I really don't get the attitude of a lot of State fans right now.

[Johnson85]

Going into the season, we thought/knew we had
(1) a QB that is still growing in the passing game,
(2) a big time question mark at RT and somewhat of a question at LG,
(3) a very weak receiving corp made of mostly good #3 or serviceable #2 receivers,
(4) question marks in the secondary,
(5) a defense that was going to take time to gel because it consisted of new comers and people coached by Peter 17ing Sirmon for the past year.
(6) a team that was probably going to win 6-8 games, and that would be ready to challenge everybody but the elite in 2018, and maybe even could challenge the elite in 2018 if the right things fell into place as far as OL development and WR signees.

So basically, we killed LSU, and many people (including me, thought we might be elite), and then we played UGA, and figured out we aren't elite, but that we might be pretty good, and then we played Auburn, and found out we are exactly what we though before a season. The only thing that is different from the beginning of the season is that we have confirmed we are just an ok team that is one year away, and we now know that SECW is as terrible as it's been since A&M got here, and we could legitimately win 9 games with a mediocre team (although realistically we'll probably slip up at least one if not two along the way).

The reality is that the die was cast for this year a few years ago with Mullen's recruiting. Mullen let things get away from him, and it appears that he has his ass in gear after either bad luck or losing a little bit of his fire resulted in a 2015 without a O-line for the first half or a RB for the entire season and a cluster 17 of a 2016 season.

But we were not one year from a fix last year, and things are going pretty well considering how bad Mullen had let the talent get. We were bailed out by a JUCO signing class that filled in some holes other than OL and WR. This is basically the best case realistic scenario from where we were after the USA game in 2016. It sucks that we are not competitive against good teams, but why did anyone think we would be after the shit year we had last year. The only outstanding gripe I see is that we still have the O-line coach that has left us paper thin on the OL and one offensive lineman short of a starting 17ing lineup, but we have improved OL recruiting some, even if we are still not signing enough to give us a chance to have a full starting lineup and an adequate number of backups, and maybe the Looney hiring is putting Hev on notice. All in all, we are doing ok considering how bad it got last year.

The TLDR version is this is way better than I expected a year ago, and I'm not going to let LSU suckering us into thinking we are better than average stop me from enjoying a season where we are going to win ~8 games the year before what should be our peak season.

[TStationDawg]

You are dropping a logic bomb so prepare for the fall out but I couldn't agree more.

[TrapGame]

Can't disagree with any of that. 8-4 is a very real possibility. I think some people are just really upset LSU has turned out to be such a dumpster fire.

[Political Hack]

I think we're looking at a 9 win season, including the bowl. I'd be pretty happy with that.

[shoeless joe]

Yeah...lot of dumb goin on rite now. The LSU game made folks think we have playoff level talent. They were dumb.

[Commercecomet24]

Well said, Johnson! Agree completely! We gonna win 8-9 games get a good bowl and build for the future!

[Kyper]

Because many didn't see things the way you just described them. Most people around here expected Fitz to be the SEC's top QB, Gray to be a top 10 WR, our OL to be vastly improved, and our D to be top 5 in the SEC. One poster even guaranteed that we would beat Bama this year, while others swore Georgia and Auburn would be average at best.

[Jack Lambert]

I think we're looking at a 9 win season, including the bowl. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I totally agree and if it happens this two week stretch playing two of the best teams in the country on the road will be forgotten.

[Liverpooldawg]

It's two things. The ones that are the loudest right now have been this way since even before 2014. Those like most of us who were thinking as you laid it out got fooled by what we did to LSU. Me included. Who knew they were THIS bad? Again, we need to tone down the whining and stay on board. Let the season play out, it could still be a nice one. We are one game better than I thought we would be right now. I said 6-6 going in.

[JoseBrown]

I figured 8 wins plus a bowl win for 9, but what I didn’t figure on was getting blown out 3 times. I thought we’d get blown out once, but damn UGA looked much better than I thought they would. I was scared of Fromm though, so was planning on Eason not being hurt and us competing with them. I hope the players can get past the two ass whippings, and continue on with the season they can have with only 1-2 more losses.

[msstate7]

Because many didn't see things the way you just described them. Most people around here expected Fitz to be the SEC's top QB, Gray to be a top 10 WR, our OL to be vastly improved, and our D to be top 5 in the SEC. One poster even guaranteed that we would beat Bama this year, while others swore Georgia and Auburn would be average at best.

Alter

[RiverCityDawg]

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.

[BrunswickDawg]

Where I think this 2 game stretch will pay dividends is Rankin getting gimpy and having to play Eiland and in Reese playing so poorly. That is going to force either some changes in personnel or make our young guys (Eiland & Reese) grow up in a hurry. Hopefully getting schooled lights a fire under Eiland and Reese and they come out with something to prove the rest of the season. If you will recall, Rankin looked like crap until he got embarrassed - maybe in the UMASS game - when he missed the snap count and the guy blew by him for a sack. It woke him up and he has been boarder-line elite since then.

[sleepy dawg]

Well I believe it is okay to still be upset with our performances in the last 2 games even knowing the things above. Just b/c I knew we didn't have dominant receivers doesn't mean I find it acceptable to drop 6 balls a game. There's some things that just aren't acceptable, like 6+ false starts in a game, kicking around 50% and missing extra points. If you made it to a D1 SEC school, there is a minimum expectation of not being shitty. You should be able to make most of your field goals and catch most of the balls that hit you in the hands. Me knowing you suck doesn't make it any easier or make many any happier to watch you suck shit all night long.

[sonofozarka]

If we go 10-3 most will forget/forgive the 3 losses, but just like before the season, the A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky, & OM games will define this season. Go 4-0 in those and it's a huge success, with 3-1 still being good.

Just shows the gap or dropoff in the SEC though between the 3rd best team and everyone else... 4-9 in the SEC isn't close to the top 3, so that let's you know how far State is from being a top 15 type team. The 4th best team in the SEC is really probably only a fringe top 25 team

[CadaverDawg]

Let's be real, if UGA was 28-10 instead of 31-3, and AU was 35-21 instead of 49-10, this is a whole different board right now. We shouldn't be getting our teeth kicked in like that 2 consecutive weeks, & it has folks pissed. It should. It would be unhealthy for our program if our fans were like Vandy's and just shrugged our shoulders and said "it's okay boys, better luck next time". We are starting to raise expectations, and that's ok. In fact, that's what we all wanted. Now let's just hope the players & coaches are doing what it takes to improve so the last two weeks doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Road games are tough in this league. Especially night games on the road. Especially when you're playing good teams that aren't overlooking you.

The other part, is that It's Mullen's job to figure out how to get his offense going when teams can stop our run. I think he sees that and is bringing in some WR's...but he dropped the ball the last few years in WR recruiting (his staff did too, but that falls on him). At least he's trying to address it, we just have to get through this year & realize we were faked out early....we're a team that is a 7-9 win team for the next few years, which is good. But we have some QB's coming in that have more raw talent, WR's with height, speed, skills...RB's like we haven't had in years (Hill)...& more defensive talent committed. We need some DB's that can run & cover, & more talent & depth at OL. And Heath & Guidry must become yearly type additions in our recruiting classes. Otherwise, we need to just be happy with 6-8 wins...bc if we want to win 9+ & compete for the West, we must be a complete team & have playmakers on O that can change the outcome of a game.

