After a whole week

[dawgoneyall]

where I can be calm and reasonable can some one explain why Mullen would not challenge the middle of uofm's middle short and long. That area was open all day.

I now can accept or attempt to accept an answer.

[ShotgunDawg]

Today, I think Lane Kiffin is showing how you call plays in big games.

You humble yourself and go with what works, even if it's not what you normally do.

You can't be scared in these situations. You must attack and throw the first punch.

My concern is that it's more of an attitude and instinct than it is something you learn. I'm concerned that Mullen may never get this, but that doesn't mean I don't love him and hope he stays 20 years. Just wish he'd adapt.

IMO, it's all about humbling yourself to understand you aren't invincible. Once you do that, then the stubbornness goes away. The only time I've seen Mullen do this was in the Egg Bowl his first year with Chris Relf. He ran the zone read 30 times and didn't stop because it worked.

[dawgoneyall]

Well while I was "upset???" I called it Mullen being hard headed. He kept doing what wasn't working and refused to attack the area where uofm was giving up---the middle.

Same bama gave. If he learns....good.

[Todd4State]

Not excusing anything by ANY means- but that's where Jameon being out for much of the year hurt us. And yes, I am aware that he played in the Egg Bowl. But with him being out, we stopped using our slot WR's and I think we kind of forgot about them and started going to the outside WR's exclusively. We don't ask our outside WR's to run a lot of routes in the middle like slants and that sort of thing. Normally, we would have relied on a guy like Bumphis running an option route in the middle.

This is why Dear, Deddrick Thomas, and Mixon are so critical and why we will be a lot better at slot next year. It's also why they might play right away. Myles did some good things, but he has some things to work on, and Graham has some learning to do as well. The three guys we are bringing in are ahead of where Myles and Graham were at this time.

[I seen it dawg]

Today, I think Lane Kiffin is showing how you call plays in big games.

You humble yourself and go with what works, even if it's not what you normally do.

You can't be scared in these situations. You must attack and throw the first punch.

My concern is that it's more of an attitude and instinct than it is something you learn. I'm concerned that Mullen may never get this, but that doesn't mean I don't love him and hope he stays 20 years. Just wish he'd adapt.

IMO, it's all about humbling yourself to understand you aren't invincible. Once you do that, then the stubbornness goes away. The only time I've seen Mullen do this was in the Egg Bowl his first year with Chris Relf. He ran the zone read 30 times and didn't stop because it worked.

If he doesn't adapt he needs to take his ass in one yr not 20

[defiantdog]

Didn't we go 10-2? Let me think back to when we went 10-2 before..... Oh yeah, never

[Smitty]

We seem to always take us as far as our talent dictates… Talent alone. Huge part of coaching no doubt is getting and developing talent but the in-game problems have been always evident.

Can't believe we reverted to that tight shit after LSU TAM and AU…

[Smitty]

Didn't we go 10-2? Let me think back to when we went 10-2 before..... Oh yeah, never

With 11 win talent.. You HAVE to win that Egg Bowl.

[RougeDawg]

We seem to always take us as far as our talent dictates? Talent alone. Huge part of coaching no doubt is getting and developing talent but the in-game problems have been always evident.

Can't believe we reverted to that tight shit after LSU TAM and AU?

I can believe it. Mullen has always taken the foot off the gas when we got decent leads. Did you expect him to keep doing the things that got us to #1, once we were #1? I thought he had evolved this aspect of his coaching mentality after the LSU game, but I was wrong.

[HoopsDawg]

Dak just got another yard up the middle though.

[Todd4State]

Didn't we go 10-2? Let me think back to when we went 10-2 before..... Oh yeah, never

1999. And even then we had to pull out a bunch of miracles because Jackie inexplicably decided to play Chris Rainey over Dontae and Dicenzo. But hey! Those comebacks sure were a lot of fun!

[SDDawg]

With 11 win talent.. You HAVE to win that Egg Bowl.

Spot on here, there is no excuse. I hope Dan is tired as a MF, he said he wouldn't sleep for a year. :)

[SDDawg]

1999. And even then we had to pull out a bunch of miracles because Jackie inexplicably decided to play Chris Rainey over Dontae and Dicenzo. But hey! Those comebacks sure were a lot of fun!

