Thoughts on Tomorrow's Game

[ShotgunDawg]

Just thinking about tomorrow's game & here are some thoughts:

- I have no clue what to expect. I truly fear that Petrino will run circles around us schematically & we won't have the experience on the sideline to make adjustments
- I think Keytaon will play well & won't be the reason we lose, if we lose.
- I'd obviously love to see us win, but, with everything going against this team from a coaching & injury standpoint, I kind of have my Bama week mentality going. I'll take a competitive loss & chalk it up as a terrible situation in which the guys played hard.
- Most of all, I don't want to get embarrassed & create a situation where this game carries over to the off season & affects where next year's team starts off from a rankings stand point. From a perception & media coverage stand point, with what MSU has returning next year, we need the off season coverage that being considered a good team bring. A blow out tomorrow probably ruins that.
- I hope we slow the game down tomorrow. To me, with Jackson on the other sideline, we need to use all 40 seconds in the huddle on every play. RTGDF & shorten the game.
- Come out of the game with no major injuries. It's critical that our players are healthy & ready to go for Spring practice with the new coaching staff.

[HoopsDawg]

If this Wake Forest vs Texas A&M score holds, then teams with coaching turnover will be 1-4 this bowl season. And it's really hard to give credit to FSU for beating USM.

[Coach34]

I think we play better defensively than offensively. We have kept the DL, CB's, and Safeties coaches plus have an experienced DC running the D for the bowl.

On offense we have a RB and QB coach- plus a bunch of GA's

[PassInterference]

Is it possible Fitz helps?

[cujo]

I think we play better defensively than offensively. We have kept the DL, CB's, and Safeties coaches plus have an experienced DC running the D for the bowl.

On offense we have a RB and QB coach- plus a bunch of GA's
Maybe even win. If we do lose, even a blowout, I don?t think carries over negatively to next season.
Everyone ready to get the Mullen era behind them. Lots of excitement about the Joe Moorhead era starting!

[BuckyIsAB****]

I could care less about the rankings. None of them mean anything. Winning will make the committee rank us where we should be, theirs is the only poll that matters anymore anyway. I personally hope we are unranked think it will help our intensity level.

[Johnson85]

I think we play better defensively than offensively. We have kept the DL, CB's, and Safeties coaches plus have an experienced DC running the D for the bowl.

On offense we have a RB and QB coach- plus a bunch of GA's

We won't be as hamstrung on defense by lack of coordinator experience, but we will be facing a much tougher test.

Louisville's defense hasn't been as terrible as you'd expect with Sirmon coaching it, but we still might be able to have some success ramming it down their throats even with mediocre playcalling.

[HoopsDawg]

Jamal Peters is out. Durr is limited. English is not a good DC. Our other coaches have their minds on other jobs.

4 of our top 5 playmakers heading into the season are out: Fitzgerald, Gray, Mixon and Dear.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in college football this year. I expect we get beat by double digits. But the good news is it will have ZERO effect on next season.

[ShotgunDawg]

I could care less about the rankings. None of them mean anything. Winning will make the committee rank us where we should be, theirs is the only poll that matters anymore anyway. I personally hope we are unranked think it will help our intensity level.

Disagree. To build the brand we want to build at MSU, you have to get media coverage & only top 25 teams get media coverage. We want & need people talking about Mississippi State football in the off season

[Commercecomet24]

Jamal Peters is out. Durr is limited. English is not a good DC. Our other coaches have their minds on other jobs.

4 of our top 5 playmakers heading into the season are out: Fitzgerald, Gray, Mixon and Dear.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in college football this year. I expect we get beat by double digits. But the good news is it will have ZERO effect on next season.

Whats wrong with Durr? I agree a loss has no effect on next season at all.

[Maroonthirteen]

Our only chance to win is the Alabama game plan. Run the ball and milk the clock, keeping the ball away from Jackson and Petrino.

I like that we have an experienced guy coaching defense. However it is a terrible matchup...our speed vs Jackson and Petrino....oh boy. However our lack of an offensive staff could be a blessing. No dan Walsh on the sideline to abandon a working running game for style points passing.

I really believe the strength of this team is running the ball. Hopefully Knox won’t care if we look like a military academy and he will give the ball to Williams and Hill all morning. Milk the play clock, run the ball. Do it again.

