Rewatching the Alabama football game

[Matt3467]

Yes, we had a lot of calls go against us this game, but after watching this game again I'm so glad Fitzgerald is gone.

I appreciate what he did under Mullen but after the injury and JoMo coming in it was easy to see he was not a good QB and he played like he was scared to get hit. I remember the frustrations with Shumpert, Holloway, finding a kicker, sly croom, omar conner, and I can go on but watching him play this year more times than not made my stomach turn in knots.

I'm looking forward to the future post-fitz.

[MoreCowbell]

Yes, we had a lot of calls go against us this game, but after watching this game again I'm so glad Fitzgerald is gone.

I appreciate what he did under Mullen but after the injury and JoMo coming in it was easy to see he was not a good QB and he played like he was scared to get hit. I remember the frustrations with Shumpert, Holloway, finding a kicker, sly croom, omar conner, and I can go on but watching him play this year more times than not made my stomach turn in knots.

I'm looking forward to the future post-fitz.

Feel bad for Fitz though I think he could have truly had a Heisman type season had Mullen been here running his offense. It was not Nicks fault his skill set was totally opposite of what we need for this offense.

[gravedigger]

Yes, we had a lot of calls go against us this game, but after watching this game again I'm so glad Fitzgerald is gone.

I appreciate what he did under Mullen but after the injury and JoMo coming in it was easy to see he was not a good QB and he played like he was scared to get hit. I remember the frustrations with Shumpert, Holloway, finding a kicker, sly croom, omar conner, and I can go on but watching him play this year more times than not made my stomach turn in knots.

I'm looking forward to the future post-fitz.

I'm going to beg to differ on this. Bama is a hard hitting team and any running qb should have been a bit tentative facing them. Fitz left his heart and soul on the field for MSU and while I realize he struggled with the transition of one offense to the next, I'm not glad he's gone. Kid was tough as nails.

I do agree that the future is brighter with a qb that is familiar with this offense.

[msstate7]

Fitz is looking to get drafted this week, and you create a thread to take another shot at him. Nice job

[Matt3467]

Fitz is looking to get drafted this week, and you create a thread to take another shot at him. Nice job

I hope he gets drafted. He's not going to be a QB at the next level, but I can see him being a T. Hill type of player or possibly a TE.

I'm sorry I hurt your feelings by pointing out the obvious with Fitz. I can be liberal and spread it around to other players (Osirus Mitchell, Guidry) but Fitz is the biggest reason we wasted the best defense in the nation and history of our program. You can't stare down receivers from the snap and stand in the pocket like a brick wall and expect to win games. He's an athlete and the best thing Fitz could ever do was run and even that was an obvious downgrade last year. He had moments, but more times than not he played scared to get hit and when you can't throw the ball consistently that's a disaster in the making.

[Tbonewannabe]

Fitz fit JoMo's offense about like Gardner Minshew would have fit Mullen's offense. Both might get drafted in the NFL but neither would have been drafted if they played their career in an offense that didn't fit their skill set. Fitz struggled some in 2016 when Dan tried to get him to run more of the Dak version of his offense. When Mullen went back to run first in 2017, Fitz took a big step forward.

I think a big thing is Fitz is still pretty raw in QB skills because he really didn't play QB until MSU. Running the option offense in high school is very far away from running a college offense. Fitz is enough of an athlete to make the NFL but it probably won't be as a NFL QB.

[justwin]

Yes, we had a lot of calls go against us this game, but after watching this game again I'm so glad Fitzgerald is gone.

I appreciate what he did under Mullen but after the injury and JoMo coming in it was easy to see he was not a good QB and he played like he was scared to get hit. I remember the frustrations with Shumpert, Holloway, finding a kicker, sly croom, omar conner, and I can go on but watching him play this year more times than not made my stomach turn in knots.

I'm looking forward to the future post-fitz.

me too, total knots. especially watching how many times coach Moorhead tried to change the O for him to allow him easier reads, etc throughout the year but Fitz refused to ever give it up even on running plays. I'll never understand how you throw that many balls per game out of bounds and not even give your WR a chance. The Auburn game where JoMo forced him to give it up, we won. Then, Fitz reverted to his way rest of year. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but just refused to do even simple reads and give up the ball to the RBs even; Fitz took so many unnecessary hits. best of luck to him on the position change.

[msstate7]

I hope he gets drafted. He's not going to be a QB at the next level, but I can see him being a T. Hill type of player or possibly a TE.

I'm sorry I hurt your feelings by pointing out the obvious with Fitz. I can be liberal and spread it around to other players (Osirus Mitchell, Guidry) but Fitz is the biggest reason we wasted the best defense in the nation and history of our program. You can't stare down receivers from the snap and stand in the pocket like a brick wall and expect to win games. He's an athlete and the best thing Fitz could ever do was run and even that was an obvious downgrade last year. He had moments, but more times than not he played scared to get hit and when you can't throw the ball consistently that's a disaster in the making.

