What 8 games do you choose to suspend?

[Dawgology]

I?m saying OOC, Bama, LSU, Ark, Ole Miss. keep depth for the swing games

[VandelayIndustries]

OOC, Kentucky, Arkansas, no clue about the last two

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Concede Bama and A&M and LSU. Sorry guys, but I think LSU is just better than us this year, and A&M will be tough on the road and the fans and team can move on quick if we lose it.

Play them vs Kentucky, @ TN, @Auburn, and vs OM. We should be able ot crush OM with or without them, but it's the most important game on the schedule so I take no chances. Auburn and TN are very winnable games and they're both needed to get to 8 wins. Lastly Kentucky won't be as bad as most here think.... yes they lost Snell and Allen, but people here forget that the same staff that recruited them recruited the guys who'll replace them so it's not a talent less void. Kentucky has a really good OL so we need Autry and Gay to ensure they can't control the game on the ground. Lastly, an early season home loss to Kentucky would really derail our season entirely. Not sure the fans would get up for another home game, JoMo would lose even more fan support, the team would feel deflated etc. It's a must win.

If we really need Autry/Gay to beat Arkansas or KState, we aren't going to beat Auburn, Kentucky, or TN even without the suspensions

It might sound like I'm a loser, but I think the most important thing this year is that we guarantee 7/8 wins. This is a make or break year for fan support of JoMo, and 8 wins will get us almost as excited for next year as 9 would... but if we get cocky and assume we can beat Kentucky or TN or Auburn without Gay/Autry, we're more likely to go 6-6 which imo would kill JoMo forever at State. Nobody would buy back in, '20 ticket sales would be horrible, recruiting would dip. 9 or 10 wins would be great, but 1) I doubt we get that even without the suspensions, and 2) as good as that would be, the difference between it and 8 wins wouldn't be as big of a positive as the difference between 6 and 8 wins would be negative. Play safe, keep the decent bowl streak and nationa respect going, but JoMo another year to build his thing, and scedule the suspensions around what gets us 8 games

[ckDOG]

Has it been confirmed how the 70% forfeited eligibility is applied? First 8? Flexible by game applied to all? Flexible by game for each player? Hopefully the last then we can build in individual matchups to the strategy.

[ShotgunDawg]

OOC, Kentucky, Arkansas, no clue about the last two

I think this is the right answer. Those 6 for sure & the last two may depend on guy feel & matchups. The coaching staff will have decisions to make

[ShotgunDawg]

Concede Bama and A&M and LSU. Sorry guys, but I think LSU is just better than us this year, and A&M will be tough on the road and the fans and team can move on quick if we lose it.

Play them vs Kentucky, @ TN, @Auburn, and vs OM. We should be able ot crush OM with or without them, but it's the most important game on the schedule so I take no chances. Auburn and TN are very winnable games and they're both needed to get to 8 wins. Lastly Kentucky won't be as bad as most here think.... yes they lost Snell and Allen, but people here forget that the same staff that recruited them recruited the guys who'll replace them so it's not a talent less void. Kentucky has a really good OL so we need Autry and Gay to ensure they can't control the game on the ground. Lastly, an early season home loss to Kentucky would really derail our season entirely. Not sure the fans would get up for another home game, JoMo would lose even more fan support, the team would feel deflated etc. It's a must win.

If we really need Autry/Gay to beat Arkansas or KState, we aren't going to beat Auburn, Kentucky, or TN even without the suspensions

No way in hell I'm conceding LSU & A&M. LSU is a home game that we can win & we've beaten A&M 3 straight years

[Todd4State]

The first seven and then Abeline Christian.

[ShotgunDawg]

Here is my thought process on it.

The damage from this is on defense, not offense.

I don't play them in games where we are facing below average offenses, but I am playing them in games that will be won on the LOS & possibly be defensive struggles.

Therefore my opinion is: 4 OCC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss. I think Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, & OM are all games where we should be able to score in the 30s & the other team has no shot of scoring that much.

We need the suspended players the most vs Auburn, LSU, Alabama, & A&M

[ShotgunDawg]

The first seven and then Abeline Christian.

If you do that, I'd play them in one of the Auburn or Tennessee. Those are on back to back weeks & we'll need the depth then.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

No way in hell I'm conceding LSU & A&M. LSU is a home game that we can win & we've beaten A&M 3 straight years

I think you're flirting with disaster by taking Kentucky, Auburn, and TN for granted. I think the odds of us loosing some of those 3 without Gay/Autry are greater than the odds of us winning those 3 without them and also taking 1 of A&M/LSU. IE 2-3 is more likely than 4-1 with your plan but 3-2 is extremely likely with mine.

This is a pivotal year for us. If we win 8, the fanbase will be buying back in, recruiting will continue along smoothly as Moorhead brings in his guys, and ticket sales will be high for '20. Win 6, and the fanbase will completely check out, ticket sales will be down, and Moorhead's future will be used against him in recruiting.

