Tuesday Morning thoughts, observations and notes...

[DeviousDawg]

1. MSU's 2018 Defense is ELITE.

We all knew this defense had the talent to be elite, but talent is just one piece of the equation. The on-field leadership from the older guys is obvious this year, and that's another huge piece. Bob Shoop and his coaching staff are the final piece. He has proven that his stint at UT was an anomaly. He has called practically a perfect season thus far, and has had his guys prepared each and every week. Shoop is the man, just look at some of these numbers.


-Total Defense- 283.8 ypg; 6th nationally; 1st in SEC
-Scoring Defense- 13.5 ppg; 4th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-1st down Defense- 20th nationally; 5th in SEC
-3rd down conversion- 28.3%; 8th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Rushing Defense- 107.9 ypg; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Defense- 175.9 ypg; 16th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Sacks- 22; 26th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Tackles for loss- 63; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Efficiency against- 101.36; 7th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Redzone Defense; 22 attempts; 3 rushing TD; 2 passing TD; 12 FG

This defense literally does not have a weakness on paper.


2. I was calling for Moorehead's head last week, and I was wrong.

After the abomination that was the LSU game, I was pretty down on JoMo and the future of our program, and I was not alone. However, Moorehead delivered his best game of the season when the noise was loudest, and showed that he does have a set down there.

While I was excited that the offense finally came together for a complete game, I still wonder what might have been had the offense played like this in the first 7 games.

I do believe that I speak for everyone when I say that if JoMo can finish 8-4 he is off my personal hot seat. I think Fitz missing the spring and game 1 was overlooked preseason. He did not have enough time to feel comfortable in JoMo's offense, I think this was the downfall of the season.

Let's give JoMo a couple years to get his personnel straight and system fully installed before we claim his Croom II.


3. The freshman Kick Off Specialist Goodman can boom it.

Kickoffs have been great all year. Goodman is only a freshman, if he could work on accuracy he could be a weapon for long field goal attempts. At the worse he will continue to bang the ball into the Endzone for the next 3 years. I heard he punted at Brandon too, surely he can't be worse than the two guys we trot out there.


4. Maurice Smitherman has quietly had a great year.

I will admit, I had already written Smitherman off as a potential contributor before this season. Had always heard he was undersized, came in with a lot of P5 offers but most were probably not committable. So it has been a great surprise to see him turn into a very reliable player this year. Personally, he does not look undersized out there to me. He is probably the best surprise of the season for me.


5. Marcus Murphy and Devonta "Whop" Jason are only true freshman that have burnt redshirt.

Murphy has played in all games and Whop has played in all but one. Outside of these 2 guys, no other true freshman has played in more than 2 games, which means they will redshirt no doubt. Kilby-Lane has played in 5 games now, so his potential redshirt is burnt as well.

[TrapGame]

In hindsight Fitz missing spring installation, getting reps and the first game of the season was YUGE. That may be the difference in winning the Florida game alone.

[Homedawg]

1. MSU's 2018 Defense is ELITE.

We all knew this defense had the talent to be elite, but talent is just one piece of the equation. The on-field leadership from the older guys is obvious this year, and that's another huge piece. Bob Shoop and his coaching staff are the final piece. He has proven that his stint at UT was an anomaly. He has called practically a perfect season thus far, and has had his guys prepared each and every week. Shoop is the man, just look at some of these numbers.


-Total Defense- 283.8 ypg; 6th nationally; 1st in SEC
-Scoring Defense- 13.5 ppg; 4th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-1st down Defense- 20th nationally; 5th in SEC
-3rd down conversion- 28.3%; 8th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Rushing Defense- 107.9 ypg; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Defense- 175.9 ypg; 16th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Sacks- 22; 26th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Tackles for loss- 63; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Efficiency against- 101.36; 7th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Redzone Defense; 22 attempts; 3 rushing TD; 2 passing TD; 12 FG

This defense literally does not have a weakness on paper.


2. I was calling for Moorehead's head last week, and I was wrong.

After the abomination that was the LSU game, I was pretty down on JoMo and the future of our program, and I was not alone. However, Moorehead delivered his best game of the season when the noise was loudest, and showed that he does have a set down there.

While I was excited that the offense finally came together for a complete game, I still wonder what might have been had the offense played like this in the first 7 games.

