MSU Being #1 Was Not A Fluke

[ShotgunDawg]

After just hearing Collinsworth say Chris Jones has turned into a superstar, it dawned on me how many good players our 2014 team had.

We had some holes that kept us from winning the Natty, but man we had some players.

Prescott
Jones
Preston Smith
Eulls
Redmond
Ross
McKnney
Malcolm Johnson
JRob


Impressive group on the high end. Far more talented than Washington this year.

[smootness]

After just hearing Collinsworth say Chris Jones has turned into a superstar, it dawned on me how many good players our 2014 team had.

We had some holes that kept us from winning the Natty, but man we had some players.

Prescott
Jones
Preston Smith
Eulls
Redmond
Ross
McKnney
Malcolm Johnson
JRob


Impressive group on the high end. Far more talented than Washington this year.

We'll see about that. Washington is extremely talented this year, particularly on offense.

But yes, we did have a lot of really good players on that team.

[RougeDawg]

And Chris Jones was still on 1B. That tells you all you need to know about personnel decisions under CDM.

[TUSK]

I think it was a combination of MSU having a talented football team and a great schedule that included some teams that were overranked early.

[cheewgumm]

Rouge... right. It's a crime we didn't play Jones and Smith side by side more. That opportunity only comes along once in a while and we blew it.

We may have beaten Bama if we had not done the 1A1B crap.

[Liverpooldawg]

And Chris Jones was still on 1B. That tells you all you need to know about personnel decisions under CDM.

He played as much as as the starter did. If there is one spot that SHOULD be rotated it is the defensive line. I never had a problem with that.

[sleepy dawg]

He played as much as as the starter did. If there is one spot that SHOULD be rotated it is the defensive line. I never had a problem with that.

Yeah, but what we had that year wasn't so much a rotation as it was a full defensive replacement.

[chef dixon]

Our front 7 pedigree under Mullen has been almost unbelievably stout in the NFL

[dawgday166]

Yes it was a very good team. I believe it was one of the top 4 in the country but never recovered from losing to Bama.

Don't know why everyone wants to blame the defense for that game. They didn't lose it ... the offense and poor special teams lost that game. Bama gained 335 yds total offense. Dak's 3 picks, JRobs safety, and poor special teams lost that game. 1A1B didn't lose it.

Link to game stats: http://www.espn.com/college-football/matchup?gameId=400548338

The game recap article talks about Dak's picks ... one in the end zone when we were down there ready to score.

ETA: We did have a good schedule but I do still believe if we showed up to play we could play with anyone (until we lost Cox & Market at safety). Those were key losses. Being #1 was too big for us to handle mentally IMO. The moment was too much for us.

[Reason2succeed]

I think we are a couple of corners away from being back there. Shutdown corners change everything on defense.

[ShotgunDawg]

Being #1 was too big for us to handle mentally IMO. The moment was too much for us.

Especially agree with this part. For good reason we made WAY to big of a deal out of it and the team pressed. Hopefully it doesn't take to long for it to happen again and every one will just chill and act like they've been there before.

[TUSK]

Yes it was a very good team. I believe it was one of the top 4 in the country but never recovered from losing to Bama.

Don't know why everyone wants to blame the defense for that game. They didn't lose it ... the offense and poor special teams lost that game. Bama gained 335 yds total offense. Dak's 3 picks, JRobs safety, and poor special teams lost that game. 1A1B didn't lose it.

Link to game stats: http://www.espn.com/college-football/matchup?gameId=400548338

The game recap article talks about Dak's picks ... one in the end zone when we were down there ready to score.

ETA: We did have a good schedule but I do still believe if we showed up to play we could play with anyone (until we lost Cox & Market at safety). Those were key losses. Being #1 was too big for us to handle mentally IMO. The moment was too much for us.

This is correct... I took Gravedigger to that game... the MSU D was straight up legit.

Bammer went on a bit of cruise control when they got up by three scores, and save a couple picks, it may have bit them in the ass.

The yardage differential, IMO, wasn't indicative of the disparity...

[dawgday166]

Especially agree with this part. For good reason we made WAY to big of a deal out of it and the team pressed. Hopefully it doesn't take to long for it to happen again and every one will just chill and act like they've been there before.

Yea we did. I don't see us getting to that point next year but in 2 years .. maybe close. We'll see. If we do maybe we can handle it a little better next time. Would rather go into the Bama game tho with rankings reversed ... them #1 and us #5 or so.

[dawgday166]

This is correct... I took Gravedigger to that game... the MSU D was straight up legit.

