Quick Thoughts After Re-watching the Game

[ShotgunDawg]

Just got done rewatching the game & now with 2 games, I think we can start to make some semi-accurate statements.

1. Biggest difference on offense between this year & last year is the simple ability of the offense to collectively play pitch & catch. The difference that accurate QBs that throw a catchable ball in conjunction with WRs knowing where they are going on field, has created an ease of playing pitch & catch that I'm not sure we've seen in many many years & include Dak's year in that because I think our WRs are better coached now & JoMo's offense has a better passing scheme than Mullen's. We can catch & throw now. It's amazing.

2. We really need to get healthy & let the starters have a full game to create rhythm before SEC play starts. The amount of little injuries we are having right now is ridiculous.

3. It's hard to not be excited by all the young talent on the field. Overall, the program is in really good shape. The 2020 team may not win 8 or 9 games but it's going to be stock full of young ballers that will be building towards making a run at the SECW in 2021 & 2022.

4. I really really like Tommy Stevens. His skill set & body type reminds me an awful lot of Nick Foles. Could see him having a similar NFL career in that he goes in as a backup, but if the right opportunity comes knocking, he could turn into a solid ass player. Football looks easy for Tommy. He's got that natural throwing ability that gives you the feeling that he could pick you a part in his underwear

5. I could not have been more impressed with Garrett Shrader yesterday. He's big, he's tough, he's accurate, & he has a great first step in which he gains a ton of ground. He also already knows where to go with the football. It's amazing. Only issue is that he has a "one piece arm action" meaning that he has very little external rotation in his elbow when he throws. That makes his arm strength more strength based like Fitz's was. In comparison, Tommy Stevens has good external rotation in elbow which means his arm is looser & gives the ball a little more of sling shot effect out of his hand. Shrader is accurate though & throws a softer pass than Fitz, but because of the one piece arm action, I don't think he'll ever be a great passer, but he could be a great player. Actually reminds me a lot of Sam Ehlinger. Similar type players with similar strengths & weaknesses.

6. Really liked what I saw out of Witherspoon yesterday. His style of running & pad level reminds me so much of Dicenzo Miller. Watching Witherspoon brought back memories of Miller yesterday.

7. Nathan Pickering is twitchier with a quicker first step than our other DTs. He needs more time in the weight room to be close to his ceiling, but has similar ingredients to Nick Fairley IMO. He may not be Fletcher Cox, Simmons, or CJ, but he's going to be damn good.

8. We are really missing Abrams physicality in the middle of the field on defense. I think Abrams put some fear in people last year, but Landrews & Cole just aren't that type of player. We are also missing Abrams' physicality in run support.

9. J Jones & Emerson are dudes. Both have the right twitch & size to be studs.

10. Lastly, Kylin Hill looks amazing. He's street fighting LBs right now. He's fighting for every inch. Just stay healthy

Overall, I like the direction this team is taking. We have a chance to develop into a really good team this year. I'd feel better about the Kentucky & Auburn games if we could get healthy & the 1s more work together. Hopefully as the guys take more hits, they'll round into better football shape.

[ShotgunDawg]

Additionally, the 10 day forecast shows next Saturday's high being 93 degrees.

So with an 11:00 AM start, we could be looking at an upper 80s game for the most part.

Still warm but better than yesterday

[ShotgunDawg]

1170722587204358144

[msstate7]

Additionally, the 10 day forecast shows next Saturday's high being 93 degrees.

So with an 11:00 AM start, we could be looking at an upper 80s game for the most part.

Still warm but better than yesterday

Right now, it's 90, but heat index is 101. I don't know if it will be much better next week or not

[Scared_Hitless]

Kentucky lost Terry Wilson for the season that game has approached must win territory now. Our D needs to keep improving and deepen the rotation we seem to not enjoy tackling. That needs correcting as we are thumping and not wrapping alot. Our offense is really good and effecient we jumped the gun on Joe last year his offense will work if we have the right QB

[Bubb Rubb]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

[Turfdawg67]

Kentucky lost Terry Wilson for the season that game has approached must win territory now. Our D needs to keep improving and deepen the rotation we seem to not enjoy tackling. That needs correcting as we are thumping and not wrapping alot. Our offense is really good and effecient we jumped the gun on Joe last year his offense will work if we have the right QB

"We" jumped the gun? Hardly.

[Scared_Hitless]

"We" jumped the gun? Hardly.

Alot of people proclaimed his offense a failure on here last season. I still think we need better skill players to hit our ceiling but we look much more promising than last season and better coached.

[ShotgunDawg]

"We" jumped the gun? Hardly.

His offense does appear to require the right type of QB & adequate coaching at WR.

The offense is clearly smoother & more efficient than last year.