I do believe that I speak for everyone when I say that if JoMo can finish 8-4 he is off my personal hot seat. I think Fitz missing the spring and game 1 was overlooked preseason. He did not have enough time to feel comfortable in JoMo's offense, I think this was the downfall of the season.

Let's give JoMo a couple years to get his personnel straight and system fully installed before we claim his Croom II.


3. The freshman Kick Off Specialist Goodman can boom it.

Kickoffs have been great all year. Goodman is only a freshman, if he could work on accuracy he could be a weapon for long field goal attempts. At the worse he will continue to bang the ball into the Endzone for the next 3 years. I heard he punted at Brandon too, surely he can't be worse than the two guys we trot out there.


4. Maurice Smitherman has quietly had a great year.

I will admit, I had already written Smitherman off as a potential contributor before this season. Had always heard he was undersized, came in with a lot of P5 offers but most were probably not committable. So it has been a great surprise to see him turn into a very reliable player this year. Personally, he does not look undersized out there to me. He is probably the best surprise of the season for me.


5. Marcus Murphy and Devonta "Whop" Jason are only true freshman that have burnt redshirt.

Murphy has played in all games and Whop has played in all but one. Outside of these 2 guys, no other true freshman has played in more than 2 games, which means they will redshirt no doubt. Kilby-Lane has played in 5 games now, so his potential redshirt is burnt as well.

Kilby-lane had 2 to play 2. No redshirt available.

[Cooterpoot]

There were a lot of blown coverages vs A&M but Mond either missed them or was under pressure and made a bad throw.

[Jack Lambert]

There were a lot of blown coverages vs A&M but Mond either missed them or was under pressure and made a bad throw.

You knock the shit out of a QB a few times his passing percentage gets bad. It is always in the back of his mind. I think it the same for WR. Knock the shit out of them and they are thinking about it when the ball is thrown their way.

[Johnson85]

Shoop is obviously not a bad DC. However, I'm not sure how much you can tell with talent like this other than he is pretty good. Good talents gives you a lot of options as far as scheme and playcalling. Diaz looked elite with elite talent and I don't think he's an elite DC (although I haven't paid as much attention to his Miami stint, so maybe he is).

[BrunswickDawg]

Shoop is obviously not a bad DC. However, I'm not sure how much you can tell with talent like this other than he is pretty good. Good talents gives you a lot of options as far as scheme and playcalling. Diaz looked elite with elite talent and I don't think he's an elite DC (although I haven't paid as much attention to his Miami stint, so maybe he is).

Miami is #2 in Total D; and #22 in scoring D. D hasn't been a problem for Miami. The offense has been meh.

[Johnson85]

Miami is #2 in Total D; and #22 in scoring D. D hasn't been a problem for Miami. The offense has been meh.

Then maybe he is elite. He looked elite in his first stint here and then looked pretty average in his second. Don't think you can hold Texas against him like you can't hold UT against Schoop. Just a messed up culture. And I wasn't trying to claim Diaz isn't good, just not sure he's elite because once your talent gets to a certain level, it gets hard to distinguish whether a DC is just good enough utilize elite talent, or an elite DC with very good or elite talent.

[BoomBoom]

1. MSU's 2018 Defense is ELITE.

We all knew this defense had the talent to be elite, but talent is just one piece of the equation. The on-field leadership from the older guys is obvious this year, and that's another huge piece. Bob Shoop and his coaching staff are the final piece. He has proven that his stint at UT was an anomaly. He has called practically a perfect season thus far, and has had his guys prepared each and every week. Shoop is the man, just look at some of these numbers.


-Total Defense- 283.8 ypg; 6th nationally; 1st in SEC
-Scoring Defense- 13.5 ppg; 4th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-1st down Defense- 20th nationally; 5th in SEC
-3rd down conversion- 28.3%; 8th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Rushing Defense- 107.9 ypg; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Defense- 175.9 ypg; 16th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Sacks- 22; 26th nationally; 3rd in SEC
-Tackles for loss- 63; 15th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Passing Efficiency against- 101.36; 7th nationally; 2nd in SEC
-Redzone Defense; 22 attempts; 3 rushing TD; 2 passing TD; 12 FG

This defense literally does not have a weakness on paper.


