Dawg4Life
11-29-2015, 10:17 AM
I have to get some things off of my chest. I don't post a lot but I read this board daily and your opinion matters to me.
Egg Bowl Review:
1. I have been in denial for the last two years. When the national analysts said that UM was more talented than MSU, I scoffed. More talented? How do you lose to Memphis...Arkansas...and get blown out by Florida? After last night, it is very obvious that UM is more talented than us.
2. The Egg Bowl is currently a very bad matchup for MSU. UM and Bama can exploit the obvious weakness which is the OL. Where other teams cannot, these two teams simply destroyed us up front. No way to win against that except for fluke situations. The funny thing is that from 09-11 we were a nightmare matchup for them. Big, physical, zone-read option team with an above average defense. It was a blowout for three straight years. The table has turned...
3. Last night felt like "goodbye" more than a football game. Lots of tears and rumors that Dan is gone. Very weird feeling in the stadium. I've been in that stadium for 35 years and I've never felt anything like it.
Where do we go from here:
1. Dan is an outstanding coach and deserves to have the opportunity to stay or go. I've changed jobs and I understand that every man has to do what is best for him. If he feels like it is time to go, then all parties are better off parting ways. The last 7 years have been outstanding. I appreciate everything he has done and hope he stays.
2. How this team won 8 games with that OL is a miracle. The SEC has slowly started looking more and more like the Big 12. There are only 3 SEC teams that can control a game from the defensive line (Florida, UM, Bama) and UM is a notch below their standard from last year. The rest of us can't or choose not to. MSU won games this year without an offensive line because frankly, you don't have to have one except for 2-3 games. To be fair, the same is true for UM as well (see Florida) but UM improved greatly with the Tunsil return.
3. I miss the Relf offense. I miss good offensive linemen and a downhill, zone-read attack. I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand if we (a) chose to go away from that or (b) simply didn't have the horses. You coaches can tell me that. I just know that the Relf offense puts up points early on that UM team and controls the clock. Even with defensive issues, they can be masked with the Relf offense. That is a 3 point game with the old offense.
4. I haven't been happy with a MSU defense since 2010. I'm sick of watching the defense year in and year out. The defense gets a pass from most people on this board. The yards given up, time of possession, field position, lack of turnovers, etc. We have been piss poor for years on that side of the ball. The 2014 team makes the playoffs with an AVERAGE defense. I don't think the defense is any worse this year but I can't see much improvement.
5. Getting down 14-0 to LSU, 14-3 to A&M, 14-0 to La Tech, 14-0 to UM (I'm not counting the pick 6)...when does it stop? That is 56-3 in the first quarter and change! It's Big 12 bad guys and it pisses me off because in my whole life we have ALWAYS been able to find defensive players.
6. I don't want to talk about individual players but let's say this, we are a development program and that is great. However, we have missed on several players in the last 2-4 years. We need to recruit and recruit hard. I think this team can still be a bowl team next year. Recruit some nasty OL prospects, get some head hunters back in the defensive backfield (Whitley, Pig, Brown). Get back to being TOUGH.
Let me have it.
Egg Bowl Review:
1. I have been in denial for the last two years. When the national analysts said that UM was more talented than MSU, I scoffed. More talented? How do you lose to Memphis...Arkansas...and get blown out by Florida? After last night, it is very obvious that UM is more talented than us.
2. The Egg Bowl is currently a very bad matchup for MSU. UM and Bama can exploit the obvious weakness which is the OL. Where other teams cannot, these two teams simply destroyed us up front. No way to win against that except for fluke situations. The funny thing is that from 09-11 we were a nightmare matchup for them. Big, physical, zone-read option team with an above average defense. It was a blowout for three straight years. The table has turned...
3. Last night felt like "goodbye" more than a football game. Lots of tears and rumors that Dan is gone. Very weird feeling in the stadium. I've been in that stadium for 35 years and I've never felt anything like it.
Where do we go from here:
1. Dan is an outstanding coach and deserves to have the opportunity to stay or go. I've changed jobs and I understand that every man has to do what is best for him. If he feels like it is time to go, then all parties are better off parting ways. The last 7 years have been outstanding. I appreciate everything he has done and hope he stays.
2. How this team won 8 games with that OL is a miracle. The SEC has slowly started looking more and more like the Big 12. There are only 3 SEC teams that can control a game from the defensive line (Florida, UM, Bama) and UM is a notch below their standard from last year. The rest of us can't or choose not to. MSU won games this year without an offensive line because frankly, you don't have to have one except for 2-3 games. To be fair, the same is true for UM as well (see Florida) but UM improved greatly with the Tunsil return.
3. I miss the Relf offense. I miss good offensive linemen and a downhill, zone-read attack. I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand if we (a) chose to go away from that or (b) simply didn't have the horses. You coaches can tell me that. I just know that the Relf offense puts up points early on that UM team and controls the clock. Even with defensive issues, they can be masked with the Relf offense. That is a 3 point game with the old offense.
4. I haven't been happy with a MSU defense since 2010. I'm sick of watching the defense year in and year out. The defense gets a pass from most people on this board. The yards given up, time of possession, field position, lack of turnovers, etc. We have been piss poor for years on that side of the ball. The 2014 team makes the playoffs with an AVERAGE defense. I don't think the defense is any worse this year but I can't see much improvement.
5. Getting down 14-0 to LSU, 14-3 to A&M, 14-0 to La Tech, 14-0 to UM (I'm not counting the pick 6)...when does it stop? That is 56-3 in the first quarter and change! It's Big 12 bad guys and it pisses me off because in my whole life we have ALWAYS been able to find defensive players.
6. I don't want to talk about individual players but let's say this, we are a development program and that is great. However, we have missed on several players in the last 2-4 years. We need to recruit and recruit hard. I think this team can still be a bowl team next year. Recruit some nasty OL prospects, get some head hunters back in the defensive backfield (Whitley, Pig, Brown). Get back to being TOUGH.
Let me have it.