Espn qbr rankings nationally by year for fitz:
2016 = 19th
2017 = 14th
2018 = 65th

Here's fitz's stats in the games vs opponents we lost to last year vs the previous year...

Kentucky..
2017: 18/26 (.692) 155 yds 1 td 0 int; 12 rushes 115 yds 2 td
2018: 16/32 (.500). 145 yds 0 td 1 int; 16 rushes 20 yds 1 td

LSU...
2017: 15/23 (.652) 180 yds 2 td 0 int; 12 rushes 115 yds 2 td
2018: 8/24 (.333) 59 yds 0 td 4 int; 23 rushes 131 yds 0 td

Bama...
2017: 13/24 (.542) 158 yds 0 td 0 int; 21 rushes 66 yds 1 td
2018: 11/20 (.550) 125 yds 0 td 0 int; 14 rushes -23 yds 0 td

Maybe some of the blame lies with the man we pay to coach the players, maybe

[Tbonewannabe]

Espn qbr rankings nationally by year for fitz:
2016 = 19th
2017 = 14th
2018 = 65th

Here's fitz's stats in the games vs opponents we lost to last year vs the previous year...

Kentucky..
2017: 18/26 (.692) 155 yds 1 td 0 int; 12 rushes 115 yds 2 td
2018: 16/32 (.500). 145 yds 0 td 1 int; 16 rushes 20 yds 1 td

LSU...
2017: 15/23 (.652) 180 yds 2 td 0 int; 12 rushes 115 yds 2 td
2018: 8/24 (.333) 59 yds 0 td 4 int; 23 rushes 131 yds 0 td

Bama...
2017: 13/24 (.542) 158 yds 0 td 0 int; 21 rushes 66 yds 1 td
2018: 11/20 (.550) 125 yds 0 td 0 int; 14 rushes -23 yds 0 td

Maybe some of the blame lies with the man we pay to coach the players, maybe

UK defense improved from 92 to 23 in Total Defense and they were #6 in Scoring Defense this year. It was also at UK in a rain storm instead of at home in good weather. Oddly enough, the big difference was Fitz was more efficient in an offense that he was in for 3 years instead of one month of live games.

LSU - this is one of the biggest differences but again there is a HUGE difference playing at Death Valley at night vs playing at home. Interesting enough, Fitz's last time at LSU he was pulled for Damian Williams in the 2nd half because we had managed 2 fgs going into the 4th quarter.

Bama - It certainly helps playing at home and when several of Bama's starting defensive players are injured. The last time Fitz played at Bama (3-51 Loss btw), he was 10/33 145 0 TDs with 1 Int. He also ran for 15 yards. So I guess Mullen coached him to a better game?

I know that nothing is actually going to change your mind unless we win 10-11 games under Moorhead even though Mullen only won more regular season games than Moorhead once.

None of these teams and games are equal. I am so ready to start 2019 so we can say Moorhead had enough time to change the offense and this is what it does. If it is still bad then it might not work in the SEC or if it is good then of course Mullen would have done better.

[msstate7]

UK defense improved from 92 to 23 in Total Defense and they were #6 in Scoring Defense this year. It was also at UK in a rain storm instead of at home in good weather. Oddly enough, the big difference was Fitz was more efficient in an offense that he was in for 3 years instead of one month of live games.

LSU - this is one of the biggest differences but again there is a HUGE difference playing at Death Valley at night vs playing at home. Interesting enough, Fitz's last time at LSU he was pulled for Damian Williams in the 2nd half because we had managed 2 fgs going into the 4th quarter.

Bama - It certainly helps playing at home and when several of Bama's starting defensive players are injured. The last time Fitz played at Bama (3-51 Loss btw), he was 10/33 145 0 TDs with 1 Int. He also ran for 15 yards. So I guess Mullen coached him to a better game?

I know that nothing is actually going to change your mind unless we win 10-11 games under Moorhead even though Mullen only won more regular season games than Moorhead once.

None of these teams and games are equal. I am so ready to start 2019 so we can say Moorhead had enough time to change the offense and this is what it does. If it is still bad then it might not work in the SEC or if it is good then of course Mullen would have done better.

You say those teams improved. Why didn't we improve offensively like they did defensively?

[Tbonewannabe]

You say those teams improved. Why didn't we improve offensively like they did defensively?

I would say a combination of going to a more complex offense along with Fitz not being a good fit for that offense. Also, other than UF all of our toughest games were on the road. If we didn't kick ass against Auburn, aTm, KSU, and La Tech then I would say this offense wouldn't work but the offense did what it was supposed to in those games.

You want to say that our offense was Croom level in those games last year like we have never struggled with good teams under Mullen.

