Shotguns Thoughts: The It's Complicated Edition

[ShotgunDawg]

It's complicated. I wish I had a better answer, but best I can tell, this team simply lacks the straw that stirs the drink.

- we have many good players, but lack them at critical spots.

- we have a good coach that clearly has not lost the locker room, but he hasn't figured out what the identity of this team is and worries more about tricking people than sticking with what works.

- we have talented players that aren't well rounded. They excel at one thing and suck at another. Yet the coaching staff hasn't quite figured out what those things are yet.

- we play hard

- is Malik Dear still on the team? Surely we didn't keep him at slot to fulfill this role when he's probably our best tailback.

- to go along with my points above, where the hell has that Shumpert been till now? He had vision and a burst tonight. Of which we haven't seen either in 4 years.

- Stay with Fitz and see if what he does works. If we fall behind, go with Williams. That's my QB plan. Stinks that neither one can do it all.

- the WRs don't play harder for Williams, but Williams throws a softer ball. Fitz has a good arm, but is a power thrower. He's the equivalent of a sinker ball in baseball. He throws a heavy, clunky ball. Williams and Chad Kelly on the other hand throw throw soft balls that are easy to catch. Compare it to a basketball shooter with a soft shot and one with a hard shot.

Overall, this team is slap average. USA was a fluke and I still expect to win 6 or 7. We have good components that don't work together yet. When they do, we'll get better. This team will improve as the year progresses.

[Commercecomet24]

It's complicated. I wish I had a better answer, but best I can tell, this team simply lacks the straw that stirs the drink.

- we have many good players, but lack them at critical spots.

- we have a good coach that clearly has not lost the locker room, but he hasn't figured out what the identity of this team is and worries more about tricking people that sticking with what works.

- we have talented players that aren't well rounded. They excel at one think and suck at another. Yet the coaching staff hasn't quite figured out what those things are yet.

- we play hard

- is Malik Dear still on the team? Surely we didn't keep him at slot to fulfill this role when he's probably our best tailback.

- to go along with my points above, where the hell has that Shumpert been till now? He had vision and a burst tonight. Of which we haven't seen either in 4 years.

- Stay with Fitz and see if what he does works. If we fall behind, go with Williams. That's my QB plan. Stanks that neither one can do it all.

- the WRs don't play harder for Williams, but Williams throws a softer ball. Fitz has a good at, but is a power thrower. He's the equivalent of a sinker ball in baseball. He throws a heavy, clunky ball. Williams and Chad Kelly on the other hand throw throw soft balls that are easy to catch. Compare it to a basketball shooter with a soft shot and one with a hard shot.

Overall, this team is slap average. USA was a fluke and I still expect to win 6 or 7. We have good components that don't work together yet. When they do, we'll get better. This team will improve as the year progresses.

Very good assessment. Fitz is inexperienced as a passer. I believe he will get better with reps.

[PassInterference]

Its not complicated.

Mullen has half assed recruiting for 2 years. He didn't leverage Dak's success to sign a good QB. He lets Hev stay on staff to be a crootin liability.

The results are our OL is bad. We have no depth (and now no starters) at CB despite knowing for 2 years that we'd need some players there for 2016. We've got a bunch of midgets and a RB playing WR.

And finally, Mullen is too much of an ass to keep any defensive coaches around. We've go no staff continuity.

We are good in spots, while in other spots we are awful. We've got a half ass roster to show for our half ass recruiting.

[LC Dawg]

I thought we would win 8 at the beginning of the year and I still think 7 is very reachable. As you said, we have some pieces we just have to put them together. I know people get rightfully pissed when Dan says we are a young team but our starting qb is a rs soph who ran the option in high school. I think we improve as the year goes on. We actually have a good chance of winning our next five games and I think we can also beat Arkansas at home.

[dawgday166]

It's complicated. I wish I had a better answer, but best I can tell, this team simply lacks the straw that stirs the drink.

- we have many good players, but lack them at critical spots.

- we have a good coach that clearly has not lost the locker room, but he hasn't figured out what the identity of this team is and worries more about tricking people than sticking with what works.

- we have talented players that aren't well rounded. They excel at one thing and suck at another. Yet the coaching staff hasn't quite figured out what those things are yet.

- we play hard

- is Malik Dear still on the team? Surely we didn't keep him at slot to fulfill this role when he's probably our best tailback.

- to go along with my points above, where the hell has that Shumpert been till now? He had vision and a burst tonight. Of which we haven't seen either in 4 years.

- Stay with Fitz and see if what he does works. If we fall behind, go with Williams. That's my QB plan. Stinks that neither one can do it all.

