Honest to God, how is Fitz?s ankle?

[Coach 57]

Guys, I?m not trying to start a bunch of junk....but seriously, how is Fitz?s ankle/health? He doesn?t look as explosive & there?s obviously a curve when it comes to getting hit. Maybe having some worry/fear and being tentative. But he doesn?t look the same. He?s running scared & his decision making isn?t what I?d hope it would be.

I know we won, but you couldn?t have watched this game today & thought he looked the same.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Guys, I?m not trying to start a bunch of junk....but seriously, how is Fitz?s ankle/health? He doesn?t look as explosive & there?s obviously a curve when it comes to getting hit. Maybe having some worry/fear and being tentative. But he doesn?t look the same. He?s running scared & his decision making isn?t what I?d hope it would be.

I know we won, but you couldn?t have watched this game today & thought he looked the same.
Give him a chance to gain confidence in it again. This is where not being suspended against SFA would have come in handy

[Leroy Jenkins]

There were several times that he ran up to contact, and then stopped. (I don't fault him for that) The old Fitz would have accelerated through. Hopefully just first game jitters. We will see have it goes next week.

It's not you, he didn't look the same. It looked mental to me though, not physical, because when there was no contact he accelerated fine.

[RiverCityDawg]

Guys, I?m not trying to start a bunch of junk....but seriously, how is Fitz?s ankle/health? He doesn?t look as explosive & there?s obviously a curve when it comes to getting hit. Maybe having some worry/fear and being tentative. But he doesn?t look the same. He?s running scared & his decision making isn?t what I?d hope it would be.

I know we won, but you couldn?t have watched this game today & thought he looked the same.

Looked fine to me. Explosive as a runner and not a great passer... Same as before. Hopefully he can get better as a passer with more real game reps.

[Dawgowar]

Coach - dollars to donuts he was hitting those throws in practice or Moorhead wouldn't have kept calling them. Likely the wideouts were catching them too. Not naive about this but I expect a decent amount of improvement the next couple of games. Some of those play calls were just awesome. We should have had three more touchdowns.

[Turfdawg67]

MS7 in 3...2...1

[thedawginme]

Fitz has never "looked" explosive. He just is. Just the way it looks with his running style and size.

[msstate7]

MS7 in 3...2...1

You rang?

I actually thought fitz looked pretty good with just a slight hitch. I'm a little more concerned now though bc 57 has a much better eye for football than me

[BrunswickDawg]

I just didn't look at that performance and see fear in running. I think he is getting smarter about taking unnecessary hits. This was also a game that we were pretty dominate in - so minimizing the hits even if it means not getting a few extra yards is ok. If it had been a closer game, or a bigger opponent I think you see Fitz drop bulldoze more. It's not like he was pulling up in open field or costing us first downs by dodging out of bounds to avoid contact.

[BogeyGolfer]

dude had his ankle flipped around 9 months ago and it's his first game back at KSU. We still beat the shit out of them, he will get more reps next week and be ready for UF. I will say it seemed as if KSU was giving up the run and playing pass. He could get 5-8 on nearly every play easily.

[Commercecomet24]

First game back in almost a year I thought he looked pretty good for the amount of time off. Like a pitcher coming off TJ surgery there's gonna be a little timidity but he lowered his shoulder several times and ran hard. Also take into account he's in a new offense so he's still learning progressions in this offense. Fitz has big Girodos he's gonna be fine!

[Jack Lambert]

It's mental at this point. He will be alright.

[TrapGame]

The biggest improvement is from the first to second game. This was Fitz's first game. I expect him to throw all over ULL.

If he looks as bad vs ULL...well...I'll get worried.

[BeastMan]

I just didn't look at that performance and see fear in running. I think he is getting smarter about taking unnecessary hits. This was also a game that we were pretty dominate in - so minimizing the hits even if it means not getting a few extra yards is ok. If it had been a closer game, or a bigger opponent I think you see Fitz drop bulldoze more. It's not like he was pulling up in open field or costing us first downs by dodging out of bounds to avoid contact.

This is 1000% the right answer. He did not favor the ankle at all. He just made smart runs to limit his punishment.

[LC Dawg]

Fitz being suspended last week was a big deal for a new offense. If he keeps improving week to week we'll be fine. I expect to see significant improvement next week.

[Coach 57]

Guys, I know football. Fitz hasn’t to the normal eye as “explosive” but he absolutely looked less than today. He was off on his timing on a couple of throws too. As someone says earlier, this is why the first game would’ve been a plus for him. Honestly I’m kind of worried.