[TrapGame]

I heard some stat this morning that we had five dropped passes deep in Auburn territory. Make those five and who knows what would have happened.

[bostondawg]

If I may play the clarifying devil's advocate here, OP:

Absolutely no one is upset with the outlook at our record. We still are looking at somewhere between 7 and 9 wins. That's fine. Again, you're making a strawman here--no one is upset about that.

Some posters (including myself) are upset about the fact that our team is much worse (read: coached) than we expected this season. That isn't the same thing as a problem with the record. Essentially, what we've learned is that while our record should still be fine, the SEC is much worse than anyone anticipated. This conference is absolutely awful. Remove the top 3 teams and this conference is the worst in power football, probably. LSU lost to Troy. These posters aren't patting themselves on the back for beating a team that lost to Troy (nor should they). We've learned that this conference is not very good, and that pushes the quality of our wins down too. So, cool, we went 1-2 down in a stretch we were hoping to go 1-2 in. No one is upset about that. We're upset about being embarrassed two weeks in a row and then finding out that the one win we thought was good couldn't even beat Troy at home in front of 95k fans.

The consequence of this, more importantly, is that the SEC is as bad as it's been in years; meanwhile, MSU with a 9th year head coach should be looking pretty good--coaching stability, recruiting is marginally better, TSUN is in the toilet. This is our chance to make waves in the SEC, when everyone else is down and we're theoretically looking up. However, these past three weeks have taught us that we aren't even close to making moves. Due to poor coaching and recruiting, we're not taking advantage of the best opportunity our program has had in maybe decades.

[IMissJack]

Not showing up whatsoever is what has people pissed. 7 illegal motion penalties on the OL have people pissed. It's not getting beat, it is giving up 7 plays over 30 yds, 5 being TDs that has people pissed. That is the kind of stuff we saw under Felker and Croom.
.

[FISHDAWG]

You are dropping a logic bomb so prepare for the fall out but I couldn't agree more.

I concur with everything except 9 wins

[TrapGame]

If I may play the clarifying devil's advocate here, OP:

Absolutely no one is upset with the outlook at our record. We still are looking at somewhere between 7 and 9 wins. That's fine. Again, you're making a strawman here--no one is upset about that.

Some posters (including myself) are upset about the fact that our team is much worse (read: coached) than we expected this season. That isn't the same thing as a problem with the record. Essentially, what we've learned is that while our record should still be fine, the SEC is much worse than anyone anticipated. This conference is absolutely awful. Remove the top 3 teams and this conference is the worst in power football, probably. LSU lost to Troy. These posters aren't patting themselves on the back for beating a team that lost to Troy (nor should they). We've learned that this conference is not very good, and that pushes the quality of our wins down too. So, cool, we went 1-2 down in a stretch we were hoping to go 1-2 in. No one is upset about that. We're upset about being embarrassed two weeks in a row and then finding out that the one win we thought was good couldn't even beat Troy at home in front of 95k fans.

The consequence of this, more importantly, is that the SEC is as bad as it's been in years; meanwhile, MSU with a 9th year head coach should be looking pretty good--coaching stability, recruiting is marginally better, TSUN is in the toilet. This is our chance to make waves in the SEC, when everyone else is down and we're theoretically looking up. However, these past three weeks have taught us that we aren't even close to making moves. Due to poor coaching and recruiting, we're not taking advantage of the best opportunity our program has had in maybe decades.

You make it sound like this opportunity has an expiration date like a carton of milk.

Patience Grasshopper. Things must unfold with ole miss first and recruiting has already taken a big upturn lately.

The opportunity you speak of is just around the corner. It hasn't passed us by just yet.

[Reunion Dog]

whomevere thought we were going to have an improved line needs to put down the crack pipe immedidately. Fat Ass Hevesy and his $400k salary needs to be gone yesterday. Patheric recruiting and coaching. I am sick and tired of seeing our qb's and running backs getting hit in our own backfield. This is on Mullen. Time for Keenum to demand a change.... our we will never compete for the elite status.

Our db's just must be dumb. I mean no racist comment by that. They are ALWAYS out of position. Can't fault Gratham for that... but 99 yard td out of endzone... u got to believe they are gonna try that. Hell i bet that play happens more that 50% to teams... yet we acted like we never even thought about them doing it.... Receivers suck. Every team know we are gonna go 3 to 5 yards across the middle of the field or throw to back out on a roll out. This is lack of recruiting... NO EXCUSE for how bad we are in positions in majority areas.

i expect us to win more games becasue some teams have worse talent than we do.... Kentucky won't be a guranteed W, nor will a@m, or Ark.

If we don't have a coach that can go get a junior college 6'5" receiver that can actually CATCH the ball... there need to be changes made. ******* is making $5M and very content becasue we are accepting of it. He gets out coached in big games and basically runs 10 plays.

It's time ******* has some heat put on him. only person can do that is Keenum.... and believe me... He cares..
screw it.. We are a National Power House in Women's basketball.... to bad Vic can't coach football....

[Todd4State]

Let's be real, if UGA was 28-10 instead of 31-3, and AU was 35-21 instead of 49-10, this is a whole different board right now. We shouldn't be getting our teeth kicked in like that 2 consecutive weeks, & it has folks pissed. It should. It would be unhealthy for our program if our fans were like Vandy's and just shrugged our shoulders and said "it's okay boys, better luck next time". We are starting to raise expectations, and that's ok. In fact, that's what we all wanted. Now let's just hope the players & coaches are doing what it takes to improve so the last two weeks doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Road games are tough in this league. Especially night games on the road. Especially when you're playing good teams that aren't overlooking you.

The other part, is that It's Mullen's job to figure out how to get his offense going when teams can stop our run. I think he sees that and is bringing in some WR's...but he dropped the ball the last few years in WR recruiting (his staff did too, but that falls on him). At least he's trying to address it, we just have to get through this year & realize we were faked out early....we're a team that is a 7-9 win team for the next few years, which is good. But we have some QB's coming in that have more raw talent, WR's with height, speed, skills...RB's like we haven't had in years (Hill)...& more defensive talent committed. We need some DB's that can run & cover, & more talent & depth at OL. And Heath & Guidry must become yearly type additions in our recruiting classes. Otherwise, we need to just be happy with 6-8 wins...bc if we want to win 9+ & compete for the West, we must be a complete team & have playmakers on O that can change the outcome of a game.

Well said. This is how I feel. I'm not disappointed in the team as much as I am the coaching staff for allowing certain things to happen in recruiting that were avoidable.

I think even if you are Alabama you have to look for ways to get better. Some people may see that as "complaining", "bitching", "disappointment" or whatever- but the truth in life is if you aren't looking to get better you are going to get stagnant and then will quickly go backwards. Because everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to win a championship. I don't want to go from a 7-9 win team back to a 3-5 win team with cronies telling me about what our coach did in 2014 and how I should be thankful it's not 1969 MSU football anymore.

[Kyper]

People upset about not being competitive vs top 15 teams is a valid concern.

[msstate7]

People upset about not being competitive vs top 15 teams is a valid concern.