Bammer went on a bit of cruise control when they got up by three scores, and save a couple picks, it may have bit them in the ass.

The yardage differential, IMO, wasn't indicative of the disparity...

I thought we did pretty good playing at Bama. Just too uptight on offense and in the punting game to start the game. Y'all's punter was lights out in that game too ... booming em. ****er killed us with field position early in the game. I kinda think if we played 5 times (without all the hype) it would probably be 2-2 with 1 tie ****

Our D gave up some explosive plays to OM so if folks want to blame that game on them, I'm ok with that. We did lose our starting SS before that game (Cox) and his backup in that game (Market). Engram ate us up down the middle. On that Jalen Walton run tho, we had him hemmed up with about 6 guys around him and I swear each of em were waiting for one of the other guys to make the tackle.

[TUSK]

I thought we did pretty good playing at Bama. Just too uptight on offense and in the punting game to start the game. Y'all's punter was lights out in that game too ... booming em. ****er killed us with field position early in the game. I kinda think if we played 5 times (without all the hype) it would probably be 2-2 with 1 tie ****

Our D gave up some explosive plays to OM so if folks want to blame that game on them, I'm ok with that. We did lose our starting SS before that game (Cox) and his backup in that game (Market). Engram ate us up down the middle. On that Jalen Walton run tho, we had him hemmed up with about 6 guys around him and I swear each of em were waiting for one of the other guys to make the tackle.

I can buy most of that... I'd lean to 4-1, if 3 were on the road...

and, yes, JK Scott is a "weapon" at punter... he may be our best ever...

[dawgday166]

I can buy most of that... I'd lean to 4-1, if 3 were on the road...

and, yes, JK Scott is a "weapon" at punter... he may be our best ever...

I never thought I'd see the day where you would say we could beat Bama 4 out of 5 if 3 were at Scott Field **** I kinda think so too with the 2014 team.

[TUSK]

I never thought I'd see the day where you would say we could beat Bama 4 out of 5 if 3 were at Scott Field **** I kinda think so too with the 2014 team.

funniboi!!!!!!

+1

gotta spread some around, apparently....

[lastmajordog]

Inexcusable losing to TCUN like they did.......disgusting.

[RougeDawg]

He played as much as as the starter did. If there is one spot that SHOULD be rotated it is the defensive line. I never had a problem with that.

If you recall correctly there was an extremely effective combination of DLine that year when they were on the field together, but rarely were on the field at the same time. When CJones was in with the better of the 1A(upperclassmen) our DLine was dominant. When we had our best defensive linemen on field st the same time other teams could barely move the ball. Big problem is half were on A and half were on B and we rarely had our best DL on field at once. When we let Sims run for those first downs to seal that game, we didn't have our 4 best DL on the field.

This jones played around 60% of the snaps that year when other teams innour state had their best players on the field 80-90% of the time. That was one of the talking points about comparing Spice Bro and CJ, because CJones played significantly fewer snaps than Spice. Long story short, we underutilized CJ his entire time at state.

[Coach007]

Yes it was a very good team. I believe it was one of the top 4 in the country but never recovered from losing to Bama.

Don't know why everyone wants to blame the defense for that game. They didn't lose it ... the offense and poor special teams lost that game. Bama gained 335 yds total offense. Dak's 3 picks, JRobs safety, and poor special teams lost that game. 1A1B didn't lose it.

Link to game stats: http://www.espn.com/college-football/matchup?gameId=400548338

The game recap article talks about Dak's picks ... one in the end zone when we were down there ready to score.

ETA: We did have a good schedule but I do still believe if we showed up to play we could play with anyone (until we lost Cox & Market at safety). Those were key losses. Being #1 was too big for us to handle mentally IMO. The moment was too much for us.


Alot of people forget that's one reason why we made it that far, but yes 3 picks, the safety(was 100% on Jrob too, not the ol), and special teams cost us that game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwTnc8aXRA

Start at 1:45. The ball was on the 5 yard line. Stop it along the way. 1:59. 2 holes for him to pop. He decided to run backwards around the tackle. You can give some of the blame to Ross for not helping that block. At the 3 minute mark. Drop pass causes punt and that punt went nowhere! Gave them the ball on our 45 and the defense held.

The 3:41 mark shows out of our first 4 possessions, we started at our 16, 5, and 10. One time in those first 4 that we started past the 20 yard line(it was on the 21).

