We did lose a lot this season

[chef dixon]

The media was mostly correct. Even if we still have a lot of players that have played, we still lost at least 15 players/starters (whatever the hell we want to call them) who contributed significantly. Because of this, there will be growing pains and we are seeing them. Exhibit A is our O-line/running back situation and to a lesser extent our depth on the D-line.

I will say that both our offense and defense visibly improved/grew before my eyes on Saturday night. It sucks that it didn't get to happen in our first game but we ended that game a better team than when we started. I expect us to be hell by the end of the season. Its just a shame that this has to happen with a 5th year quarterback.

What really worries me is we potentially lose a HUGE amount of impact players after this season... but we can talk about that later.

[thf24]

I don't think we dropped at all in talent level (which the media was pushing just as hard), but in hindsight it was a bit unrealistic to think we'd pick up right where we left off after replacing the departures.

[HoopsDawg]

We lost 5 guys that made NFL rosters. We lost 5 of our front 7 on D. And we lost 3 O-line starters. Yeah, we lost a lot.

[MafiaDawg]

Our recruiting needs to take a step forward.

[maroonmania]

You are correct but right now I think the biggest problem is Dak not being the Dak he was last year in the run game AND the inability to get any production out of guys that are RFr this year. And I agree that when you remove that much experience from the OL/DL its going to take a few games to gel. Heck, we went through issues at LT with Clausell for 2 years before he finally became an acceptable SEC LT in his JR year.

[Swagger Vance]

All the mouthpieces and talking heads on sports television are slobbing all over LSU and how "amazing" they are. Well, we nearly beat them with one of the worst offensive game plans ive ever seen. So I think we have a fair amount of talent, at least on the field.

[Bothrops]

We won't know the answer until we start running Dak and playing redshirt freshmen. I question what's going on with the secondary , those guys are disarranged out there.

[archdog]

Look our offensive game plan was terrible the first half. We have new OL starters against LSU, best idea is to try double move routes? Nope. We adjusted to quick hitting plays, mixing in runs and deep passes sparingly. What happened, we moved the ball. Only problem is that we dropped some very key 3rd down passes that should have been completed. So LSU beat us. That's what happened. If we lined them up again today, it would be a 50/50 game again.

The biggest issues I see are the following in order,
1. Too loose on the pass coverage. Can we not figure out a way to cover the middle of the field short of our safeties? I would do 12 yard in routes or a skinny post with my TE or slot until you stopped me against our secondary. Look to score 100. Put a helmet on someone. If they come over the middle they have to pay for it. At least then when you get torched the other 9 out of 10 plays people were wobbly legs getting up.
2. Run blocking, these guys look like they are pass blocking on running plays. Get pissed and knock someone back off the ball for crying out loud.
3. Setting the edge. Harris never had to throw the ball because Fournette could have had 300 yards if given the carries on the edge Sat.

[BB30]

Everyone keeps talking about Dak needing to run the ball more and keep the ball more on the reads. When watching the replay it was evident that LSU was keying on Dak every read. They were determined to not allow him to beat them on the read option. I do think he had maybe 1 or 2 opportunities on pass plays that broke down to take off but most of the time there was at least one spy. Until we have another threat that teams have to worry about running the ball, we will have to be content with throwing 40 plus times a game which is very uncharacteristic.

[MadDawg]

Everyone keeps talking about Dak needing to run the ball more and keep the ball more on the reads. When watching the replay it was evident that LSU was keying on Dak every read. They were determined to not allow him to beat them on the read option. I do think he had maybe 1 or 2 opportunities on pass plays that broke down to take off but most of the time there was at least one spy. Until we have another threat that teams have to worry about running the ball, we will have to be content with throwing 40 plus times a game which is very uncharacteristic.

Thank God someone else can see it. LSU's gameplan was to take away the run and force Dak to throw the ball. It took us a half to adjust and take what they were giving us. But no, let's stick with the "Dan cares more about his QBs draft status than winning games" lunacy.

[DownwardDawg]

All the mouthpieces and talking heads on sports television are slobbing all over LSU and how "amazing" they are. Well, we nearly beat them with one of the worst offensive game plans ive ever seen. So I think we have a fair amount of talent, at least on the field.