Miss state fan policy is you cant use a teams ranking until the end of the season*

[BoomBoom]

Going into the season, we thought/knew we had
(1) a QB that is still growing in the passing game,
(2) a big time question mark at RT and somewhat of a question at LG,
(3) a very weak receiving corp made of mostly good #3 or serviceable #2 receivers,
(4) question marks in the secondary,
(5) a defense that was going to take time to gel because it consisted of new comers and people coached by Peter 17ing Sirmon for the past year.
(6) a team that was probably going to win 6-8 games, and that would be ready to challenge everybody but the elite in 2018, and maybe even could challenge the elite in 2018 if the right things fell into place as far as OL development and WR signees.

So basically, we killed LSU, and many people (including me, thought we might be elite), and then we played UGA, and figured out we aren't elite, but that we might be pretty good, and then we played Auburn, and found out we are exactly what we though before a season. The only thing that is different from the beginning of the season is that we have confirmed we are just an ok team that is one year away, and we now know that SECW is as terrible as it's been since A&M got here, and we could legitimately win 9 games with a mediocre team (although realistically we'll probably slip up at least one if not two along the way).

The reality is that the die was cast for this year a few years ago with Mullen's recruiting. Mullen let things get away from him, and it appears that he has his ass in gear after either bad luck or losing a little bit of his fire resulted in a 2015 without a O-line for the first half or a RB for the entire season and a cluster 17 of a 2016 season.

But we were not one year from a fix last year, and things are going pretty well considering how bad Mullen had let the talent get. We were bailed out by a JUCO signing class that filled in some holes other than OL and WR. This is basically the best case realistic scenario from where we were after the USA game in 2016. It sucks that we are not competitive against good teams, but why did anyone think we would be after the shit year we had last year. The only outstanding gripe I see is that we still have the O-line coach that has left us paper thin on the OL and one offensive lineman short of a starting 17ing lineup, but we have improved OL recruiting some, even if we are still not signing enough to give us a chance to have a full starting lineup and an adequate number of backups, and maybe the Looney hiring is putting Hev on notice. All in all, we are doing ok considering how bad it got last year.

The TLDR version is this is way better than I expected a year ago, and I'm not going to let LSU suckering us into thinking we are better than average stop me from enjoying a season where we are going to win ~8 games the year before what should be our peak season.

i think many fans realized what i had long ago about Mullen. he has a system, he's going to run it week in and week out all season with very few wrinkles or adjustments. have a superior run game, a terrible passing game, and playing a team that can't defend the run? doesn't matter, we're throwing the ball just as much as normal. the wrinkles he does try to throw in are usually pretty bad (see fake punts), it's a system that works pretty well against inferior (and arguably equal) opponents but pretty badly against elite opponents. it's that last one that hits hard. it makes you realize Mullen is an 7-9 win coach, and will never be more. a generic coach with generic talent has a much better chance of beating a top team. he just doesn't have it in him to tweak things week in and out for an advantage, to get more out of less. ok, give him Alabama talent and he MAY win more. MAYBE. but.......what coach does that not apply to? he gets credit for many things he shouldn't get credit for (running an actual offense, because we suffered under Croom and Jackie for years, running a competent program, because we suffered under LT for decades, etc.).

In other words, he gets paid as and treated as a 4* coach.......but barely delivers a 3* performance. it's not like he should be run off.......but we can do better. or worse! but all the fluffing leads to some serious blue balls when he fails to deliver (again). we all managed to convince ourselves that Mullen had finally changed, and then reality set in. he's the same Mullen, always will be the same Mullen. and people are pretty tired of the same shortcomings over and over again. and poor game planning being blamed on "execution". if you can run for 4 ypc and can barely break double digits, then there's a coaching problem, not a talent problem.

Mullen's record against top teams cannot be explained by a lack of talent. It can be explained by who the head coach is.

[bostondawg]

You make it sound like this opportunity has an expiration date like a carton of milk.

Patience Grasshopper. Things must unfold with ole miss first and recruiting has already taken a big upturn lately.

The opportunity you speak of is just around the corner. It hasn't passed us by just yet.

Fair enough, thanks for the advice. Admittedly, I'm a young fan relative to many on this board, and perhaps for that reason I don't appreciate the awful seasons and situations that some have had to deal with, and I can be impatient.

I think my impatience is due to my belief that, more or less, this opportunity does have an expiration date. Maybe it's a long ways out and we'll be just fine, but LSU isn't gonna be down forever. Nor will TAMU. Hell, TSUN will start being competitive with us in a few years again. It seems like if we're going to seize the chance, it's going to have to be while Sumlin is staggering his way through College Station, Ed O is losing to Troy, Arkansas is led by Fat Bert, and cheating has TSUN in shambles.

Here's to optimism.

[dparker]

If I may play the clarifying devil's advocate here, OP:
We're upset about being embarrassed two weeks in a row...

The consequence of this, more importantly, is that the SEC is as bad as it's been in years; meanwhile, MSU with a 9th year head coach should be looking pretty good--coaching stability, recruiting is marginally better, TSUN is in the toilet. This is our chance to make waves in the SEC, when everyone else is down and we're theoretically looking up. However, these past three weeks have taught us that we aren't even close to making moves. Due to poor coaching and recruiting, we're not taking advantage of the best opportunity our program has had in maybe decades.

^^^This

[Apoplectic]

Let's be real, if UGA was 28-10 instead of 31-3, and AU was 35-21 instead of 49-10, this is a whole different board right now. We shouldn't be getting our teeth kicked in like that 2 consecutive weeks, & it has folks pissed. It should. It would be unhealthy for our program if our fans were like Vandy's and just shrugged our shoulders and said "it's okay boys, better luck next time". We are starting to raise expectations, and that's ok. In fact, that's what we all wanted. Now let's just hope the players & coaches are doing what it takes to improve so the last two weeks doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Road games are tough in this league. Especially night games on the road. Especially when you're playing good teams that aren't overlooking you.

The other part, is that It's Mullen's job to figure out how to get his offense going when teams can stop our run. I think he sees that and is bringing in some WR's...but he dropped the ball the last few years in WR recruiting (his staff did too, but that falls on him). At least he's trying to address it, we just have to get through this year & realize we were faked out early....we're a team that is a 7-9 win team for the next few years, which is good. But we have some QB's coming in that have more raw talent, WR's with height, speed, skills...RB's like we haven't had in years (Hill)...& more defensive talent committed. We need some DB's that can run & cover, & more talent & depth at OL. And Heath & Guidry must become yearly type additions in our recruiting classes. Otherwise, we need to just be happy with 6-8 wins...bc if we want to win 9+ & compete for the West, we must be a complete team & have playmakers on O that can change the outcome of a game.

bingo!!! is it too much to ask in 17n year 8, 9 or whatever that we can't make it a game at basket case auburn? 2nd year coach uga?

[Kyper]

I disagree that the SEC is bad. The SEC is what- 4-1 vs the ACC?