- the WRs don't play harder for Williams, but Williams throws a softer ball. Fitz has a good arm, but is a power thrower. He's the equivalent of a sinker ball in baseball. He throws a heavy, clunky ball. Williams and Chad Kelly on the other hand throw throw soft balls that are easy to catch. Compare it to a basketball shooter with a soft shot and one with a hard shot.

Overall, this team is slap average. USA was a fluke and I still expect to win 6 or 7. We have good components that don't work together yet. When they do, we'll get better. This team will improve as the year progresses.

Finding it hard to believe this anymore.

[Todd4State]

I agree Shotgun but I think the good news is we maybe found some answers- at least some possible ones.

I think we're going to have to manage our QB's like Jackie did in 1999 which was a similar situation because we had Madkin who had a lot of talent but was also young at the time and then we had Matt Wyatt who was a good teammate and a veteran but also limited with what he could do. If it were me, I would start Fitz and roll with him until he starts to struggle and then at that point I would put in Damien. Once Damien struggles you go back to Fitz depending on how the game plays out.

Dear is clearly in the doghouse and when you are in Dan's doghouse you simply so not play.

I think Shumpert should have the opportunity to be the primary back and it did seem like we used Holloway less. That pleased me very much and I hope he gets phased out into the role player he is.

I think we're starting to see some of the concerns I had about Gray's size on the outside as well. He gets overpowered sometimes which hurts us in the screen game and because of his size he has to make a circus catch every time. I'd like to see us work in Couch more and use Ross at the Z position and yes, even though it won't happen- move Gray to the slot.

I still think our o-line is better than it was last year. We're still not great though. We had too many guys that got just straight up beat at times.

We had no pass rush which exposed our secondary.

Our linebackers are pretty good but we don't take full advantage of them by blitzing them enough.

Our secondary is dreadful. Bryant has regressed and I'm not sure why. Coman is Coman. He's just kind of there and doesn't really make any game changing plays. Durr looked OK I guess. Smokey is appropriately nicknamed for all the times he gets burned.

Our kickers and punters are both pretty good. Actually Cooke is probably pretty close to NFL level so saying he's pretty good is probably selling him short. Our return guys are adequate.

[Todd4State]

Its not complicated.

Mullen has half assed recruiting for 2 years. He didn't leverage Dak's success to sign a good QB. He lets Hev stay on staff to be a crootin liability.

The results are our OL is bad. We have no depth (and now no starters) at CB despite knowing for 2 years that we'd need some players there for 2016. We've got a bunch of midgets and a RB playing WR.

And finally, Mullen is too much of an ass to keep any defensive coaches around. We've go no staff continuity.

We are good in spots, while in other spots we are awful. We've got a half ass roster to show for our half ass recruiting.

He could have learned a lot from Tommy Tuberville on how to move up in the coaching ranks.

1. Have a "Dream season" and get talked about in the college football world. Have your agent make up that you are a candidate for some other high profile job. (Actually, Dan has that part down pretty good) Act like you turned down the high profile job to stay at MSU in this case and get a big contract.

2. AFTER Dream season have a good season and then leave at the end of the year.

That's pretty much what Tuberville did in 1997-1998.

[Bothrops]

I agree with most of Shotgun's assessment, but don't sleep on next week's game. I think it will be a fight. I would have us projected as a 4-5 win team right now, looking back at week one.

[Todd4State]

I agree with most of Shotgun's assessment, but don't sleep on next week's game. I think it will be a fight. I would have us projected as a 4-5 win team right now, looking back at week one.

UMass has been good on defense this year but their offense has not been very good. Small sample size at this point of course as I really would like to have 6-8 games to form a true assessment. Based on what we know about both teams it's reasonable to expect a low scoring game.

[TimberBeast]

I agree with most of Shotgun's assessment, but don't sleep on next week's game. I think it will be a fight. I would have us projected as a 4-5 win team right now, looking back at week one.

I'm 40 (I'm a man!) had season tickets from 98 through 2014, went to every home game long before that, and I don't even know who we play next week. And to be honest, it doesn't matter until our athletic dept gets it head out of its ass on football.

[ShotgunDawg]

Its not complicated.

Mullen has half assed recruiting for 2 years. He didn't leverage Dak's success to sign a good QB. He lets Hev stay on staff to be a crootin liability.

The results are our OL is bad. We have no depth (and now no starters) at CB despite knowing for 2 years that we'd need some players there for 2016. We've got a bunch of midgets and a RB playing WR.

And finally, Mullen is too much of an ass to keep any defensive coaches around. We've go no staff continuity.