[msstate7]

I would say a combination of going to a more complex offense along with Fitz not being a good fit for that offense. Also, other than UF all of our toughest games were on the road. If we didn't kick ass against Auburn, aTm, KSU, and La Tech then I would say this offense wouldn't work but the offense did what it was supposed to in those games.

You want to say that our offense was Croom level in those games last year like we have never struggled with good teams under Mullen.

Throw out auburn... that wasn't Moorhead's offense apparently

[TrapGame]

I wish Fitz well and hope he gets a shot in the NFL as a hybrid TE but he was never solid QB material. Moorhead wouldn't have given him a first look for QB at Penn State. He would have given him a shot at TE but that would have been it.

[wmccgc]

Fitz was 2 completions away from a monster season, and he was a warrior who sacrificed his body at every turn. Never seen a tougher QB. OM killer.

[Matt3467]

I wish Fitz well and hope he gets a shot in the NFL as a hybrid TE but he was never solid QB material. Moorhead wouldn't have given him a first look for QB at Penn State. He would have given him a shot at TE but that would have been it.

Exactly. There was a reason his only offer aside from us was MTSU. I believe Mullen is the only coach in the country that can take a guy like Fitz and make it work. Mullen's system was apparently dumbed down and easy for an athlete under his tutelage to pick up.

I'm excited for possible PSU transfer and looking ahead to the future. I wish Fitz the best.

[Tbonewannabe]

Throw out auburn... that wasn't Moorhead's offense apparently

Unfortunately, I think if Moorhead had the Auburn gameplan against UK and UF those turn into wins. At the end of the day, if a QB and WR can't complete passes, there aren't many offenses that will do very well.

[Todd4State]

Throw out auburn... that wasn't Moorhead's offense apparently

Throw out Auburn. Doesn't fit narrative apparently.

[msstate7]

Throw out Auburn. Doesn't fit narrative apparently.

I loved the auburn game plan. Hell, I begged for it the rest of the season. We never used it again, so I don't see how you can call that part of his offense. I'd love to see joe go back to designed rb carries

[DancingRabbit]

Fitz was warrior. Loved watching him run. The forward pass was challenge for him at times. I'm looking forward to a better passing game and hopefully better overall offense.

Fitz earned his spot here, won games and set some records. Hope he finds a good spot in the pros. You never know how things are going to work out.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d1fd2a54085b8d69bcd86ebe1c1d7c71cbd4278a/c=0-44-3000-1732/local/-/media/2015/08/31/JacksonMS/B9318661565Z.1_20150831180123_000_G9RBPJ6FM.1-0.jpg

[Todd4State]

I loved the auburn game plan. Hell, I begged for it the rest of the season. We never used it again, so I don't see how you can call that part of his offense. I'd love to see joe go back to designed rb carries

So who's playbook were they out of? Do you think he just downloaded one off the Internet and said "hey what the hell let's do this against Auburn?"

This is even more dumb than Felker calling Croom's plays when his offense rarely worked.

[Todd4State]

UK defense improved from 92 to 23 in Total Defense and they were #6 in Scoring Defense this year. It was also at UK in a rain storm instead of at home in good weather. Oddly enough, the big difference was Fitz was more efficient in an offense that he was in for 3 years instead of one month of live games.

LSU - this is one of the biggest differences but again there is a HUGE difference playing at Death Valley at night vs playing at home. Interesting enough, Fitz's last time at LSU he was pulled for Damian Williams in the 2nd half because we had managed 2 fgs going into the 4th quarter.

Bama - It certainly helps playing at home and when several of Bama's starting defensive players are injured. The last time Fitz played at Bama (3-51 Loss btw), he was 10/33 145 0 TDs with 1 Int. He also ran for 15 yards. So I guess Mullen coached him to a better game?

I know that nothing is actually going to change your mind unless we win 10-11 games under Moorhead even though Mullen only won more regular season games than Moorhead once.

None of these teams and games are equal. I am so ready to start 2019 so we can say Moorhead had enough time to change the offense and this is what it does. If it is still bad then it might not work in the SEC or if it is good then of course Mullen would have done better.

Then there's the obvious fact that all of those games were on the road last year where it's typically more difficult for an offense to get going. Like Dan's offense at Arkansas in 2017. Doesn't fit narrative apparently though.**

Joe could go 11-1 next year and some of our fans would be like "but Dan would have beaten Alabama".

[R2Dawg]

Feel bad for Fitz though I think he could have truly had a Heisman type season had Mullen been here running his offense. It was not Nicks fault his skill set was totally opposite of what we need for this offense.

Agree with this. Tough break for Fitz to endure Moorhead last year. I think Fitz has a Heisman type run if CDM stayed. I also think we flirt with playoffs but still lose at Bama cause we know how Dan does.