Bama, Georgia, and Auburn are top 10 teams if not top 5
Florida leads the East at 3-0, with home games vs LSU, A&M, and Fla State , plus winnables @Mizzou and @SC.
Kentucky, State, and A&M are top 30 teams. Kentucky is going to beat Mizzou to get to 5-1 and have a week of to get ready for State. Kentucky is 2nd in the SEC vs the run
Vandy is 3-0 outside the SEC with a win over Kansas State
SC is 3-2 with wins over NC State and La Tech

The SEC is not bad this year- we likely find that out in games coming up

[Commercecomet24]

I disagree that the SEC is bad. The SEC is what- 4-1 vs the ACC?

Bama, Georgia, and Auburn are top 10 teams if not top 5
Florida leads the East at 3-0, with home games vs LSU, A&M, and Fla State , plus winnables @Mizzou and @SC.
Kentucky, State, and A&M are top 30 teams. Kentucky is going to beat Mizzou to get to 5-1 and have a week of to get ready for State. Kentucky is 2nd in the SEC vs the run
Vandy is 3-0 outside the SEC with a win over Kansas State
SC is 3-2 with wins over NC State and La Tech

The SEC is not bad this year- we likely find that out in games coming up.

Agree. It may be down a little but if you think the sec is bad watch the other conferences.

[Hasu Dackds]

i think many fans realized what i had long ago about Mullen. he has a system, he's going to run it week in and week out all season with very few wrinkles or adjustments. have a superior run game, a terrible passing game, and playing a team that can't defend the run? doesn't matter, we're throwing the ball just as much as normal. the wrinkles he does try to throw in are usually pretty bad (see fake punts), it's a system that works pretty well against inferior (and arguably equal) opponents but pretty badly against elite opponents. it's that last one that hits hard. it makes you realize Mullen is an 7-9 win coach, and will never be more. a generic coach with generic talent has a much better chance of beating a top team. he just doesn't have it in him to tweak things week in and out for an advantage, to get more out of less. ok, give him Alabama talent and he MAY win more. MAYBE. but.......what coach does that not apply to? he gets credit for many things he shouldn't get credit for (running an actual offense, because we suffered under Croom and Jackie for years, running a competent program, because we suffered under LT for decades, etc.).

In other words, he gets paid as and treated as a 4* coach.......but barely delivers a 3* performance. it's not like he should be run off.......but we can do better. or worse! but all the fluffing leads to some serious blue balls when he fails to deliver (again). we all managed to convince ourselves that Mullen had finally changed, and then reality set in. he's the same Mullen, always will be the same Mullen. and people are pretty tired of the same shortcomings over and over again. and poor game planning being blamed on "execution". if you can run for 4 ypc and can barely break double digits, then there's a coaching problem, not a talent problem.

Mullen's record against top teams cannot be explained by a lack of talent. It can be explained by who the head coach is.

I think this problem could be solved if Mullen would actually give up the playcalling and be the HEAD coach. Very few people can pull this micro-managing stuff off, Bobby Petrino is one of them. Mullen isn't. He needs to take the next step. He's got to give it to Gonzales or go find some people he can trust to run his system.

Biggest problem is still talent, though. It's consistently weak on the offensive line.

[Apoplectic]

I think this problem could be solved if Mullen would actually give up the playcalling and be the HEAD coach. Very few people can pull this micro-managing stuff off, Bobby Petrino is one of them. Mullen isn't. He needs to take the next step. He's got to give it to Gonzales or go find some people he can trust to run his system.

Biggest problem is still talent, though. It's consistently weak on the offensive line.

disagree - he already tried that. remember les?

[fieldcorporal]

I think all the angst is caused by an unacknowledged fear that our 7-9 wins could turn into 4-6 wins in a flash.

That 7-9 win forecast is based on "our opponents suck".

And they probably do. But what leads us to believe we suck less than they do? Our skull dragging of a shitty ed o led bunch of corndogs? Skull draggings by UGA and AU, who, until they beat our sucky ass were suspect? And now, because they beat our ass they're top 5?

Right now we have no basis to think we're any better than tam, ark, or anybody else except byu and I'm not sure about them. Dear God save us from losses to byu and unm.

Yea yea I understand tam and ark et al have looked like warmed over dogshit

So have we. We're talking relative levels of shittiness here.

Unless things change 4-5 wins could as easily be on the horizon as 7-9.

[NCDawg]

i think many fans realized what i had long ago about Mullen. he has a system, he's going to run it week in and week out all season with very few wrinkles or adjustments. have a superior run game, a terrible passing game, and playing a team that can't defend the run? doesn't matter, we're throwing the ball just as much as normal. the wrinkles he does try to throw in are usually pretty bad (see fake punts), it's a system that works pretty well against inferior (and arguably equal) opponents but pretty badly against elite opponents. it's that last one that hits hard. it makes you realize Mullen is an 7-9 win coach, and will never be more. a generic coach with generic talent has a much better chance of beating a top team. he just doesn't have it in him to tweak things week in and out for an advantage, to get more out of less. ok, give him Alabama talent and he MAY win more. MAYBE. but.......what coach does that not apply to? he gets credit for many things he shouldn't get credit for (running an actual offense, because we suffered under Croom and Jackie for years, running a competent program, because we suffered under LT for decades, etc.).

In other words, he gets paid as and treated as a 4* coach.......but barely delivers a 3* performance. it's not like he should be run off.......but we can do better. or worse! but all the fluffing leads to some serious blue balls when he fails to deliver (again). we all managed to convince ourselves that Mullen had finally changed, and then reality set in. he's the same Mullen, always will be the same Mullen. and people are pretty tired of the same shortcomings over and over again. and poor game planning being blamed on "execution". if you can run for 4 ypc and can barely break double digits, then there's a coaching problem, not a talent problem.

Mullen's record against top teams cannot be explained by a lack of talent. It can be explained by who the head coach is.

Pretty good synopsis. In addition to poor game planning being blamed on "execution", he also blames mistakes on our "young team". Perhaps if we had recruited better, we wouldn't have such a young team. But, the obvious problem, which Mullen refuses to fix, is our inadequate play on the OL. We shouldn't be getting blown out in games in year 9 of Mullen's tenure.

[bluelightstar]

I think all the angst is caused by an unacknowledged fear that our 7-9 wins could turn into 4-6 wins in a flash.

That 7-9 win forecast is based on "our opponents suck".

And they probably do. But what leads us to believe we suck less than they do? Our skull dragging of a shitty ed o led bunch of corndogs? Skull draggings by UGA and AU, who, until they beat our sucky ass were suspect? And now, because they beat our ass they're top 5?

Right now we have no basis to think we're any better than tam, ark, or anybody else except byu and I'm not sure about them. Dear God save us from losses to byu and unm.

Yea yea I understand tam and ark et al have looked like warmed over dogshit

So have we. We're talking relative levels of shittiness here.

Unless things change 4-5 wins could as easily be on the horizon as 7-9.

This is sort of where I am. It's entirely conceivable to me that we look up in two months and we've lost to A&M, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama. If any of those games were this weekend, I'd bet we'd only be favored against Kentucky.

[gravedigger]

Going into the season, we thought/knew we had
(1) a QB that is still growing in the passing game,
(2) a big time question mark at RT and somewhat of a question at LG,
(3) a very weak receiving corp made of mostly good #3 or serviceable #2 receivers,
(4) question marks in the secondary,
(5) a defense that was going to take time to gel because it consisted of new comers and people coached by Peter 17ing Sirmon for the past year.
(6) a team that was probably going to win 6-8 games, and that would be ready to challenge everybody but the elite in 2018, and maybe even could challenge the elite in 2018 if the right things fell into place as far as OL development and WR signees.