[GreenheadDawg]

Guys, I know football. Fitz hasn’t to the normal eye as “explosive” but he absolutely looked less than today. He was off on his timing on a couple of throws too. As someone says earlier, this is why the first game would’ve been a plus for him. Honestly I’m kind of worried.

I am too. But I’m gonna wait until we play the next to weeks before I really get concerned. He should be able to work on some stuff the next 2 weeks

[Liverpooldawg]

It looks to me like he has been coached to minimize uneeded contact. The passing game is another story.

[tcdog70]

Dang, he had over 150 yards rushing against the top rushing defense in the big 12. I ain't worried yet.

[Todd4State]

Guys, I know football. Fitz hasn?t to the normal eye as ?explosive? but he absolutely looked less than today. He was off on his timing on a couple of throws too. As someone says earlier, this is why the first game would?ve been a plus for him. Honestly I?m kind of worried.

I respect your opinion but 159 yards on 19 carries for an average of 8.4 doesn't say not explosive to me.


Now I 100% agree about him missing the first game hurting him. I think he was trying to do too much at times with the passing game and I thought our o-line's pass blocking was below average.

[HoopsDawg]

Guys, I know football.

You sure? No one runs on KSU the way Nick and Kylin did today. Sit back and enjoy the season.

[basedog]

Fitz ran the ball much better the second half. This was his first game for contact, he will be fine, fact is I'm betting all my Vcash this will be his worse passing game.

If you guys are worried so be it, but I'm betting Joe's offense will be explosive with our running game. Hill is the real deal, with he and Fitz running it will open up passing lanes, I'm impressed with the short passing game, not so much on the long passing.

[Dawgology]

He had 157 yards on the ground against a P5 team on his first game back after a major injury. It's not physical. Probably just a little tentative until he gets his confidence back.

[IMissJack]

I thought he looked a little tentative in the first couple of drives, but seemed to get stronger running as the game went on. In the third qtr he looked pretty darn good running.

[Bubb Rubb]

Guys, I know football. Fitz hasn?t to the normal eye as ?explosive? but he absolutely looked less than today. He was off on his timing on a couple of throws too. As someone says earlier, this is why the first game would?ve been a plus for him. Honestly I?m kind of worried.

You're right Coach. We should be worried. He only got 159 yards rushing today. Would really like to see him get his YPC average over 10. We are doomed.

[bulldawg28]

Guys, I know football. Fitz hasn?t to the normal eye as ?explosive? but he absolutely looked less than today. He was off on his timing on a couple of throws too. As someone says earlier, this is why the first game would?ve been a plus for him. Honestly I?m kind of worried.

I'm not worried but I didn't see the burst he had last year. He looked like Dak running. I don't expect the same Fitz runner as last year.

[EdDawg]

Fitz has never "looked" fast. Even on the runs he broke last year I was always amazed that no one caught him. he just always seems to be moving slow because of his long legs.

He did seem tentative in the first half, but if you go back and watch as the game goes on he settles down and becomes more comfortable.

[Coach 57]

You guys are crazy, to the average joe he didn’t look “fast” but I know what speed looks like I’m not deceived by long legged strides like the average guy. I don’t care what you guys say, I’ve watched this kid since he caught passes in high school. I know what he looks like, he didn’t look the same. I expected some mental hurdles as it would cause him to not trust it & that may be the case, but he didn’t look the same. K-State doesn’t have near the speed Ole Miss had on its defense & I saw this kid pull away from safeties & corners on turf in Oxford & he couldn’t do the same today against less speed.

As far as his passing I didn’t expect a great bump in his accuracy, he’s an athlete & his arm is a canon but I wasn’t speaking on his passing, I’m talking about his lack of burst & he didn’t cut like he has normally. It may be that he will be like what was said earlier, that he may never bevwhat he was.

[Bubb Rubb]

You guys are crazy, to the average joe he didn’t look “fast” but I know what speed looks like I’m not deceived by long legged strides like the average guy. I don’t care what you guys say, I’ve watched this kid since he caught passes in high school. I know what he looks like, he didn’t look the same. I expected some mental hurdles as it would cause him to not trust it & that may be the case, but he didn’t look the same. K-State doesn’t have near the speed Ole Miss had on its defense & I saw this kid pull away from safeties & corners on turf in Oxford & he couldn’t do the same today against less speed.

As far as his passing I didn’t expect a great bump in his accuracy, he’s an athlete & his arm is a canon but I wasn’t speaking on his passing, I’m talking about his lack of burst & he didn’t cut like he has normally. It may be that he will be like what was said earlier, that he may never bevwhat he was.