I don't think LSU is very good either. They are good, but not great. They'll win 8 or 9.
I'm now hoping we win 7 or 8. I just don't think we're very good. If looked to me like 2 decent teams Saturday night.

[msugolf]

We are a 6-6 team with 8-4, 9-3 players, at this current moment. MState is notorious for handcuffing itself and its no different now, though it's less than its been in the past. Still though, we are always a step or two behind in how we operate that puts us behind other SEC schools.

Mullen and the staff's view on player personnel choices has to be one of the most puzzling and frustrating things. We have a lot of young talent on the roster that is being "groomed" while lesser talent has "paid their dues" in practice. The fastest teaching method is game action, not practice. You can't expect a super talented athlete in any sport to basically take off 2-3 years of live game action - that matters, not against scrub teams - and then automatically enter the playing field against other elite talents and perform at peak performance. Every minute of time you take off translates to even more minutes it'll take to get your feel back.

Based on what I've heard, this staff views practices as equally important as games which promotes good work ethic, but does very little in identifying who the dynamic players are when the big lights come on.

[Barking 13]

In retrospect, I think we all just need to chill for a minute. This team just needs a little more time in the oven. They are not done yet.

We'll see at Auburn, after practice this week.

[Todd4State]

We are a 6-6 team with 8-4, 9-3 players, at this current moment. MState is notorious for handcuffing itself and its no different now, though it's less than its been in the past. Still though, we are always a step or two behind in how we operate that puts us behind other SEC schools.

Mullen and the staff's view on player personnel choices has to be one of the most puzzling and frustrating things. We have a lot of young talent on the roster that is being "groomed" while lesser talent has "paid their dues" in practice. The fastest teaching method is game action, not practice. You can't expect a super talented athlete in any sport to basically take off 2-3 years of live game action - that matters, not against scrub teams - and then automatically enter the playing field against other elite talents and perform at peak performance. Every minute of time you take off translates to even more minutes it'll take to get your feel back.

Based on what I've heard, this staff views practices as equally important as games which promotes good work ethic, but does very little in identifying who the dynamic players are when the big lights come on.

There is zero reason for us to not try Dontavian Lee at RB at this point. Zero. That's what we should be doing at a minimum. Dan is ****ing us over this year with his personnel decisions- because the only thing I disagree with in your post is us being a 6-6 team with 8-4 talent. We are a 10-12 win team that is being coached down to an 8 win team.

[GreenheadDawg]

There is zero reason for us to not try Dontavian Lee at RB at this point. Zero. That's what we should be doing at a minimum. Dan is ****ing us over this year with his personnel decisions- because the only thing I disagree with in your post is us being a 6-6 team with 8-4 talent. We are a 10-12 win team that is being coached down to an 8 win team.

we will continue to see Jackson, Cleveland, Coman and market get abused every week. Shumpert will continue to carry the ball while Lee and Williams get splinters in their ass. I mean give the young talent a ****ing shot. We will continue to lose games because of ******* stubbornness with personnel. This also ties in with recruiting; You think top recruits don't notice that your shot of playing as a freshman or redshirt freshman are slim to none. Einstein said it best when he said insanity is trying the trying the same failure over and over but expecting a different result, or some shit like that. You get my point

[Todd4State]

we will continue to see Jackson, Cleveland, Coman and market get abused every week. Shumpert will continue to carry the ball while Lee and Williams get splinters in their ass. I mean give the young talent a ****ing shot. We will continue to lose games because of ******* stubbornness with personnel. This also ties in with recruiting; You think top recruits don't notice that your shot of playing as a freshman or redshirt freshman are slim to none. Einstein said it best when he said insanity is trying the trying the same failure over and over but expecting a different result, or some shit like that. You get my point

Yes- it is extremely frustrating to me. I wish there was something I could do about it which only adds to the frustration- and then to lose a game by two points knowing that the odds are good that someone on the bench could have made the difference in the game is sickening.

I'm all for development and that is a good thing- but I also believe that the best should play even if they are freshmen.

[Barking 13]

has it occurred to anyone that all these high school phenoms just might not be ready? They may have extreme talent, but if they don't know the system, what do you do?. I don't know about you, but I don't want a talented kid fresh out of medical school to perform heart surgery on me although he has done it a hundred times on pigs and frogs and dead folks.