So basically, we killed LSU, and many people (including me, thought we might be elite), and then we played UGA, and figured out we aren't elite, but that we might be pretty good, and then we played Auburn, and found out we are exactly what we though before a season. The only thing that is different from the beginning of the season is that we have confirmed we are just an ok team that is one year away, and we now know that SECW is as terrible as it's been since A&M got here, and we could legitimately win 9 games with a mediocre team (although realistically we'll probably slip up at least one if not two along the way).

The reality is that the die was cast for this year a few years ago with Mullen's recruiting. Mullen let things get away from him, and it appears that he has his ass in gear after either bad luck or losing a little bit of his fire resulted in a 2015 without a O-line for the first half or a RB for the entire season and a cluster 17 of a 2016 season.

But we were not one year from a fix last year, and things are going pretty well considering how bad Mullen had let the talent get. We were bailed out by a JUCO signing class that filled in some holes other than OL and WR. This is basically the best case realistic scenario from where we were after the USA game in 2016. It sucks that we are not competitive against good teams, but why did anyone think we would be after the shit year we had last year. The only outstanding gripe I see is that we still have the O-line coach that has left us paper thin on the OL and one offensive lineman short of a starting 17ing lineup, but we have improved OL recruiting some, even if we are still not signing enough to give us a chance to have a full starting lineup and an adequate number of backups, and maybe the Looney hiring is putting Hev on notice. All in all, we are doing ok considering how bad it got last year.

The TLDR version is this is way better than I expected a year ago, and I'm not going to let LSU suckering us into thinking we are better than average stop me from enjoying a season where we are going to win ~8 games the year before what should be our peak season.

I agree. But I do get them.

[Political Hack]

Mullen called one of the best games I've ever seen against LSU. It was a masterpiece. LaTech was close to the same. We were outmatched at UGA and tanked at Auburn when we lost our best OL and got behind fast. I'm still not disappointed with Dan's play calling though. I get frustrated passing on 1st down so much, but long term I think we'll be a better offense for it. I also wonder if Dan thinks he's making a push next year too and is already getting prepared for it.

[Commercecomet24]

Mullen called one of the best games I've ever seen against LSU. It was a masterpiece. LaTech was close to the same. We were outmatched at UGA and tanked at Auburn when we lost our best OL and got behind fast. I'm still not disappointed with Dan's play calling though. I get frustrated passing on 1st down so much, but long term I think we'll be a better offense for it. I also wonder if Dan thinks he's making a push next year too and is already getting prepared for it.

Now that?s a great post. Agree.

[BoomBoom]

I think this problem could be solved if Mullen would actually give up the playcalling and be the HEAD coach. Very few people can pull this micro-managing stuff off, Bobby Petrino is one of them. Mullen isn't. He needs to take the next step. He's got to give it to Gonzales or go find some people he can trust to run his system.

Biggest problem is still talent, though. It's consistently weak on the offensive line.

but Mullen's main value is in playcalling. supposedly. he doesn't actually do any of the things a HC does that well (managing clock, motivating, etc).

[BoomBoom]

Mullen called one of the best games I've ever seen against LSU. It was a masterpiece. LaTech was close to the same. We were outmatched at UGA and tanked at Auburn when we lost our best OL and got behind fast. I'm still not disappointed with Dan's play calling though. I get frustrated passing on 1st down so much, but long term I think we'll be a better offense for it. I also wonder if Dan thinks he's making a push next year too and is already getting prepared for it.

yeah but it was the same plays. LSU just sucks.

we tanked at Auburn when we decided to try to open up the run by establishing the pass. the exact same gameplan as against LSU and Georgia. and it won't change all year. doesn't matter that we averaged 4ypc against Georgia and Auburn, we're still going to open the Bama game by trying to open up the run by establishing the pass. then we'll be behind and have to air raid it. again.

I do wonder how much he is doing this to improve Fitz for later. but mostly i see that as wishful thinking, he's just who he is. he cannot stand to win a game by running the ball.

[Todd4State]

Mullen called one of the best games I've ever seen against LSU. It was a masterpiece. LaTech was close to the same. We were outmatched at UGA and tanked at Auburn when we lost our best OL and got behind fast. I'm still not disappointed with Dan's play calling though. I get frustrated passing on 1st down so much, but long term I think we'll be a better offense for it. I also wonder if Dan thinks he's making a push next year too and is already getting prepared for it.

I agree. I don't think the play calling is bad. It looks bad when WR's don't catch passes that they should and when the o-line is not winning at the LOS. If we ran Nick 40 times we might have slightly better results, but we would also probably be starting Key by the Alabama game because of the wear and tear that Nick would take. Fitz misses some reads at times as well.

Most of those issues aren't corrected with better play calling. They're fixed with recruiting more talented players.

[Todd4State]

yeah but it was the same plays. LSU just sucks.

we tanked at Auburn when we decided to try to open up the run by establishing the pass. the exact same gameplan as against LSU and Georgia. and it won't change all year. doesn't matter that we averaged 4ypc against Georgia and Auburn, we're still going to open the Bama game by trying to open up the run by establishing the pass. then we'll be behind and have to air raid it. again.

I do wonder how much he is doing this to improve Fitz for later. but mostly i see that as wishful thinking, he's just who he is. he cannot stand to win a game by running the ball.

We can only run it so much in the SEC without some balance. Teams will stack 8-9 guys in the box like they did with Jackie. There's not a lot we can do to duct tape it right now. If we give Kylin more touches realistically that's only going to help so much. Using two backs and using a TE or two TE set is only going to help us so much. That is about all of our realistic options right now at least against elite teams.

Dan's play calling and personnel groupings will work fine against lesser SEC teams. Hopefully Grantham helps us out and gets us a couple of more wins because that was the issue at least in the Arkansas game where we scored a lot of points but we gave up a ton too.

[Howboutdemdogs]

It's funny how the media mouth peices don't give us any press before the season. Then, after LSU they plugged us as much as they could. All the love we could handle from the outlets. Now, they all say, "Well, I was right all along, State is a lower tier team". I believe that we all bought into the hyped press after LSU, which now we are butt hurt. This is what is killing most of us,,,,,the hoping for an elite team, which we are not there yet. And yes, I want an elite consistent team.

[BoomBoom]

We can only run it so much in the SEC without some balance. Teams will stack 8-9 guys in the box like they did with Jackie. There's not a lot we can do to duct tape it right now. If we give Kylin more touches realistically that's only going to help so much. Using two backs and using a TE or two TE set is only going to help us so much. That is about all of our realistic options right now at least against elite teams.

Dan's play calling and personnel groupings will work fine against lesser SEC teams. Hopefully Grantham helps us out and gets us a couple of more wins because that was the issue at least in the Arkansas game where we scored a lot of points but we gave up a ton too.

You know who didn't stop from running the ball? Georgia and Auburn. You know who did stop us? Mullen. Establish the run, then pass off play action when they stuff the box. The question is why Mullen stubbornly refuses to follow this gameplan.

