1a-b is either going to win this thing for us, or sink us

[codeDawg]

Looking at the win / loss column, it's hard to argue with anything Mullen has done this year. The substitution pattern has been... perplexing at times. I think he's taking a page out out of the Spur's playbook and 1. keeping us fresh while 2. building experience. To a lot of fans, it just looks like putting games in unnecessary risk.

As long as we have a 0 in L column, we're going to sit at #1, but at least the media is just dying to drop us. They look at the KY game and see a vulnerable defense giving up big plays. When I watch it, I see a complete 2nd string not performing as well as a 1st string. We are not keeping up in the advanced stats with everyone else, but who else is putting the 2nd team in on the 2nd series?

All of this is to say, if we lose a game, we are going to get hammered because the score and stats are not telling the story of our games. Now if we look across the state at UM, we can see where playing your starters so much hurts. When we get into November, we may be the team with the freshest legs in the 4th quarter, and that might be our margin to victory much like it was with the Spurs in the post-season. Maybe instead of worrying about perception and how it affects us in a loss, we should just worry about staying #1.

I don't know the answer, but it's an interesting twist. If we win out this year, I wonder if this will be examined as much as it was with San Antonio.

[bluelightstar]

Where does this "media is just dying to drop us" come from? We actually picked up votes in the AP poll, despite FSU being off and us "struggling" with Kentucky

[MetEdDawg]

Here's the thing with 1A-1B. Look at how much we lose on defense. Eulls, Virges, PJ, Preston. Wells and B Mac. Hughes, Love and Cox. Although we are having an insane season, we HAVE to prepare ourselves for next year. Richie Brown needs reps. Deontay Evans needs reps. Zac Jack needs reps. James, Brown/Jefferson, Adams all need reps. Cleveland needs reps. We've got to get guys playing time this year in order to prepare ourselves for next year.

And to be honest, so far the only thing this season our 1B defense has cost us was a blowout in Baton Rouge and a blowout at Kentucky. We are thinking long term and our 1A defense has always been in when it mattered most. And they've stepped up every time. We need to continue to play and have confidence in 1B, but we also have to let it be known that when it's crunch time it's 1A time.

And think about how many less minutes our 1A defense is going to have on them when we roll into Tuscaloosa and Oxford. We are going to need that. Got to think long term in terms of this season and in terms of having to prepare for next season.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

[engie]

How much 1B did we see against Auburn and aTm? The full line substitutions are only happening in the games Mullen knows we're winning.

[codeDawg]

Where does this "media is just dying to drop us" come from? We actually picked up votes in the AP poll, despite FSU being off and us "struggling" with Kentucky

As I'm watching TV and listening to the radio, most are projecting us to lose at Alabama and Ole Miss. Analysis of the KY game is that we are soft in pass defense and won't be able to get it done for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Ole Miss and Alabama are projected to win out with one signature win between them in UM beating UA. Both of them are ahead of us in advanced stats, validating how they are perceived.

[EAVdog]

We don't substitute as much in games that really matter. I know it's hard to believe but we knew that Kentucky wasn't going to win so we played the 1b's a lot more than we will against a Bama or did vs Auburn. Particularly in respect to the Secondary. The 1b's play a good bit regardless, especially on the D Line but there isn't that much drop off there.

Got to give players reps to develop.

[spiritual_machine2005]

As I'm watching TV and listening to the radio, most are projecting us to lose at Alabama and Ole Miss. Analysis of the KY game is that we are soft in pass defense and won't be able to get it done for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Ole Miss and Alabama are projected to win out with one signature win between them in UM beating UA. Both of them are ahead of us in advanced stats, validating how they are perceived.


And Mullen knows that none of that matters. We are winning games. The stats be damned. We are winning games and building depth and keeping guys fresh all at the same time. I see no problem here.

[codeDawg]

How much 1B did we see against Auburn and aTm? The full line substitutions are only happening in the games Mullen knows we're winning.

I agree. I also think when we put all of our best players on the field at the same time, we are overwhelming.

I think the interesting bit is that we are just waltzing through our games, toying with opponents, but the perception is that we're not dominating. I don't know that we have been behind at any point this year except UAB where Mullen toyed a little too long.

As I said above, maybe perception doesn't matter. If we just win out, it doesn't matter.

[War Machine Dawg]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

http://i.imgur.com/xHFRtju.gif

[codeDawg]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

If you read the post, I'm not second guessing. I'm asking questions about the impact of what they are doing. It's interesting. It's innovative, but unproven. If we do lose at Alabama or UM, is the perception of how we are playing going to affect us making the playoff versus a team that perceived as playing better?

If it pays off at the end of the season, it's the kind of thing that you might see other mimic, much like what San Antonio did last year.