[Dawgface]

I'm expecting the worst. As in a blow out. Hope they surprise me.

[WinningIsRelentless]

Jamal Peters is out. Durr is limited. English is not a good DC. Our other coaches have their minds on other jobs.

4 of our top 5 playmakers heading into the season are out: Fitzgerald, Gray, Mixon and Dear.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in college football this year. I expect we get beat by double digits. But the good news is it will have ZERO effect on next season.

Y'all act like dear has played all year or something. That's the most ole miss thing ever. Just drop that excuse.

[preachermatt83]

Jamal Peters is out. Durr is limited. English is not a good DC. Our other coaches have their minds on other jobs.

4 of our top 5 playmakers heading into the season are out: Fitzgerald, Gray, Mixon and Dear.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in college football this year. I expect we get beat by double digits. But the good news is it will have ZERO effect on next season.
English is a good dc. I wish thats who we would have hired as dc

[MaroonFlounder]

Jamal Peters is out. Durr is limited. English is not a good DC. Our other coaches have their minds on other jobs.

4 of our top 5 playmakers heading into the season are out: Fitzgerald, Gray, Mixon and Dear.

Lamar Jackson is the best player in college football this year. I expect we get beat by double digits. But the good news is it will have ZERO effect on next season.

Mixon still out? What is his injury? (Don Merlin’s is gone. We can talk about injuries)

[HoopsDawg]

English is a good dc. I wish thats who we would have hired as dc

Strongly disagree.

[Dawgowar]

Pessimistic over a number of things. Hope for the seniors sake they pull together. Being in transition from one staff to another just isn't pretty. The conference is taking some lumps thus far. Though I am a real SEC fan and kind of enjoy seeing the other assholes lose.

[mparkerfd20]

English is a good dc. I wish thats who we would have hired as dc
Could not possibly disagree with you any more.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

We gonna suck.

[preachermatt83]

Could not possibly disagree with you any more.

Care to elaborate?

[tcdog70]

17 me running! I expect to win. Play our defense and run the damn ball. Don't fumble. We have some shitty nay saying, always negative fans. We aren't playing the Packers it is Louisville, the are a 1 trick pony. Limit Jackson and RUN The Football.

[NCDawg]

Jackson is a better QB that Ta'Amu (spelling), so if we play pass defense like we played against Ole Miss, we will not stand much of a chance. Also, we can't let them bust runs up the middle on us.

[Apoplectic]

We can only win if we our RBs combine for 300 and we win the TO margin by 2

[craigmid]

This is Sirmon defense. Key will have a career day.
Simmons and Sweat will be all over Jackson.
There is a different vibe for this game. They are underestimated us.
Count on it.

[Maroonthirteen]

If we loop the ends...... we shut Jackson down. Ha!

[Commercecomet24]

We gonna score some points they have trouble stopping the run. The key gonna be if we can limit Jackson. We won?t stop him completely but if we limit him we got a good shot.

[Todd4State]

Jackson is a better QB that Ta'Amu (spelling), so if we play pass defense like we played against Ole Miss, we will not stand much of a chance. Also, we can't let them bust runs up the middle on us.

We help Ta'Amu to 10 for 22 in passing. That's under 50% obviously and he threw a pick. Even though they hit two long TD passes it was the allowing the two long rushing TD runs that killed us.

In other words typically our pass defense isn't that bad. We remember the bad- but that doesn't mean the entire game was bad.

That said, I expect our defense to be a cluster in the Gator Bowl.

[parabrave]

But the big ? is Does Mullen make an incognito appearance?

[Todd4State]

We gonna score some points they have trouble stopping the run. The key gonna be if we can limit Jackson. We won?t stop him completely but if we limit him we got a good shot.

If Knox has a brain- we will go with the same general philosophy that Army/Navy has just out of our formations and with our base runs. Try to run it as much as possible and try to keep it out of Jackson's hands as much as possible. I would try something like a flea flicker or a trick play early to try to get a lead and create momentum.

[Todd4State]

But the big ? is Does Mullen make an incognito appearance?