[shrimp]

Agree. We abandoned the run game way too early in both games. Fitz only had 3 rushing attempts in the first half against Auburn. Then after we were down by 32, late in the game, he ran the ball like 3 times on one drive. Mind-bottling.


You know who didn't stop from running the ball? Georgia and Auburn. You know who did stop us? Mullen. Establish the run, then pass off play action when they stuff the box. The question is why Mullen stubbornly refuses to follow this gameplan.

[Liverpooldawg]

You know who didn't stop from running the ball? Georgia and Auburn. You know who did stop us? Mullen. Establish the run, then pass off play action when they stuff the box. The question is why Mullen stubbornly refuses to follow this gameplan.

We watched different games.

[bluelightstar]

We watched different games.

I agree with you in terms of Georgia. I never felt like we were running effectively until the fourth quarter when it didn't matter. I thought we found much better success against Auburn, but we wouldn't commit to it. There were drives in the first half where we would run for 6 yards on first down and then throw two incomplete passes and I believe I remember at least one drive where we just came out and threw three incomplete passes.

[Really Clark?]

You know who didn't stop from running the ball? Georgia and Auburn. You know who did stop us? Mullen. Establish the run, then pass off play action when they stuff the box. The question is why Mullen stubbornly refuses to follow this gameplan.

Teams are stuffing the box on first and second downs. Kinda of hard to run play action on third down when they are playing the run nearly every down and we are getting behind the chains either from a run being stuffed or incomplete pass. (Or all the false starts against Auburn). Y'all are not factoring in the RPO's that we throw from because of the defensive alignment against the run or Fitz not running because of his read in the read option plays.

[Johnson85]

Well said. This is how I feel. I'm not disappointed in the team as much as I am the coaching staff for allowing certain things to happen in recruiting that were avoidable.

I completely agree with this; my only thing is that I was pissed about this last year. The ball was dropped essentially following up on 2014 and continuing until we did what we had to do to close on last year's JUCO class. As far as I can tell, Mullen has finally addressed everything that is within his control, with the exception of Hevesy. And I am trying to be patient on Hevesy because I do think he can coach and we have started to get some better talent, even if we are still not signing enough bodies period. If Looney can help him recruit, that may be a good situation.


I think even if you are Alabama you have to look for ways to get better. Some people may see that as "complaining", "bitching", "disappointment" or whatever- but the truth in life is if you aren't looking to get better you are going to get stagnant and then will quickly go backwards. Because everyone in this league is trying to figure out how to win a championship. I don't want to go from a 7-9 win team back to a 3-5 win team with cronies telling me about what our coach did in 2014 and how I should be thankful it's not 1969 MSU football anymore.

I completely agree, I just think we are doing things to get better. As I said, the cake was baked for this year well before this year started. But it looks like we finally have addressed our WR recruiting deficiencies. It looks like we are going to actually take advantage of Ole Miss being down when we actually have a lot of in state talent to recruit. The only remaining issue is what we are going to do with OL which looks concerning based on our current list of prospects, but not sure what to do about that but wait and see.

And all of the alleged coaching deficiencies mainly look like talent deficiencies to me. I'm not saying Mullen is perfect, but I think people underestimate some of the talent deficiencies because Mullen does such a good job overall. WRs are a perfect example. Nobody moves the ball on elite defenses with a glaring deficiency like that. Not saying Mullen's play calling was perfect, but what do you want him to do when our WRs can't get separation consistently and even when they do and the QB throws a very good pass, they have drops. The only reason anybody could fool themselves into thinking otherwise that Mullen has the offense good enough that we move the ball on average Defenses even with subpar WRs.

[Really Clark?]

Our TD drive against Auburn we went pass on first down for a huge gain, pass again for a first down, run for loss of a yard, run for 5 yards, Fitz to goal line, run stuffed for no gain, false start, run for no gain on second down, TD pass on 3rd and goal. When the plays are made nobody complains that we passed on first down twice and people forget that half of the run plays were stuffed in that drive. And we also had 50% of our rushes stopped for 2 yards or less (not including the 4th and 1 2 yard run or fake punt run) in the first half. We are actually running the ball a little more this year than we did at the end of last year. So for people thinking we have gone to passing more, that's not the case.

[Liverpooldawg]

Teams are stuffing the box on first and second downs. Kinda of hard to run play action on third down when they are playing the run nearly every down and we are getting behind the chains either from a run being stuffed or incomplete pass. (Or all the false starts against Auburn). Y'all are not factoring in the RPO's that we throw from because of the defensive alignment against the run or Fitz not running because of his read in the read option plays.

This. We aren't running the ball consistantly enough to sustain drives. We eventually wind up behind the chains and we aren't passing the ball well enough to compensate. This is against good defenses. The problems I keep seeing are Fitz making the wrong reads on both passes and runs, his passing accuracy being off, and receivers who aren't getting open. Against Auburn and UGA we looked remarkably like we did against Auburn last year. Defensively it's the same old story, the secondary and especially the safeties are not making the right reads and when they do they aren't making plays.

[NCDawg]

I completely agree with this; my only thing is that I was pissed about this last year. The ball was dropped essentially following up on 2014 and continuing until we did what we had to do to close on last year's JUCO class. As far as I can tell, Mullen has finally addressed everything that is within his control, with the exception of Hevesy. And I am trying to be patient on Hevesy because I do think he can coach and we have started to get some better talent, even if we are still not signing enough bodies period. If Looney can help him recruit, that may be a good situation.



I completely agree, I just think we are doing things to get better. As I said, the cake was baked for this year well before this year started. But it looks like we finally have addressed our WR recruiting deficiencies. It looks like we are going to actually take advantage of Ole Miss being down when we actually have a lot of in state talent to recruit. The only remaining issue is what we are going to do with OL which looks concerning based on our current list of prospects, but not sure what to do about that but wait and see.

And all of the alleged coaching deficiencies mainly look like talent deficiencies to me. I'm not saying Mullen is perfect, but I think people underestimate some of the talent deficiencies because Mullen does such a good job overall. WRs are a perfect example. Nobody moves the ball on elite defenses with a glaring deficiency like that. Not saying Mullen's play calling was perfect, but what do you want him to do when our WRs can't get separation consistently and even when they do and the QB throws a very good pass, they have drops. The only reason anybody could fool themselves into thinking otherwise that Mullen has the offense good enough that we move the ball on average Defenses even with subpar WRs.

You say you are trying to be patient with Hevesy. How long do you propose to be patient? I don't see our OL being any better than it was 9 years ago, in fact it could be worse.. As far as bodies, we've signed enough OL if you look at our roster-just not good enough to play in the SEC. Pretty bad when the announcers at the Auburn game pointed out that we were weak on the OL, and that if Fitz played behind the Auburn OL, he would be really good.

[chef dixon]

We will never be able to have O lines like the "big boys." Only the elite teams can stack the line 1 through 5 so you can forget that. We best level the playing field with individual players that can have a huge impact e.g. the quarterback position (like Dak). Fitz just isn't that difference maker and is not showing any signs of becoming that. His success relies on the talent level around him. I'd love to stack the other 10 positions on the offensive side of the ball but that ain't happening here relative to some of our competition.