[archdog]

Here's the thing with 1A-1B. Look at how much we lose on defense. Eulls, Virges, PJ, Preston. Wells and B Mac. Hughes, Love and Cox. Although we are having an insane season, we HAVE to prepare ourselves for next year. Richie Brown needs reps. Deontay Evans needs reps. Zac Jack needs reps. James, Brown/Jefferson, Adams all need reps. Cleveland needs reps. We've got to get guys playing time this year in order to prepare ourselves for next year.

And to be honest, so far the only thing this season our 1B defense has cost us was a blowout in Baton Rouge and a blowout at Kentucky. We are thinking long term and our 1A defense has always been in when it mattered most. And they've stepped up every time. We need to continue to play and have confidence in 1B, but we also have to let it be known that when it's crunch time it's 1A time.

And think about how many less minutes our 1A defense is going to have on them when we roll into Tuscaloosa and Oxford. We are going to need that. Got to think long term in terms of this season and in terms of having to prepare for next season.

I would like to add, who cares how many yards and tds we give up with our backups in. We are winning the games and our 1bs are getting much needed reps like MetEdDawg said. I don't like letting teams get style points and our entire team being judged by said yards and points, but who cares. We are getting almost 100% love from everyone. We are the number 1 team in the nation. Our program is getting priceless coverage everyday. I don't care if we give up 750 yards and 8 tds a game. As long as we are winning and we are ranked that all important #1 in the nation.

It's great to have something as meaningless as our backups as the greatest thing we can rehash everyday. Beats the hell out of Perkins up the Middle. The fact is, in no time has our 1bs put us in a can lose situation other than LSU. Mullen has corrected his brake issues since. So no complaint here.

[TrapGame]

We are going to love the 1b guys come Egg Bowl. We will slide them in with very little drop off. The early, meaningful experience is going to pay off big time in Atlanta.

[maroonmania]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

I think the biggest issue is why we are playing 1B guys in the secondary so much. Do DBs need that much rest during the game? I know they run a lot but they don't get a tremendous amount of contact. Its in the secondary where guys are put on an island and can give up a TD on any given play. Just don't understand why we feel the need to replace our entire secondary so much during games.

[Percho]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

That use to be a dime. How much is it now? Just looking for a lesson in inflation. :)

[codeDawg]

I think the biggest issue is why we are playing 1B guys in the secondary so much. Do DBs need that much rest during the game? I know they run a lot but they don't get a tremendous amount of contact. Its in the secondary where guys are put on an island and can give up a TD on any given play. Just don't understand why we feel the need to replace our entire secondary so much during games.

I think it must be experience for the secondary guys. On the long TD's I watched, Zack Jackson let somebody get behind him from LB with no safety backing him up. Then Kivon Cowman get turned around where he should have been in great position to defend or at least tackle the receiver. These guys are not ready and constantly out of position. Hopefully this experience gives them film to watch and improve from.

We are not seeing this against the first string. I keep seeing the long pass to the sideline late in the game with the 1a's in, but we were in a deep prevent. Hell, #50 was deeper in coverage than #2.

[Liverpooldawg]

Hell, that's the reason we made it this far. You people trying second guess our coaches need to sit all the way down and have a cup of shut the **** up.

EXACTLY.

[starkvegasdawg]

How much 1B did we see against Auburn and aTm? The full line substitutions are only happening in the games Mullen knows we're winning.

That was going to be my question to ask because I did not know if we did that in those games or not. I'm not as worried about doing it in games against pushovers. But I have been nervousl he'll pull that against a Bama or TSUN. I was hoping not because he knows more than anybody what all is on the line this season.

[LC Dawg]

As far as I can tell the people on the playoff committee don't give a rat's ass about statistics.

[Thompson92]

This is just from going back over the tapes of the games.

A&M-We did have 1A in for the first drive, when they scored quickly.
Kept them in for the next one, shut them down.
Next drive, mostly 1B, they get a couple first downs, but don't get past the 50.
Next drive, mostly 1A, they get one first down, same story.
Next drive, mostly 1A, they drive down the field but R. Brown intercepts it.

Auburn-We had almost all 1A for their first three drives, which is probably what helped us get up 21-0.

One thing I noticed is that there were drives when we would sub in a few 1B guys, like Coman, Richie Brown, Cleveland, Turtle, while everyone else was 1A. Also, for 1B drives, sometimes we would put in Hughes, Calhoun, or Wells. Obviously, some of that is just basic substituting, but sometimes we would start out 1B drives that way. Obviously, a complete switch from 1A to 1B hurts us, but I think mixing guys in is happening to some degree, based on the film from those game.