Only if some of our recruits are at the game.**

[NCDawg]

We help Ta'Amu to 10 for 22 in passing. That's under 50% obviously and he threw a pick. Even though they hit two long TD passes it was the allowing the two long rushing TD runs that killed us.

In other words typically our pass defense isn't that bad. We remember the bad- but that doesn't mean the entire game was bad.

That said, I expect our defense to be a cluster in the Gator Bowl.

We were lucky they didn't hit another TD pass on us when we had them down on their goal line. Their guy had beaten our guy, no. 7, and he overthrew him. Otherwise they would have had a 99 yard TD pass.

[Todd4State]

We were lucky they didn't hit another TD pass on us when we had them down on their goal line. Their guy had beaten our guy, no. 7, and he overthrew him. Otherwise they would have had a 99 yard TD pass.

"Lucky" or the reality that long passes are lower percentage plays in general? I would consider that a lack of execution on the part of the QB on a tough play more than just luck. It cuts both ways- we had a guy wide open in the first quarter and Fitz underthrew the ball and it was intercepted. Ole Miss was by the same token would have to also be considered "lucky" by your criteria. I also consider that a lack of execution on the part of the QB.

Our fans are quick to look at the negative and consider the glass half empty result. The actual result was a positive play for our defense in that case.

At any rate- and to hijack this thing- our fans are crowning Ta'Amu and AJ Brown and everyone else on their team but the reality is Wilkins hurt us way worse- and Ole Miss is going to miss him A LOT. And it's going to affect their QB and their WR's negatively. Eliminate Wilkins we probably win 28-17. They better hope their JUCO RB from Jones has a come out of nowhere season. I don't know how many if any remember but when Sheavior went down I said it made Ole Miss better because it caused them to be more balanced- and unfortunately that's what happened. And a big reason why they beat Kentucky and us. I think they have likely lost that balance again though- and with a much less talented QB who has some expectations on him now.

[Goldendawg]

I say we win by running the ball and a solid D.

[Pollodawg]

We?re gonna get the crap kicked out of us.

[NCDawg]

"Lucky" or the reality that long passes are lower percentage plays in general? I would consider that a lack of execution on the part of the QB on a tough play more than just luck. It cuts both ways- we had a guy wide open in the first quarter and Fitz underthrew the ball and it was intercepted. Ole Miss was by the same token would have to also be considered "lucky" by your criteria. I also consider that a lack of execution on the part of the QB.

Our fans are quick to look at the negative and consider the glass half empty result. The actual result was a positive play for our defense in that case.

At any rate- and to hijack this thing- our fans are crowning Ta'Amu and AJ Brown and everyone else on their team but the reality is Wilkins hurt us way worse- and Ole Miss is going to miss him A LOT. And it's going to affect their QB and their WR's negatively. Eliminate Wilkins we probably win 28-17. They better hope their JUCO RB from Jones has a come out of nowhere season. I don't know how many if any remember but when Sheavior went down I said it made Ole Miss better because it caused them to be more balanced- and unfortunately that's what happened. And a big reason why they beat Kentucky and us. I think they have likely lost that balance again though- and with a much less talented QB who has some expectations on him now.

I agree that Fitz missed a wide open sure TD pass in the first quarter. We also dropped 2 sure interceptions, which was unlucky for us, but it still does not excuse our poor pass defense in my opinion. In regard to Wilkins runs for TD's, I don't see how that hurt us any worse that the TD passes. Any good RB with wide open holes and lack of good LB play can make those plays. I don't think I look at the glass half empty, and I give the team kudos when they play well. I just can't spin it to say that we played well when we didn't, and to make matters worse, we made AJ Brown look like a Heisman trophy candidate.

[Todd4State]

I agree that Fitz missed a wide open sure TD pass in the first quarter. We also dropped 2 sure interceptions, which was unlucky for us, but it still does not excuse our poor pass defense in my opinion. In regard to Wilkins runs for TD's, I don't see how that hurt us any worse that the TD passes. Any good RB with wide open holes and lack of good LB play can make those plays. I don't think I look at the glass half empty, and I give the team kudos when they play well. I just can't spin it to say that we played well when we didn't, and to make matters worse, we made AJ Brown look like a Heisman trophy candidate.