[Johnson85]

You say you are trying to be patient with Hevesy. How long do you propose to be patient? I don't see our OL being any better than it was 9 years ago, in fact it could be worse.. As far as bodies, we've signed enough OL if you look at our roster-just not good enough to play in the SEC. Pretty bad when the announcers at the Auburn game pointed out that we were weak on the OL, and that if Fitz played behind the Auburn OL, he would be really good.

When I say I am trying to be patient with Hevesy, I don't mean with Hevesy himself. He is what he is. I mean with Mullen's approach to Hevesy, including how he handles Hevesy's glaring weakness in recruiting. Mullen's not an idiot, so I believe Hevesy brings a lot of value to him, and I assume/hope that adding Looney is Mullen's attempt to off set Hevesy's weakness at recruiting without giving up everything else he brings to the table. And honestly, I think Hevesy is good at coaching. The first half of last year was the first time I thought our OL looked worse than its talent level, and that didn't last through the year. Most of the time, we are better than what our talent would suggest we should be; the problem is we often only have 4 legitimate SEC OL.

But to answer your question, I think the current approach gets through the 2019 signing class. It sucks, because if the current approach doesn't work, we've essentially hamstrung our program through the 2020 season. As long as we don't completely crash and burn though, we should at least be good enough that getting bailed out by a JUCO transfer would be a possibility.

[BB30]

i think many fans realized what i had long ago about Mullen. he has a system, he's going to run it week in and week out all season with very few wrinkles or adjustments. have a superior run game, a terrible passing game, and playing a team that can't defend the run? doesn't matter, we're throwing the ball just as much as normal. the wrinkles he does try to throw in are usually pretty bad (see fake punts), it's a system that works pretty well against inferior (and arguably equal) opponents but pretty badly against elite opponents. it's that last one that hits hard. it makes you realize Mullen is an 7-9 win coach, and will never be more. a generic coach with generic talent has a much better chance of beating a top team. he just doesn't have it in him to tweak things week in and out for an advantage, to get more out of less. ok, give him Alabama talent and he MAY win more. MAYBE. but.......what coach does that not apply to? he gets credit for many things he shouldn't get credit for (running an actual offense, because we suffered under Croom and Jackie for years, running a competent program, because we suffered under LT for decades, etc.).

In other words, he gets paid as and treated as a 4* coach.......but barely delivers a 3* performance. it's not like he should be run off.......but we can do better. or worse! but all the fluffing leads to some serious blue balls when he fails to deliver (again). we all managed to convince ourselves that Mullen had finally changed, and then reality set in. he's the same Mullen, always will be the same Mullen. and people are pretty tired of the same shortcomings over and over again. and poor game planning being blamed on "execution". if you can run for 4 ypc and can barely break double digits, then there's a coaching problem, not a talent problem.

Mullen's record against top teams cannot be explained by a lack of talent. It can be explained by who the head coach is.

Out of curiosity, do a lot of teams consistently beat opponents that have a sizable talent advantage no matter the scheme that they use?

[BoomBoom]

Teams are stuffing the box on first and second downs. Kinda of hard to run play action on third down when they are playing the run nearly every down and we are getting behind the chains either from a run being stuffed or incomplete pass. (Or all the false starts against Auburn). Y'all are not factoring in the RPO's that we throw from because of the defensive alignment against the run or Fitz not running because of his read in the read option plays.

so what if they are putting an extra man or two in the box if you can still run it and still can't throw it? i really do think that's what's happening, Mullen is thinking that when they add a man to the box he should throw. that's what you should do if you are a balanced team. he's seen the plays work in practice, or he wouldn't be calling them. but that's affinity bias, and we are not a balanced team. in games, it's not working. the better strategy is to run it until they prove they can stop it.

the problem is, we weren't getting behind in the chains from running it. we were getting into 3rd and long from incompletions.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400933874

1st series:
run for 6 yards, 2 incompletions, punt.

2nd series:
2 passes, 2 runs for a 1st down
run for 7 yards, run for 2 yards, penalty, penalty, incompletion, FG.

3rd series:
incompletion, penalty for 1st down
run for 0 yards, incompletion, pass for 11 yards for 1st down
run for 5 yards, run for 3 yards, pass for 0 yards, punt

4th series:
incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt

5th series, 21 to 3 already:. 2 runs for 6 yards, 3rd and 4, incompletion, punt.

6th series:
pass for 6 yards, run for 5, 1st down
run for 3 yards, run for -1 yards, incompletion, punt. again, 4 down territory, but Mullen played it safe.

7th series:
pass for 45 yards, 1st down
pass for 11 yards, 1st down
run for -1 yards, run for 5 yards, 1st down? must be a penalty missing from the play by play.
1st and goal at the 1, run for zero, false start, run for 0, pass for TD

8th series (2nd half):
run for 8 yards, run for 8 yards, 1st down
run for -3, incompletion, false start, run for 9, punt

9th series:
run for 3, pass for 4, interception

10th series:
false start, pass for 32, 1st down
run for 8, run for 3, 1st down
run for 3, pass for 5, run for 10, 1st down
incompletion, run for zero, incompletion, false start (coming out of a TO), going for it on 4th and 15 down only 18 (when we won't try to run it for 4 downs), incompletion, turnover on downs

11th series:
sacked (passing play), run for 7, run for 4, incompletion on 4th down

12th series:
run for 5, run for 3, run for 2, 1st down
run for 10, 1st down
run for 5, run for 4, incompletion, run for 3, 1st down
pass for 28, 1st down
run for 3, incompletion, incompletion, incompletion.

the only time running the ball put us in third and long, ALL NIGHT, was the 6th series.

bottom line, 1st 4 possessions, we lost one because of penalties, one because we couldn't convert 3rd and 2 (on a pass play in 4 down territory), and 2 from throwing when we should have been RTGDF. and then we were in a hole. again. yes, at some point the box will get so stacked that you have to throw the ball. but that's not what happened.

[gravedigger]

so what if they are putting an extra man or two in the box if you can still run it and still can't throw it? i really do think that's what's happening, Mullen is thinking that when they add a man to the box he should throw. that's what you should do if you are a balanced team. he's seen the plays work in practice, or he wouldn't be calling them. but that's affinity bias, and we are not a balanced team. in games, it's not working. the better strategy is to run it until they prove they can stop it.

the problem is, we weren't getting behind in the chains from running it. we were getting into 3rd and long from incompletions.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/playbyplay?gameId=400933874

1st series:
run for 6 yards, 2 incompletions, punt.

2nd series:
2 passes, 2 runs for a 1st down
run for 7 yards, run for 2 yards, penalty, penalty, incompletion, FG.

3rd series:
incompletion, penalty for 1st down
run for 0 yards, incompletion, pass for 11 yards for 1st down
run for 5 yards, run for 3 yards, pass for 0 yards, punt

4th series:
incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt

5th series, 21 to 3 already:. 2 runs for 6 yards, 3rd and 4, incompletion, punt.

6th series:
pass for 6 yards, run for 5, 1st down
run for 3 yards, run for -1 yards, incompletion, punt. again, 4 down territory, but Mullen played it safe.