From inside our 10, we push it across the 50. It's 3rd and 9. Dak throws it into triple coverage missing 3 wide open guys. 4:12 mark in video. Pause at the 4:15 mark and you can see them. He wasn't being pressured either. They score on that drive. We start the next drive on the 12 yard line.

Can't blame everything on the defense.

[msbulldog]

If you recall correctly there was an extremely effective combination of DLine that year when they were on the field together, but rarely were on the field at the same time. When CJones was in with the better of the 1A(upperclassmen) our DLine was dominant. When we had our best defensive linemen on field st the same time other teams could barely move the ball. Big problem is half were on A and half were on B and we rarely had our best DL on field at once. When we let Sims run for those first downs to seal that game, we didn't have our 4 best DL on the field.

This jones played around 60% of the snaps that year when other teams innour state had their best players on the field 80-90% of the time. That was one of the talking points about comparing Spice Bro and CJ, because CJones played significantly fewer snaps than Spice. Long story short, we underutilized CJ his entire time at state.

Blame Geoff Collins for that crap. Then he abandons us before the TSUN game after he got the FL job. Hope he falls on his face in his 1st HC job.

[Coach007]

If you recall correctly there was an extremely effective combination of DLine that year when they were on the field together, but rarely were on the field at the same time. When CJones was in with the better of the 1A(upperclassmen) our DLine was dominant. When we had our best defensive linemen on field st the same time other teams could barely move the ball. Big problem is half were on A and half were on B and we rarely had our best DL on field at once. When we let Sims run for those first downs to seal that game, we didn't have our 4 best DL on the field.

This jones played around 60% of the snaps that year when other teams innour state had their best players on the field 80-90% of the time. That was one of the talking points about comparing Spice Bro and CJ, because CJones played significantly fewer snaps than Spice. Long story short, we underutilized CJ his entire time at state.

I disagree. I think the plan was straight up smart. We had to have depth to make a run. That meant people needed PT. More PT means more experience and if an injury happened, that back up would be more than prepared. On the other side of that coin, more PT also means more exposure to chances of injury. Had we not rotated out like that, the odds of injury rise thus risking the chance of of a position not having a decent back up.

While Mullen has the ability to find and build up players, not all of them work out. Bama has depth. LSU has depth...etc.

[dawgs]

After just hearing Collinsworth say Chris Jones has turned into a superstar, it dawned on me how many good players our 2014 team had.

We had some holes that kept us from winning the Natty, but man we had some players.

Prescott
Jones
Preston Smith
Eulls
Redmond
Ross
McKnney
Malcolm Johnson
JRob


Impressive group on the high end. Far more talented than Washington this year.

Umm a bit hypocritical to use hindsight to point out all our NFL talent, then arguing we had more talent than Washington this year without giving them the same benefit of hindsight. Browning is a stud QB. Gaskin and Ross are talented skill guys. They have one of the best Ds in the country. They'll have their fair share of future NFL draft picks that have a good shot of being successful.

No problem fluffing our guys, but the moment you start trying to baselessly talk shit on another team or player, the credibility kinda goes out the window.

[dawgs]

I disagree. I think the plan was straight up smart. We had to have depth to make a run. That meant people needed PT. More PT means more experience and if an injury happened, that back up would be more than prepared. On the other side of that coin, more PT also means more exposure to chances of injury. Had we not rotated out like that, the odds of injury rise thus risking the chance of of a position not having a decent back up.

While Mullen has the ability to find and build up players, not all of them work out. Bama has depth. LSU has depth...etc.

It makes more sense to steadily rotate in 1 or 2 guys at a time. Guys could still get plenty of PT, but the inexperienced or less talented guys are easier to hide when they are surrounded by other 1st string guys. By rotating in an entire second string (1B) defense, it just allowed for us to be weaker at all 3 levels.

[dawgday166]

Geoff Collins is the best D coordinator we've had here. That was a good D and always shut down teams when they needed to, with the exception of OM and that 1 2nd half drive by Bama when Sims made I believe 3 1st downs on 3rd and 10 each time. GT doesn't count since he had left. D kept us in the Bama game despite all the offensive and special teams miscues.

When they only give up 335 yds to a Bama team that was putting up close to 600 on everyone that came to Tuscaloosa that year ... can't complain about that.

I've only watched Washington briefly for part of 1 game, but I believe their Oline would get blown up by our 2014 D line, and will definitely get blown up by Bama.

Something else I might add ... every once in a while the reason we lose games is because of the offense. I know that is hard to comprehend for some that Mullen can actually screw up too.

[DudyDawg]

Washington's Ross > our Ross