I get it, you're smarter than all of us.

Fitz looked like Fitz today to me. He's lacking a little confidence because he's still learning the system. His QB runs are different because the blocking and schemes are different. Again, he had 159 yards rushing and averaged 9 yards per carry today. Three weeks from now you'll be on here acknowledging how silly of a take this was.

[Coach 57]

Lol, you’re a funny guy. Try harder next time.

[I seen it dawg]

There were a couple of runs he really accelerated thru holes. He's fine.

[basedog]

You guys are crazy, to the average joe he didn’t look “fast” but I know what speed looks like I’m not deceived by long legged strides like the average guy. I don’t care what you guys say, I’ve watched this kid since he caught passes in high school. I know what he looks like, he didn’t look the same. I expected some mental hurdles as it would cause him to not trust it & that may be the case, but he didn’t look the same. K-State doesn’t have near the speed Ole Miss had on its defense & I saw this kid pull away from safeties & corners on turf in Oxford & he couldn’t do the same today against less speed.

As far as his passing I didn’t expect a great bump in his accuracy, he’s an athlete & his arm is a canon but I wasn’t speaking on his passing, I’m talking about his lack of burst & he didn’t cut like he has normally. It may be that he will be like what was said earlier, that he may never bevwhat he was.

57, I understand what you are saying. but in reality the look you see from Fitz is due from his ankle injury. Let me say from experience, I had a serious knee injury, when I came back to play I was no where near 100%. It took me a few games to get over the "fear" of getting injured again, so will Fitz gain confidence and just play. It's a natural thing, but Fitz probably gained a lot of confidence as the game went forward, go back and watch the tape and I think you will see.

I am not concerned with how Fitz played yesterday, dude is still talented even if he isn't 100%, he will have better days ahead and so will Msu. Just saying.

[Bubb Rubb]

57, I understand what you are saying. but in reality the look you see from Fitz is due from his ankle injury. Let me say from experience, I had a serious knee injury, when I came back to play I was no where near 100%. It took me a few games to get over the "fear" of getting injured again, so will Fitz gain confidence and just play. It's a natural thing, but Fitz probably gained a lot of confidence as the game went forward, go back and watch the tape and I think you will see.

I am not concerned with how Fitz played yesterday, dude is still talented even if he isn't 100%, he will have better days ahead and so will Msu. Just saying.

It's really nothing more than it being a different style of offense. Under Mullen, a lot of his runs were quick hitters and he hit his holes faster. In this offense, the runs are slower developing....he waits for blocks to be set up.

Coach57 should watch a replay of the game, and watch one play in particular....the first play of our next offensive series after Fitz threw his interception. On that play, Fitz looked more explosive than he ever did as he accelerated through a hole and turned on the burners trying to beat the safety. He got tripped up after a really nice gain, but he almost broke it to the house. I defy the football genius to watch that play and tell me something is wrong with Fitz's ankle.

[Dental Dawg33]

I respect your opinion but 159 yards on 19 carries for an average of 8.4 doesn't say not explosive to me.


Now I 100% agree about him missing the first game hurting him. I think he was trying to do too much at times with the passing game and I thought our o-line's pass blocking was below average.

Agree with this. I thought he looked good running and honestly was glad to see him pull up and not take any unnecessary hits. With backs like A-train, Hill, and Gibson there is no need in Fitz being a battering ram. No, I'm not saying he shouldn't run. Our offense wont be as effective if he doesn't run 10+ times a game, just no need in him being our RB. He needs to work on the finesse of his throws and he will be fine. 1st game back on the road against a quality opponent in a new offensive system after his ankle was nearly ripped off. He is going to be fine.

[Roy Munson]

Exactly. Runs look pretty close to me. There was one run up the middle where he hit the second level and looked like he was shot out of a cannon leaving it for the third. Their safety had and angle and took his legs out, but that's when I looked over and said he's pretty damn close running wise to where he was. Passing, yeah awful.

I think his confidence will build but those dart deep balls lead me to believe that is just likely who he is and will be.

[msu15]

Another one added to the list

[Johnson85]

You guys are crazy, to the average joe he didn?t look ?fast? but I know what speed looks like I?m not deceived by long legged strides like the average guy. I don?t care what you guys say, I?ve watched this kid since he caught passes in high school. I know what he looks like, he didn?t look the same. I expected some mental hurdles as it would cause him to not trust it & that may be the case, but he didn?t look the same. K-State doesn?t have near the speed Ole Miss had on its defense & I saw this kid pull away from safeties & corners on turf in Oxford & he couldn?t do the same today against less speed.