7th series:
pass for 45 yards, 1st down
pass for 11 yards, 1st down
run for -1 yards, run for 5 yards, 1st down? must be a penalty missing from the play by play.
1st and goal at the 1, run for zero, false start, run for 0, pass for TD

8th series (2nd half):
run for 8 yards, run for 8 yards, 1st down
run for -3, incompletion, false start, run for 9, punt

9th series:
run for 3, pass for 4, interception

10th series:
false start, pass for 32, 1st down
run for 8, run for 3, 1st down
run for 3, pass for 5, run for 10, 1st down
incompletion, run for zero, incompletion, false start (coming out of a TO), going for it on 4th and 15 down only 18 (when we won't try to run it for 4 downs), incompletion, turnover on downs

11th series:
sacked (passing play), run for 7, run for 4, incompletion on 4th down

12th series:
run for 5, run for 3, run for 2, 1st down
run for 10, 1st down
run for 5, run for 4, incompletion, run for 3, 1st down
pass for 28, 1st down
run for 3, incompletion, incompletion, incompletion.

the only time running the ball put us in third and long, ALL NIGHT, was the 6th series.

bottom line, 1st 4 possessions, we lost one because of penalties, one because we couldn't convert 3rd and 2 (on a pass play in 4 down territory), and 2 from throwing when we should have been RTGDF. and then we were in a hole. again. yes, at some point the box will get so stacked that you have to throw the ball. but that's not what happened.

Disagree. He should take the approach on each play in the first quarter to think like his opponent, ( Other teams DC ) and do the opposite with the exception of 2nd and extremely short or third and extremely long. You are getting the first down in one and playing for field position in the other.

He is planning games too rigidly and the opponent is able to predict it. He needs a schizophrenic OC for the first quarter.

[TUSK]

I agree with you in terms of Georgia. I never felt like we were running effectively until the fourth quarter when it didn't matter. I thought we found much better success against Auburn, but we wouldn't commit to it. There were drives in the first half where we would run for 6 yards on first down and then throw two incomplete passes and I believe I remember at least one drive where we just came out and threw three incomplete passes.

That's what I saw too, buddy... A lot of the yards rushing vs AU and (especially) UGA were after the game was "over"...

Y'all are gonna have a tough time if ya have to rely too much on a run game vs Defenses like that... fortunately, there aren't many of them out there...

[Gutter Cobreh]

I apologize for the bumping of an old thread, but some of you on the "Fire Moorhead" bandwagon - please go through this thread and re-read it.

Same general complaints and comments that are currently being discussed now; the only difference is that it was a year ago with the coach some of you revere and whom think would have us undefeated right now. The same issues we had last year, we still have - which is a one-dimensional offense - using a one-dimensional QB - throwing to sub-par group of WRs.

Blame the current regime if you'd like, but I'll continue to say that I'd rather have our current staff. They're getting the same results this year as what our last coaching staff was getting in year 8-9. The only difference is we, the fans, conjured up in our hearts that we should have been better this year and that it was all going to come together.

[I_Spy]

I’m glad our current coaching staff impressed you by having a top 10 D, we knew we’d have 3 years ago. The layman’s eye, how innovative.

[I_Spy]

You tell me how these coaches have benefited this team? In what category or do we need a new team? If we were doing -anything- on offense yet still losing, I may have a different opinion. How does this benefit the state of Mississippi and it’s football-exactly?

[Doggie_Style]

I apologize for the bumping of an old thread, but some of you on the "Fire Moorhead" bandwagon - please go through this thread and re-read it.

Same general complaints and comments that are currently being discussed now; the only difference is that it was a year ago with the coach some of you revere and whom think would have us undefeated right now. The same issues we had last year, we still have - which is a one-dimensional offense - using a one-dimensional QB - throwing to sub-par group of WRs.

Blame the current regime if you'd like, but I'll continue to say that I'd rather have our current staff. They're getting the same results this year as what our last coaching staff was getting in year 8-9. The only difference is we, the fans, conjured up in our hearts that we should have been better this year and that it was all going to come together.

Let us know when the 'water' gets to heavy to carry***

[Jack Lambert]

I am 53 years old one thing I have come to accept we have a lot of pussies for fans.

[Gutter Cobreh]

I’m glad our current coaching staff impressed you by having a top 10 D, we knew we’d have 3 years ago. The layman’s eye, how innovative.

We're on our 5th DCoordinator in 5 years. The Peter Sirmon experiment was 3 years ago, so I HIGHLY doubt you knew then we'd have a Top 10 Defense. Keep exaggerating and erasing the past if you'd like.


You tell me how these coaches have benefited this team? In what category or do we need a new team? If we were doing -anything- on offense yet still losing, I may have a different opinion. How does this benefit the state of Mississippi and it’s football-exactly?

We're one dimensional on offense. Pretty tall task to beat quality opponents when they know we can't throw. If you read back through this thread, you'll see the same bitching and moaning last year that we're doing this year. The only difference is that we have a new coaching staff that our fans want to give the boot to, as opposed to the old coach that no longer wanted to be here.


Let us know when the 'water' gets to heavy to carry***

Won't have to worry about the weight until this time next year. It does get heavier with each loss...

[I_Spy]

Well, how did we know Sirmon needed to go? Because our D sucked? This is what we’re missing or should foresee, then plan for?

Basically, we had to know Sirmon sucked bc we would have a top 10 D when our corners gained some experience. Collectively, we all thought that I thought.

But some now- are impressed with our coaching.
I’m just impressed withmississippi talent. And what it should be.

[Really Clark?]

We're on our 5th DCoordinator in 5 years. The Peter Sirmon experiment was 3 years ago, so I HIGHLY doubt you knew then we'd have a Top 10 Defense. Keep exaggerating and erasing the past if you'd like.



We're one dimensional on offense. Pretty tall task to beat quality opponents when they know we can't throw. If you read back through this thread, you'll see the same bitching and moaning last year that we're doing this year. The only difference is that we have a new coaching staff that our fans want to give the boot to, as opposed to the old coach that no longer wanted to be here.



Won't have to worry about the weight until this time next year. It does get heavier with each loss...

Our offense in conference games is worse than the defense that Sirmon put on the field. How many wanted to keep Sirmon?

[I_Spy]

We have made history the last few years being one dimensional. So either we have to admit Dans a high genius who can’t beat Bama, our Mississippi talent pool that leads the nation, or our fans - if we aren’t gonna blame our coaches.

[cheewgumm]

This is the most talent we will have in probably the next 10 -15 years. The number of players that will play in the NFL off this team alone will make our soon to be 6-6 or 7-5 record an absolute abomination.

We don't have a QB is working on becoming a better passer. We have the # 1 ranked rushing QB in SEC history. We also have 2 stud RBs and an OL that can rush block quite well, that we aren't using properly.

We also averaged 30 points a game last year. If we could score 21 a game, we'd be 7-0 and ranked...probably 2nd. Instead, we're going to finish in the bottom half of the SEC west with the most talent we've ever had.

This was a once in a generation opportunity, and our AD and coach absolutely blew it. Now our fans are rationalizing it, which I get.

Reality is we should be 6-1 or 7-0. We're not because our coach has coached us poorly. Extremely poorly. This season is lost. If we go 8-4 its a sever disappointment. Sadly we wont go 8-4.