That was with the bowl win though, not regular season. Tough swallowing the pill, even a week later I have to say.

[FlabLoser]

5 wides, safety walks up - yeah, Dak, QB draw up the middle.

[Todd4State]

I can believe it. Mullen has always taken the foot off the gas when we got decent leads. Did you expect him to keep doing the things that got us to #1, once we were #1? I thought he had evolved this aspect of his coaching mentality after the LSU game, but I was wrong.

If the media and Ole Miss fans bitch about us running it up on people, so be it. I'm all for running it up. And we really need to since whether we like it or not- we are Mississippi State. And yes, I do believe that we can get some style points while building up our depth.

How much differently would we have been perceived had we:

1. Anihilated UAB?
2. Beat LSU by 30+ on the road?
3. Not allowed a late score or two against A&M?
4. Beaten Kentucky by at least 3-4 scores on the road?

[Smitty]

It's sad watching many other teams with innovative offenses and common sense play calling and thinking about the abortion of a game plan/execution that we see in our losses.

[Todd4State]

That was with the bowl win though, not regular season. Tough swallowing the pill, even a week later I have to say.

True, but it was also before there were 12 regular season games. Since we played D-I Oklahoma State, Middle Tennessee, and Memphis that year, I think it's safe to assume that we would have beaten whichever I-AA team we would have played that year. Although, it is Jackie and you never really could take those games for granted.

[Smitty]

If the media and Ole Miss fans bitch about us running it up on people, so be it. I'm all for running it up. And we really need to since whether we like it or not- we are Mississippi State. And yes, I do believe that we can get some style points while building up our depth.

How much differently would we have been perceived had we:

1. Anihilated UAB?
2. Beat LSU by 30+ on the road?
3. Not allowed a late score or two against A&M?
4. Beaten Kentucky by at least 3-4 scores on the road?

This is why I bitched so much after that LSU game when everyone was saying "win in DV who cares"

EVERYTHING MATTERS in the committee era.. Why in the hell would you ever leave ANYTHING to chance that you can control.. Damnit it's angering to think about!!

[HoopsDawg]

If the media and Ole Miss fans bitch about us running it up on people, so be it. I'm all for running it up. And we really need to since whether we like it or not- we are Mississippi State. And yes, I do believe that we can get some style points while building up our depth.

How much differently would we have been perceived had we:

1. Anihilated UAB?
2. Beat LSU by 30+ on the road?
3. Not allowed a late score or two against A&M?
4. Beaten Kentucky by at least 3-4 scores on the road?


Great point Todd.

[Todd4State]

This is why I bitched so much after that LSU game when everyone was saying "win in DV who cares"

EVERYTHING MATTERS in the committee era.. Why in the hell would you ever leave ANYTHING to chance that you can control.. Damnit it's angering to think about!!

Plus, if we are going to play UAB and get easy wins, at least entertain people by running offense and aggressive defense. Yeah, people see it on film, but it also allows us to work on those plays and get confidence in them. Hang 56-70 on those teams and give them the check and we all go home happy.

Dan talks about not running it up because of "respecting the game". I think sand bagging is equally as disrespectful to the game in my opinion. They can't stop Dak, Bear, Robinson, and etc? Not my problem.

And really, we owe the opponent our best effort because that's one of the things that they are paying for. They want to experience playing a SEC team so that it will help them in C-USA or Sun Belt competition. Us running Holloway up the gut and playing cover two and three all game doesn't help them much at all.

[Smitty]

Plus, if we are going to play UAB and get easy wins, at least entertain people by running offense and aggressive defense. Yeah, people see it on film, but it also allows us to work on those plays and get confidence in them. Hang 56-70 on those teams and give them the check and we all go home happy.

Dan talks about not running it up because of "respecting the game". I think sand bagging is equally as disrespectful to the game in my opinion. They can't stop Dak, Bear, Robinson, and etc? Not my problem.

And really, we owe the opponent our best effort because that's one of the things that they are paying for. They want to experience playing a SEC team so that it will help them in C-USA or Sun Belt competition. Us running Holloway up the gut and playing cover two and three all game doesn't help them much at all.

Not to mention the mindset it projects on the players.. Finishing the job, relentless effort….