Bama is a vulnerable team...

[RougeDawg]

Their offense is one dimensional and Coker is suspect. Blake Simms meant more to last year's team than any other player. One can argue Copper was a larger loss but, Simms' ability to run provided enough relief for Henry which kept their offense rolling. Maybe Cooper was a huge loss but Simms is the reason we weren't in Atlanta and the playoff hunt at the end of the year. We beat Bama and EB didn't matter on who was going to Atlanta.

[Saltydog]

their defense is better.

[ShotgunDawg]

their defense is better.

I'm not sure. I watched the LSU game today & Harris is getting better.

Harris was 18-28 for 228 & 2 TD with no INTs. That doesn't seem terribly one dimensional to me.

LSU has made Harris into a Brandon Allen type QB that stays out of harms way & LSU has a better running game than Bama & better receivers. If I had to say today, I think LSU is better than Bama

[msstate7]

I'm not sure. I watched the LSU game today & Harris is getting better.

Harris was 18-28 for 228 & 2 TD with no INTs. That doesn't seem terribly one dimensional to me

LSU has made Harris into a Brandon Allen type QB that stays out of harms way & LSU has a better running game than Bama. If I had to say today, I think LSU is better than Bama

Usce is an abysmal defense. I do think Harris is better then given credit for though. This week vs Florida will tell the tale about Harris

[Thick]

You can judge upcoming opponents all you want, but our defense is a poor tackling team, and our offense cannot run block. Our rbs do not move piles. Right now, we are mediocre at best, and some of you need to pump the brakes. We will be lucky to sniff 7 wins at best if we continue to play like this.

[Really Clark?]

Don't look now but K State up 28-17 late in the second over TCU. Obviously a lot of game left but they already had one big upset in Big 12-10 today

[ShotgunDawg]

You can judge upcoming opponents all you want, but our defense is a poor tackling team, and our offense cannot run block. Our rbs do not move piles. Right now, we are mediocre at best, and some of you need to pump the brakes. We will be lucky to sniff 7 wins at best if we continue to play like this.

The bolded part is the key part. We have a young offensive line & running backs that can take step forward at any time. I'll be heavily disappointed if we are still play like this when we go to Missouri

[EngineerDawg]

I'm no expert, by why does bama run Henry from the gun? I thought someone of his size would be best utilized with a big formation moving downhill? Maybe it's his size that makes him look slow but seems to take him 3-4 yards to get a head of steam.

[Saltydog]

areas I'm beginning to get concerned. La Tech, UK and Mizzou are all games that somewhat worry me. Call me Debbie Downer all you want but I see a lot of flaws and we just can't seem to overcome them. I keep hearing, "when the OL gels, blah, blah, blah". Well, hate to say it but they aren't going to gel anymore than they have. If you can't exploit Troy, good luck with the rest.

[ShotgunDawg]

areas I'm beginning to get concerned. La Tech, UK and Mizzou are all games that somewhat worry me. Call me Debbie Downer all you want but I see a lot of flaws and we just can't seem to overcome them. I keep hearing, "when the OL gels, blah, blah, blah". Well, hate to say it but they aren't going to gel anymore than they have. If you can't exploit Troy, good luck with the rest.

I agreed with your entire post till the bolded part.

We have a bunch of new starters. What in your experience tells you that they can't get any better this year?

That doesn't make any sense to me, so please explain

[Saltydog]

in the running game since the first game of the year. Have you seen improvement since game 1 because I really haven't and we've played the three easiest teams on our schedule (USM, NW State, Troy). It's only going to get tougher from here. JMHO SGD......

[RougeDawg]

You can judge upcoming opponents all you want, but our defense is a poor tackling team, and our offense cannot run block. Our rbs do not move piles. Right now, we are mediocre at best, and some of you need to pump the brakes. We will be lucky to sniff 7 wins at best if we continue to play like this.

I wouldn't put all of the blame on the OL. I really hope you DVR'd the game so you can go back and look at the holes that were there early, but Shump simply ran into the back of his own lineman. Seriously, Shump would make any OL in the nation look bad with his lack of vision and inability to make the quick cut back against the grain. He could have busted 2-3 early on, for 10+ yards, had he simply cut it back against the grain. Troy had left the back side open, at least a handful of times, but Shump hit it up in there into his linemen and had 0.000000 vision. Sometimes a good RB will make his OL look better by his ability to see the crease and make a quick cut.

DLee has much better vision and had 21 yard on 4 carries before he busted that last long one and ended with 5 carries for 44 yards. He has vision, but needs more reps to get a rhythm. Let's not blame the OL for Mullen not getting the best RB in the game.

Lets break it down as if DLee had been #1 from Snap one, and gotten the 42 carries that Shump has received, which is apparent based on the performances thus far. This paints a much different picture than our OL sucks. It's more as if our Play Calling and Personnel Decisions ultimately suck and shit play is a result.