[Todd4State]

has it occurred to anyone that all these high school phenoms just might not be ready? They may have extreme talent, but if they don't know the system, what do you do?. I don't know about you, but I don't want a talented kid fresh out of medical school to perform heart surgery on me although he has done it a hundred times on pigs and frogs and dead folks.

There are several things we could do. Simplify things for them and bring them along slowly if they are behind- while still playing them. I know that there is a huge difference between Bassfield and Hoover in Alabama- but it's not like Bassfield is telling their guys to just go fly to the ball without any direction whatsoever. I'm pretty sure they run man, and cover one at a bare minimum.

Mix in Market and Coman with Peters and Bryant- so that we maybe have Peters and Market out there at times. Or whatever combination we could do. AGAIN Dan self limiting what we can do with a lack of creativity and common sense.

As far as the running backs- that is probably one of the most common positions that a player can come in immediately and contribute as a true freshman at. Lee and Williams both redshirted so they should know the offense by now. Bryant at S has also redshirted. There is no reason he shouldn't know the defense.

We've all seen JT Gray in action and I think most would agree he is better than Zach Jackson.

As far as the MD comment- if there was a younger inexperienced MD that was better at heart surgery than the guy that has done it for 20 years, I'm going to roll the dice with the young guy that is the better MD. There is something to be said for experience- but it's not everything. You have to go with the best all around.

Every other team in America manages to get freshmen from high school teams just as po dunk as Bassfield ready to play in less than three seasons. There is ZERO reason why we shouldn't be able to play a few freshmen here and there.

At the end of the day it is our coaches JOB to get our players ready and to KNOW the system. That's what fall camp and practice is for. If the players don't know the system then that is on the coaches. So, if our players don't know the system I'm questioning Manny if it's a defensive player and that players position coach as to why that player doesn't understand what's going on.

[Barking 13]

it may be a matter of trust... What if they look like crap in practice? I think you'll see a different team in the upcoming weeks... maybe there was a reason we had limited access to practices. I'm not going to freak out over one loss. This team just needed a little more time to gel. now again, if we see a shitshow Saturday, and not put up video game numbers like somebody else we know, then we have deep problems. I'll reserve judgement for another couple weeks.

And to add, I think LSU will break some other big boys hearts this season.

[GreenheadDawg]

has it occurred to anyone that all these high school phenoms just might not be ready? They may have extreme talent, but if they don't know the system, what do you do?. I don't know about you, but I don't want a talented kid fresh out of medical school to perform heart surgery on me although he has done it a hundred times on pigs and frogs and dead folks.

Ok there are teams all over the country that play true freshman that perform just fine and get better each game. LSU had 2 in Tolliver and the DE that's probably still balls deep in Warren. So we are a good developmental program but it takes us 2+ years, even with elite talent? That's not good enough. Play your talent. Period

[NCDawg]

We lost 5 guys that made NFL rosters. We lost 5 of our front 7 on D. And we lost 3 O-line starters. Yeah, we lost a lot.

Yeah, hate to admit the talking gurus on SECN were probably right. They said we were going to "fall away from the rest of the SECW because we lost too many good players". I wanted so much to prove them wrong, but from what I've witnessed so far, they may be right. Hopefully, we can still prove them wrong.

[maroonmania]

it may be a matter of trust... What if they look like crap in practice? I think you'll see a different team in the upcoming weeks... maybe there was a reason we had limited access to practices. I'm not going to freak out over one loss. This team just needed a little more time to gel. now again, if we see a shitshow Saturday, and not put up video game numbers like somebody else we know, then we have deep problems. I'll reserve judgement for another couple weeks.

And to add, I think LSU will break some other big boys hearts this season.

I don't want to freak out over one loss but my expectations for the season have now dropped to our normal odd year 6 to 7 win type season as usual. LSU is a pretty good team but you just HAVE to win your home games as often as possible. Its a lot to ask of a relatively inexperienced team like we have to go on the road against formidable SEC competition and win. Winning at either Auburn or A&M will be difficult but we HAVE to win one or we will be lucky to get to 6 wins. Right now I would say AL and OM are both probably BETTER than LSU and we have both of them as home games. Just no way to express how key this past Saturday was to our season in my view.