2. I was calling for Moorehead's head last week, and I was wrong.

After the abomination that was the LSU game, I was pretty down on JoMo and the future of our program, and I was not alone. However, Moorehead delivered his best game of the season when the noise was loudest, and showed that he does have a set down there.

While I was excited that the offense finally came together for a complete game, I still wonder what might have been had the offense played like this in the first 7 games.

I do believe that I speak for everyone when I say that if JoMo can finish 8-4 he is off my personal hot seat. I think Fitz missing the spring and game 1 was overlooked preseason. He did not have enough time to feel comfortable in JoMo's offense, I think this was the downfall of the season.

Let's give JoMo a couple years to get his personnel straight and system fully installed before we claim his Croom II.


3. The freshman Kick Off Specialist Goodman can boom it.

Kickoffs have been great all year. Goodman is only a freshman, if he could work on accuracy he could be a weapon for long field goal attempts. At the worse he will continue to bang the ball into the Endzone for the next 3 years. I heard he punted at Brandon too, surely he can't be worse than the two guys we trot out there.


4. Maurice Smitherman has quietly had a great year.

I will admit, I had already written Smitherman off as a potential contributor before this season. Had always heard he was undersized, came in with a lot of P5 offers but most were probably not committable. So it has been a great surprise to see him turn into a very reliable player this year. Personally, he does not look undersized out there to me. He is probably the best surprise of the season for me.


5. Marcus Murphy and Devonta "Whop" Jason are only true freshman that have burnt redshirt.

Murphy has played in all games and Whop has played in all but one. Outside of these 2 guys, no other true freshman has played in more than 2 games, which means they will redshirt no doubt. Kilby-Lane has played in 5 games now, so his potential redshirt is burnt as well.

The offense did play like this in the first 7 games. Against TAMU they just happened to make 3 catches that they almost never make. Take those catches away and those drives are punts instead of scores, and suddenly that game looks exactly like UK and FL. LSU was the aberration, Fitz just had a terrible game. Otherwise we have been the same team all year.

[NCDawg]

Auburn had a wide open guy behind our secondary which the QB missed, as did Texas A&M. We were lucky that those plays weren't TD's. Someday, somebody's going to connect on one of those and we will be questioning the DC. Of course, Mullen beat us on a trick play where their guy got behind our guy for the TD.

[msbulldog]

You knock the shit out of a QB a few times his passing percentage gets bad. It is always in the back of his mind. I think it the same for WR. Knock the shit out of them and they are thinking about it when the ball is thrown their way.

Joe Burrows played skeeeeeered the whole LSU game.

[MetEdDawg]

Joe Burrows played skeeeeeered the whole LSU game.

I haven't seen one QB that we have played that hasn't played scared.

[TNDawg35]

Auburn had a wide open guy behind our secondary which the QB missed, as did Texas A&M. We were lucky that those plays weren't TD's. Someday, somebody's going to connect on one of those and we will be questioning the DC. Of course, Mullen beat us on a trick play where their guy got behind our guy for the TD.

People have been connecting on those for umpteen yrs. Bought time we catch a break and they over throw them or drop them... haha

[Covercorner2]

Auburn had a wide open guy behind our secondary which the QB missed, as did Texas A&M. We were lucky that those plays weren't TD's. Someday, somebody's going to connect on one of those and we will be questioning the DC. Of course, Mullen beat us on a trick play where their guy got behind our guy for the TD.

That play that Mullen beat us, Abram was knocked out the play before. We had our walk-on safety (Stephen Adegoke) in the game, and Mullen smartly exploited it. Adegoke bit on the pass in the flat and was out of position. That play cost us the game and is an example of Mullen using knowledge of our players and tendencies against us. Still frustrates me.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

5. Marcus Murphy and Devonta "Whop" Jason are only true freshman that have burnt redshirt.

Murphy has played in all games and Whop has played in all but one. Outside of these 2 guys, no other true freshman has played in more than 2 games, which means they will redshirt no doubt. Kilby-Lane has played in 5 games now, so his potential redshirt is burnt as well.

Scott Goodman is a true freshman. His redshirt has been burnt.

Obviously Whop, Murphy, and Goodman can redshirt another year if needed.