GP ATT Ru Yards YPC Yards W 42 Carries
Dak Prescott * 6 49 220 4.5
Ashton Shumpert* 6 42 159 3.8
Brandon Holloway* 6 28 146 5.2 219
Malik Dear * 6 5 68 13.6
Nick Fitzgerald* 3 15 93 6.2
Dontavian Lee * 6 13 107 8.2 346
Aeris Williams * 6 15 65 4.3 182

[Todd4State]

If you take away Lee's last run of 23 yards he STILL out rushed all of our running backs. That's all you need to know.

[TUSK]

I'm no expert, by why does bama run Henry from the gun? I thought someone of his size would be best utilized with a big formation moving downhill? Maybe it's his size that makes him look slow but seems to take him 3-4 yards to get a head of steam.

I think the same...

nice post, daddio...

[Dawg61]

Their offense is one dimensional and Coker is suspect. Blake Simms meant more to last year's team than any other player. One can argue Copper was a larger loss but, Simms' ability to run provided enough relief for Henry which kept their offense rolling. Maybe Cooper was a huge loss but Simms is the reason we weren't in Atlanta and the playoff hunt at the end of the year. We beat Bama and EB didn't matter on who was going to Atlanta.

Take away the deep pass and Bama suddenly becomes Arkansas.

[Dawgface]

You can judge upcoming opponents all you want, but our defense is a poor tackling team, and our offense cannot run block. Our rbs do not move piles. Right now, we are mediocre at best, and some of you need to pump the brakes. We will be lucky to sniff 7 wins at best if we continue to play like this.

+1. We are going to struggle to get 7 wins. No chance against bama.

[maroonmania]

If you take away Lee's last run of 23 yards he STILL out rushed all of our running backs. That's all you need to know.

Lee has to be on the field. I'm to the point now that if Lee doesn't know the whole playbook then let's just run the part of the playbook he does know. He's the closest looking thing we have right now to an SEC starting tailback.

[defiantdog]

Lee has to be on the field. I'm to the point now that if Lee doesn't know the whole playbook then let's just run the part of the playbook he does know. He's the closest looking thing we have right now to an SEC starting tailback.

Playbook? We only run a handful of plays.

[NCDawg]

+1. We are going to struggle to get 7 wins. No chance against bama.

I have no doubt Alabama will stuff our running game. Our only hope is to have a good passing game to keep from a blow-out loss.

[maroonmania]

I have no doubt Alabama will stuff our running game.

And how is that different than any other game we've played this year?

[defiantdog]

I have no doubt Alabama will stuff our running game. Our only hope is to have a good passing game to keep from a blow-out loss.

Troy stuffed our running game

[msstate7]

Troy stuffed our running game

Surely we're smart enough to not allow bama to stuff our running game. We need to throw it 40+ against bama

[TUSK]

Surely we're smart enough to not allow bama to stuff our running game. We need to throw it 40+ against bama

Empty backfield with 5 wide... toss in about 6-8 QB draws when down and distance is favorable...

[Thick]

I wouldn't put all of the blame on the OL. I really hope you DVR'd the game so you can go back and look at the holes that were there early, but Shump simply ran into the back of his own lineman. Seriously, Shump would make any OL in the nation look bad with his lack of vision and inability to make the quick cut back against the grain. He could have busted 2-3 early on, for 10+ yards, had he simply cut it back against the grain. Troy had left the back side open, at least a handful of times, but Shump hit it up in there into his linemen and had 0.000000 vision. Sometimes a good RB will make his OL look better by his ability to see the crease and make a quick cut.



DLee has much better vision and had 21 yard on 4 carries before he busted that last long one and ended with 5 carries for 44 yards. He has vision, but needs more reps to get a rhythm. Let's not blame the OL for Mullen not getting the best RB in the game.

Lets break it down as if DLee had been #1 from Snap one, and gotten the 42 carries that Shump has received, which is apparent based on the performances thus far. This paints a much different picture than our OL sucks. It's more as if our Play Calling and Personnel Decisions ultimately suck and shit play is a result.

GP ATT Ru Yards YPC Yards W 42 Carries
Dak Prescott * 6 49 220 4.5
Ashton Shumpert* 6 42 159 3.8
Brandon Holloway* 6 28 146 5.2 219
Malik Dear * 6 5 68 13.6
Nick Fitzgerald* 3 15 93 6.2
Dontavian Lee * 6 13 107 8.2 346
Aeris Williams * 6 15 65 4.3 182

We averaged 233/game last year. We average 155 this year through 5 games. That's not RB as much as getting out played or just being physically out played in the trenches. I've watched every game this year, and outside of poor play calling/personnel issues, the holes have been far and few between. You can bitch all you want about Shump, but CDM still keeps rolling him out there with the same results. There's more to it then just RB and play calling. Any body can run through holes, but if your OL can't open holes then it doesn't matter who is in the backfield.

[defiantdog]

Surely we're smart enough to not allow bama to stuff our running game. We need to throw it 40+ against bama

I bet we still try to establish a run game..... even though all 3 of their linebackers will play on Sundays.