As far as his passing I didn?t expect a great bump in his accuracy, he?s an athlete & his arm is a canon but I wasn?t speaking on his passing, I?m talking about his lack of burst & he didn?t cut like he has normally. It may be that he will be like what was said earlier, that he may never bevwhat he was.

I agree that he didn't look as fast, but I'm not sure how much that is him being timid b/c of his injury versus timid b/c he's still having to think about the offense, versus it just being a difference in the types of plays. Most of the time I think it was one of the latter two. There were a few plays where he accelerated pretty quickly. I didn't see a play that told me if he is as fast as last year (although I only watched it live and there probably were some plays that would give a good idea if I watched the replay), but I saw several plays to let us know that even if he's lost half a step, he's still plenty fast enough to be dangerous.

[Bully13]

Lol, you’re a funny guy. Try harder next time.

You've put up a good fight 57 but your legs have given out and the smelling salts aren't bringing your eyes back into focus.

[SmokeyDawg]

His straight forward speed looked good. I did see some hitch in his cuts but there's wasn't any reason to for him to lay it all out there in this game. He still ran for more yards than any game last year. I don't expect him to hit many of the 70+ yard runs he did in '16. Teams know how fast he is now. All of this said, if we could connect more in the passing game our ground game would be unstoppable.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Was there a run Saturday where he really got a chance to let loose & run full speed? I don't recall.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

The biggest improvement is from the first to second game. This was Fitz's first game. I expect him to throw all over ULL.

If he looks as bad vs ULL...well...I'll get worried.

He is not gonna have to throw all over ULL. We should run all over them.

[Bully13]

He is not gonna have to throw all over ULL. We should run all over them.

We could definitely run all over them but I'm thinking JOMO is not satisfied with the passing attack and wants to see some improvement. Assuming we shut them down and it's looking like a blowout from the get go, JOMO is going to pass scrimmage on them. That's what I'm hoping for.

[msstate7]

Was there a run Saturday where he really got a chance to let loose & run full speed? I don't recall.

9:16 left in 2nd quarter, he busted one for 30 yards to the KSU 43. I said at the time in the game thread that I thought he had just a very slight hitch... I think he housed that run last year.

Not saying I'm worried about fitz

[Ifyouonlyknew]

9:16 left in 2nd quarter, he busted one for 30 yards to the KSU 43. I said at the time in the game thread that I thought he had just a very slight hitch... I think he housed that run last year.

Not saying I'm worried about fitz

I don't think 2016 scores on that 1 but I think he doesn't run out of bounds either.

[msstate7]

I don't think 2016 scores on that 1 but I think he doesn't run out of bounds either.

Safety got em in the middle of the field on this one. I could have the 19-yarder mixed up with this one though

[Johnson85]

He is not gonna have to throw all over ULL. We should run all over them.

We could have not made a single pass in the first two games and still won. Against KSU, after they scored, we came out and ran it down their throat.

I think JoMo has been focusing on the pass because our running game doesn't need much work, and I think we'll do the same thing next week. I'm trying to decide whether that makes it worth betting on us to cover.

[Commercecomet24]

Was there a run Saturday where he really got a chance to let loose & run full speed? I don't recall.

Not really. There was one in the second quarter on a third and 3, we called a QB draw and he accelarated up the middle pretty dang good and then juked a DB about 5 yards downfield and went to the outside for a big gain before going out of bounds.

[msstate7]

Remember this?

[MarketingBully]

Remember this?

Yeah and I don’t think he’s 100% and he’s regressed both physically and mentally which will get you killed as the QB in this offense.

[MarketingBully]

I’ll also add last year he made the first man miss almost every time and he also didn’t get tackled as easily as he is this year. He goes out of bounds way way too easy and has slid down on his runs more times then I can count. He didn’t do that last year. I’d say he still has the yips from his ankle and it’s destroying our offense.

[MetEdDawg]

I’ll also add last year he made the first man miss almost every time and he also didn’t get tackled as easily as he is this year. He goes out of bounds way way too easy and has slid down on his runs more times then I can count. He didn’t do that last year. I’d say he still has the yips from his ankle and it’s destroying our offense.

It takes him a long time to make a cut back and he usually has to do it with both legs. He did that almost every time last night. Last year he would plant one leg and go. But he is still scared on that leg. He won't put a shoulder down as much alothougj he tried to a little last night later in the game. But he's not comfortable running on it that's for sure.