We are good in spots, while in other spots we are awful. We've got a half ass roster to show for our half ass recruiting.

Here's the thing, I agree with everything you just said. You are spot on, but that's why it's complicated. Even this game was complicated to diagnose. Did LSU stink or did we get better?

We just lost on the road at LSU by three points while having the ball with 2 min left and a chance to win. No matter how we got there, we all would have accepted that position before the game.

We are extremely, extremely flawed and those flaws are 200% Mullen's fault for tons of reasons that we discussed. However, it's complicated because, at the end of the day, we aren't that bad.

This team has components that can improve. Overall, the program must recruit better and the best players must be used correctly and gotten the ball.

[DownwardDawg]

I'm 40 (I'm a man!) had season tickets from 98 through 2014, went to every home game long before that, and I don't even know who we play next week. And to be honest, it doesn't matter until our athletic dept gets it head out of its ass on football.

Lol. I was asked this morning who we play next week. I stood there with my cup of coffee and realized I have no idea who we play. I don't ever remember not knowing our schedule by heart.

[Maroonthirteen]

What P.I. said!

Shotguns assessment of the on field play is accurate as well. But our unsuccessful play (at times) on the field are just symptoms of the fundamental problem....lack of size, strength and speed.

We just ran into a much bigger and more physical team tonight that is coached by a dunce. He let his team lose focus and allowed us to hang around. Our effort was good all night. I have to give our guys their due. But the last 5minutes was all on LSU. What happened when we had a chance to take the lead? LSU woke up. We couldn't even get a first down.

Our team is good enough to win another 5 games. UMass, Samford, BYU and maybe...UK, AU and Ark. Wr could upset aTm IF they come into Starkville sleeping. I'm afraid the Egg Bowl will be a buzz saw. they always get so high for the home Egg Bowl.

Maybe we knock of AU and Ark at home.... if Mullen figures things out and gets Fitz clicking, Shump/Williams on the field and more pressure on the QB defensively.

Mullen screwed around and lost that USA game. He came in with that game in the win column and experimented to much. That game was all on him. It may be the game that keeps us home this year.

[Dawgface]

Agree, go with Fitz as starter and Williams as needed. Stay with the big running backs as we did late in the game. Will Stubborn Mullen do this or go back to Holloway? I guess we will see next week. I don't see 6 wins but if Mullen can pull a rabbit out of a hat.....more props to him. I would take it right now.

[Prentis]

It's complicated. I wish I had a better answer, but best I can tell, this team simply lacks the straw that stirs the drink.

- we have many good players, but lack them at critical spots.

- we have a good coach that clearly has not lost the locker room, but he hasn't figured out what the identity of this team is and worries more about tricking people than sticking with what works.

- we have talented players that aren't well rounded. They excel at one thing and suck at another. Yet the coaching staff hasn't quite figured out what those things are yet.

- we play hard

- is Malik Dear still on the team? Surely we didn't keep him at slot to fulfill this role when he's probably our best tailback.

- to go along with my points above, where the hell has that Shumpert been till now? He had vision and a burst tonight. Of which we haven't seen either in 4 years.

- Stay with Fitz and see if what he does works. If we fall behind, go with Williams. That's my QB plan. Stinks that neither one can do it all.

- the WRs don't play harder for Williams, but Williams throws a softer ball. Fitz has a good arm, but is a power thrower. He's the equivalent of a sinker ball in baseball. He throws a heavy, clunky ball. Williams and Chad Kelly on the other hand throw throw soft balls that are easy to catch. Compare it to a basketball shooter with a soft shot and one with a hard shot.

Overall, this team is slap average. USA was a fluke and I still expect to win 6 or 7. We have good components that don't work together yet. When they do, we'll get better. This team will improve as the year progresses.

I don't understand why people say Dear is the best tailback and we haven't seen the other "3" running backs that we have. Leave Dear at slot, just play him more and get him some touches.

[Bucky Dog]

I'm proud our team kept fighting. Just like last year we were down 14 in first quarter and kept fighting and had a real chance to try and tie it. I came out of my barstool screaming when Dan gives Holloway the ball on our first play with 2:12 to go from our 22! You don't hand the ball off to anyone on your side of the field in the 2:00 drill. I felt like it immediately put us behind the 8 ball.

Proud of Smokey, and the entire defense for turning it around the second half. Glad to see Shump fight hard and play hard. We are young guys. You can bitch at Mullen and all but it is a fact now and we can't do anything to change it, so let it play out some. I think I want to go to BYU now!

[Cowboydawg]

This is the second week in a row I've thought Dez Harris looked outstanding. He is excellent sideline to sideline and needs more pt.