In my opinion it's EXTREMELY important that we have a decent year, and the disaster of a 6 win season would be worse than a 9 win season would be good, if that makes sense. 8 will get everyone on the Moorhead train, 9 is just gravy but not necessary to ensure a solid future. Call me overly conservative if you want too. I think some years (like last) you go for broke, but i don't think this is one of them.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Here is my thought process on it.

The damage from this is on defense, not offense.

I don't play them in games where we are facing below average offenses, but I am playing them in games that will be won on the LOS & possibly be defensive struggles.

Therefore my opinion is: 4 OCC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss. I think Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, & OM are all games where we should be able to score in the 30s & the other team has no shot of scoring that much.

We need the suspended players the most vs Auburn, LSU, Alabama, & A&M

No duh we "need them the most" vs the best teams on our schedule, that's not analysis

[ShotgunDawg]

I think you're flirting with disaster by taking Kentucky, Auburn, and TN for granted. I think the odds of us loosing some of those 3 without Gay/Autry are greater than the odds of us winning those 3 without them and also taking 1 of A&M/LSU. IE 2-3 is more likely than 4-1 with your plan but 3-2 is extremely likely with mine.

This is a pivotal year for us. If we win 8, the fanbase will be buying back in, recruiting will continue along smoothly as Moorhead brings in his guys, and ticket sales will be high for '20. Win 6, and the fanbase will completely check out, ticket sales will be down, and Moorhead's future will be used against him in recruiting.

In my opinion it's EXTREMELY important that we have a decent year, and the disaster of a 6 win season would be worse than a 9 win season would be good, if that makes sense. 8 will get everyone on the Moorhead train, 9 is just gravy but not necessary to ensure a solid future. Call me overly conservative if you want too. I think some years (like last) you go for broke, but i don't think this is one of them.

I get your point. I'm not taking Auburn for granted at all. I just think we SHOULD be able to score on Tennessee & KY

[dantheman4248]

Here is my thought process on it.

The damage from this is on defense, not offense.

I don't play them in games where we are facing below average offenses, but I am playing them in games that will be won on the LOS & possibly be defensive struggles.

Therefore my opinion is: 4 OCC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss. I think Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, & OM are all games where we should be able to score in the 30s & the other team has no shot of scoring that much.

We need the suspended players the most vs Auburn, LSU, Alabama, & A&M

So what I said to begin with in your thread...

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I get your point. I'm not taking Auburn for granted at all. I just think we SHOULD be able to score on Tennessee & KY

I agree we SHOULD, but I'd rather guarantee a win vs them and have a 2 score loss to LSU and A&M than wind up with close loses to all 4, or 3 of them. Kentucky has a good OL and running QB, so while we should beat them with our O alone I want Autry and Gay to make sure we can stop the run. Lets not forget it's Stevens' first SEC game so our O may not be at full strength yet either

[ShotgunDawg]

I agree we SHOULD, but I'd rather guarantee a win vs them and have a 2 score loss to LSU and A&M than wind up with close loses to all 4, or 3 of them. Kentucky has a good OL and running QB, so while we should beat them with our O alone I want Autry and Gay to make sure we can stop the run. Lets not forget it's Stevens' first SEC game so our O may not be at full strength yet either

I understand your point. I think there are too many unknowns at this point to be honest.

We have to see how good we are on offense & at DT to likely know which games these guys will play.

[Dawgology]

I agree we SHOULD, but I'd rather guarantee a win vs them and have a 2 score loss to LSU and A&M than wind up with close loses to all 4, or 3 of them. Kentucky has a good OL and running QB, so while we should beat them with our O alone I want Autry and Gay to make sure we can stop the run. Lets not forget it's Stevens' first SEC game so our O may not be at full strength yet either

I though UK’s QB was injured a week or so ago?

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I though UK’s QB was injured a week or so ago?

Maybe, I haven't heard. What I do know is that he was injured almost all of last year and played through it, so imo that means he's going to make that much more of a jump if healthy this year

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

I understand your point. I think there are too many unknowns at this point to be honest.

We have to see how good we are on offense & at DT to likely know which games these guys will play.

100% yes, but wheres the fun in only talking about what we know about? The world runs on BS by overconfident morons, message boards all the moreso lol. I'm just doing my part to keep our system going

[Coach007]

I?m saying OOC, Bama, LSU, Ark, Ole Miss. keep depth for the swing games

Depends on how we are doing.... vs the talent we are playing.

We should be 4-0 going into Auburn. With that, they play at Auburn unless we have a hell of a DL that has been showing up.

They sit at UT. If we can't beat UT with all of the loses there... we suck. (that's 5 games)

From there it's really a game by game thing. If TAMU looks horrible and we can do without them... sit.

[Hambone]

4 OOC Kentucky Arkansas Ole Miss and Bama.

Conceding Bama and I think the other three we should win regardless.