Holding a QB to below 50% in this day in age of college football with a pass first offense is not bad pass defense. We made AJ look good because of a personnel issue- we played JT Gray in the slot on him when we should have used one of our corners. Even at that almost half of his yards in the game were on one play where he scored a long TD and our safety took a horrible angle. I was surprised that Grantham made that mistake or at least didn't adjust. At any rate, he only accounted for one of their touchdowns the entire night. My point about Wilkins is Ole Miss is not a good running team and if we had stopped him we win the game. He had more touchdowns by himself than any of their WR's did.

I'm not saying that we played well by any stretch of the imagination- but I am saying we didn't play nearly as poorly against them as a lot of our fans are making it out to be. It was a perfect storm of our best player getting hurt (intentionally) which indirectly led to three turnovers that probably wouldn't have happened. Sure, Fitz may very well would have thrown another INT against them- but odds are good that he wouldn't have and I don't recall Fitz fumbling the ball all year. We lost the turnover and explosive play battle and that usually is a recipe for losing.

When you lose every little thing that is not 100% right gets magnified. Like- well our corner got beat on that play too, our guard lost his battle on that play and we were lucky to gain three yards, we dropped a pass there in that situation, the snap wasn't quite perfect there.

For an inverse example- the 1999 Egg Bowl had a TON of mistakes on our side. Not just Pig Prather. But people don't talk about the corners getting burned in that game as much because we won.

It is what it is and we will probably beat them next year.

[SmokeyDawg]

From what I saw in their losses their defense gets out of position and can play soft. Definitely a Sirmon defense. Run the option, make safe throws to keep them honest. If we score more than 35 we win

[Cooterpoot]

We don’t have our QB and two best WRs. Louisville is going to fill up the box and we’re going to struggle scoring. We also have no real staff calling the game. It’s going to be tough to win. Just how it is.

[Mimi's Babies]

#HAILSTATE.....

[Turfdawg67]

Strongly disagree.

Well... that and $5 will get you a coffee at Starbucks.

[RocketDawg]

We'll have an idea of how the game's going in about 30 minutes. Gametime is technically 20 minutes away, but I'm giving them about 7 minutes of crap before the game starts. So about 3 minutes into the game ....

[gravedigger]

But the big ? is Does Mullen make an incognito appearance?

That would be surprising.

[Turfdawg67]

We don?t have our QB and two best WRs. Louisville is going to fill up the box and we?re going to struggle scoring. We also have no real staff calling the game. It?s going to be tough to win. Just how it is.

Dude, you are wrong so much it?s not even funny. But please keep giving your opinions like they?re gospel. Lolz...

[craigmid]

This is Sirmon defense. Key will have a career day.
Simmons and Sweat will be all over Jackson.
There is a different vibe for this game. They are underestimated us.
Count on it.

Whoop

[parabrave]

This is Sirmon defense. Key will have a career day.
Simmons and Sweat will be all over Jackson.
There is a different vibe for this game. They are underestimated us.
Count on it.

Winner Winner. Please buy my next lotto ticket for me.

[Cooterpoot]

Dude, you are wrong so much it?s not even funny. But please keep giving your opinions like they?re gospel. Lolz...

I'd say I was right. What about that post was wrong? We didn't easily win (we should've Easily won). Would've probably been a big win if everyone was healthy. But we also wouldn't have been in that game if we had been healthy end of the year.

[tcdog70]

17 me running! I expect to win. Play our defense and run the damn ball. Don't fumble. We have some shitty nay saying, always negative fans. We aren't playing the Packers it is Louisville, the are a 1 trick pony. Limit Jackson and RUN The Football.

I told you non believing Mothers we would win. You win games when you control the line of scrimmage. We did and as an old Man once told Me. '' Pressure will bust a lead pipe"

[Goldendawg]

Check my post #33 on this thread! :Run the ball with solid D and we win! Hail State!

[SmokeyDawg]

I'd say I was right. What about that post was wrong? We didn't easily win (we should've Easily won). Would've probably been a big win if everyone was healthy. But we also wouldn't have been in that game if we had been healthy end of the year.

I wouldn’t say we had trouble scoring. Their defense out of position and playing soft like a solid Sirmon defense. Thought we would have to score 35+ but McLaurin and D had a night