get burned during the aTm game if they play like they did Saturday.

you mean safeties?

[MarketingBully01]

Ok, let me re-phrase my "idiotic" statement. If Dak throws a few passes against LSU like some of the ones he threw toward the sidelines against USA, he will get picked and the LSU athletes will take it in for 6. If that happens, I hope Dak will shake it off and stay within "his game". Of course, Mullen can help by letting Dak and J-Rob run the damn ball until LSU is only thinking run. That makes Dak's passing game much more dangerous.

Yeah, that is a much better way to state it. I would imagine we will run right at them like Wiscy did and set up the pass with the run. Their DL is their weak link on the defense and their secondary is their strength so I don't think we air it out against them. I think we pass just enough to keep them honest.

[Percho]

Dog fans!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk2B8988ws0

[DownwardDawg]

you mean safeties?

Pass D in general, but yes mostly the safeties. Did Jay Hughes play much Saturday? I didn't notice him. Maybe that's a good thing.

[Political Hack]

Pass D in general, but yes mostly the safeties. Did Jay Hughes play much Saturday? I didn't notice him. Maybe that's a good thing.

he played really well. so did Market IMO. Love and Evans had the toughest day. Everyone else played pretty well.

[BogeyGolfer]

Dakota/JRob combined for 216 yards on 26 carries. That's 8.3 per carry. What the ****ing hell would they have to do for you to say we dominated? Score every play?

We still seem to struggle early in games and if this happens against quality competition, and we will find ourselves down early. We have been able to overcome this because the competition as been poor.

[MarketingBully01]

We still seem to struggle early in games and if this happens against quality competition, and we will find ourselves down early. We have been able to overcome this because the competition as been poor.

The funny thing about your statement is that it is wrong. Yesterday was the only day we started out slow and was the first time all year that we hadn't scored on our opening drive. We obviously know why we struggled on subsequent drives because we have played our second string early in the games. This won't happen against LSU. I think we will be fine.

[BogeyGolfer]

The funny thing about your statement is that it is wrong. Yesterday was the only day we started out slow and was the first time all year that we hadn't scored on our opening drive. We obviously know why we struggled on subsequent drives because we have played our second string early in the games. This won't happen against LSU. I think we will be fine.

Let me put it to you this way, if we play like we did the 1st quarter v all three opening opponents we will lose.

[defiantdog]

Let me put it to you this way, if we play like we did the 1st quarter v all three opening opponents we will lose.

Okay.... because LSU has been getting off to a great start every game as well.

Wisconsin Game: they scored 7 points in the first half and were down 17 - 7 at halftime
Sam Houston State: it's damn Sam Houston State
Louisiana-Monroe: 3 points in the first quarter and 10 points at halftime. They were only leading 10 - 0 going into halftime at home.

In other words, LSU is great at making adjustments. And if they are to beat us on Saturday, it is in the second half after they make adjustments. Get out of here with that bullshit about us playing like crap in the first quarter.

[EnterpriseDawg]

Not sure if previously mentioned, but Paul (from 247) put out some interesting stats on State's Defense. The D is tied for first in the SEC (with Missouri) for sacs and leads the conference for tfl (second in the nation).

[MarketingBully01]

Let me put it to you this way, if we play like we did the 1st quarter v all three opening opponents we will lose.

Yes, I get what you are saying but I explained why we struggled. We won't be putting our second string in the first quarter. Yesterday, we didn't have our starting RB starting either for the first few series. Not sure why that happened but if we keep our first string in for most of the minutes I think that will solve the slow start problems.