[Pollodawg]

Go ahead and concede Bama. Probaby AU. We play like crap in JH. Basically, play them in TAMU, LSU, Egg Bowl, and just pick one more. Probably UT. Shouldn’t need em berses Arky

[Bothrops]

Unless Malzahn is about to get axed, we probably aren't winning at Auburn. Suspend best players for ULL, USM, KSU, UK, possibly Auburn, Bama, possibly Arkansas, and AC. We will suspend accordingly, but mistakes could be made.

[Todd4State]

Let me amend my original post. Let's assume it is indeed Autry, Gay, and some special teamers. Basically we should play Autry against teams that are stronger against the run. So, going in reverse- Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, and Auburn are probably who we would benefit the most from having him on the field. Gay is a good playmaker. So I would maybe use him against the same four depending on how Tim Washington looks. That to me would factor in as well.

What I would do if I was Shoop- which means we AREN'T going to do it....is just slide Marquiss Spencer inside with Lovett and then start Kobe and Rivers at DE with Fletcher Adams and Aaron Odom- maybe DeMonte Russell rotating in and then go Lovett/Spencer at DT and then use Kendall Jones, Crumedy, Cameron Young, James Jackson, and Pickering at DT. We can always adjust later as we need to. I am a little surprised that we haven't seemed to look at Spencer at DT- at least to my knowledge.

The special teams guys- the logical thing to do is suspend them for the first seven games and then suspend them for Abeline Christian except for Mayden. I would suspend Mayden the first eight because then if there are injuries at QB it would help the depth later on at the position later in the year. Now that I think about I would probably suspend Dolla Bill the first eight as well so he can at least play some against Abeline Christian.

After having some time to think about it- this is probably the best way to maximize our roster. The good news is we start off with three OOC games and a fourth SEC game in Starkville so we should have some time to get some guys in and see how they perform under the lights and then can make more informed decisions at that time.

[Bothrops]

Let me amend my original post. Let's assume it is indeed Autry, Gay, and some special teamers. Basically we should play Autry against teams that are stronger against the run. So, going in reverse- Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, and Auburn are probably who we would benefit the most from having him on the field. Gay is a good playmaker. So I would maybe use him against the same four depending on how Tim Washington looks. That to me would factor in as well.

What I would do if I was Shoop- which means we AREN'T going to do it....is just slide Marquiss Spencer inside with Lovett and then start Kobe and Rivers at DE with Fletcher Adams and Aaron Odom- maybe DeMonte Russell rotating in and then go Lovett/Spencer at DT and then use Kendall Jones, Crumedy, Cameron Young, James Jackson, and Pickering at DT. We can always adjust later as we need to. I am a little surprised that we haven't seemed to look at Spencer at DT- at least to my knowledge.

The special teams guys- the logical thing to do is suspend them for the first seven games and then suspend them for Abeline Christian except for Mayden. I would suspend Mayden the first eight because then if there are injuries at QB it would help the depth later on at the position later in the year. Now that I think about I would probably suspend Dolla Bill the first eight as well so he can at least play some against Abeline Christian.

After having some time to think about it- this is probably the best way to maximize our roster. The good news is we start off with three OOC games and a fourth SEC game in Starkville so we should have some time to get some guys in and see how they perform under the lights and then can make more informed decisions at that time.

It's a hell of a puzzle for Moorhead to figure out as we go from week to week.

[AROB44]

Suspend all of them for the first 8 games and get it over.....

[R2Dawg]

One other thought on which games is injuries. We need to save a few games with these guys in case of injury. Also the more snaps our guys get early will mean they are ready come end of year.

I'd say sit the OOC games, Bama (chances of winning low anyway), LSU (we can win but lower chance and we have home helping), I think we beat Olemiss and UK anyway and we are also at home so sit there. We need full deck at UT, Ark and Aub to get key wins.

[maroonmania]

Here is my thought process on it.

The damage from this is on defense, not offense.

I don't play them in games where we are facing below average offenses, but I am playing them in games that will be won on the LOS & possibly be defensive struggles.

Therefore my opinion is: 4 OCC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss. I think Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, & OM are all games where we should be able to score in the 30s & the other team has no shot of scoring that much.

We need the suspended players the most vs Auburn, LSU, Alabama, & A&M

I would go 4 OOC games, Ark, OM, Bama and either KY/TN. The first 6 on that list we should stand a great chance to win even without Autry/Gay. We aren't beating Bama either way. The SEC refs will make sure of that. Then I would play them against either KY or TN, depending on whichever the coaches thinks has the better OL for the power run game. May actually want to have Autry in one game and Gay in another relative to those two.

[basedog]

The first seven and then Abeline Christian.

^^^^^ Yes I hope this is what Joe decides, get all this behind the team and move on instead of the questions every week who is suspended. To me would hurt team chemistry and morale. That's the ex Coach in me, LOL, been there done that.