We'll see if it makes a difference in SEC games

[gravedigger]

"We" jumped the gun? Hardly.

I think his statement means that fans were too quick to say the offense was the problem and not the qb running it.

Now that a true freshman has shown he can run it I think that point is now etched in stone.

[NCDawg]

I still don't like how our offense takes so long in getting the play off. Everybody gets set, then our QB looks over to to the sidelines and changes the play with the QB walking up to the line and telling the OL, and then going back to get the snap from center. I don't recall seeing any other college team taking that long, and I think it throws off the timing of the play.

[Johnson85]

I think his statement means that fans were too quick to say the offense was the problem and not the qb running it.

Now that a true freshman has shown he can run it I think that point is now etched in stone.

Not that I don’t think we’re better, but we didn’t have trouble with G5 teams last year. We won’t know until we play a good defense. Probably auburn will give us a good idea

[Scared_Hitless]

I still don't like how our offense takes so long in getting the play off. Everybody gets set, then our QB looks over to to the sidelines and changes the play with the QB walking up to the line and telling the OL, and then going back to get the snap from center. I don't recall seeing any other college team taking that long, and I think it throws off the timing of the play.

Your not watching with Tommy then we are regularly snapping the ball with 20 seconds on the clock. We slowed down to shorten the game with Garrett which was to be expected. We work tempo when needed this season.

[shoeless joe]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

I laughed

[defiantdog]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

To Shotgun's defense, he does have experience playing football at a higher level than most on this board.

[gravedigger]

Not that I don?t think we?re better, but we didn?t have trouble with G5 teams last year. We won?t know until we play a good defense. Probably auburn will give us a good idea

We didn?t throw the ball well vs the g5 teams or Kansas State. Neither the qb nor the wrs knew what tod do. Now they do. I imagine if Fitz had an extra year he?d have been better, but not this good. The running game works now BECAUSE the passing does.

[ATTILLA THE DOG]

My only concern is lack of big plays,our longest rush is 22 yards,longest pass 31 yards. I love long drives,but we are going to need to have some big plays against the better teams

[biggun]

My biggest concern is the defense, our LB’s look slow as do our safeties. The DL is a work in progress but I am shocked at how E Thompson and L Lewis have looked so far this season. They appear a step slow compared to last season.

[hacker]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

haha I thought the exact same thing

[ShotgunDawg]

My only concern is lack of big plays,our longest rush is 22 yards,longest pass 31 yards. I love long drives,but we are going to need to have some big plays against the better teams

They'll come. If Tommy doesn't get hurt yesterday, I think you would've seen a few in the 2nd half.

The problem is though, since we can throw the ball now & the safeties aren't stacked down in the box, the deepest defender is actually deeper than normal, which makes big plays more difficult

[sbt45]

Good points. Agree especially on Abrams. I thought Brian Cole was going to step into those shoes somewhat. Right now he’s looking overhyped by the MSU media. Erroll Thompson doesn’t look like the same player either.

[the_real_MSU_is_us]

Just got done rewatching the game & now with 2 games, I think we can start to make some semi-accurate statements.

1. Biggest difference on offense between this year & last year is the simple ability of the offense to collectively play pitch & catch. The difference that accurate QBs that throw a catchable ball in conjunction with WRs knowing where they are going on field, has created an ease of playing pitch & catch that I'm not sure we've seen in many many years & include Dak's year in that because I think our WRs are better coached now & JoMo's offense has a better passing scheme than Mullen's. We can catch & throw now. It's amazing.

I agree, but I think you're missing the biggest part of the new passing efficiency: Stevens can make pre snap reads. Half his completions aren't even "good" throws per se, it's just he was pre snap that one guy would be wide open and he tossed it that way for an 8-20 yard gain. Fitz had zero clue what to do last year so we couldn't take advantage of defensive mistakes or weaknesses. I've often said that the best strength of a QB at the college level isn't his arm or legs, it's his ability to see the field. Just finding the most open guy is halfway to a great O even if you can't pinpoint the location, because in college if you send 4 out 1 is likely to have 5 yards of separation. Fitz would lock in on 1 guy and sling it regardless of who was or wasn't open.

So Stevens is a much better passer, but I think it's his intellectual awareness of where the ball should go that's the biggest upgrade over Fitz. That's really the only thing I'd like to add or take away from your post

[gravedigger]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

We will now call it 34ing

[DancingRabbit]

I'm liking what I'm seeing with the O-line, except for the injuries of course. They played really well considering all the subbing. No false starts!

I was getting bent about the low snaps late in the game, but that may have been our our 4th string center that played defense last week. They got Schrader killed one time that was evidently just a communcation brain fart. Pretty clean overall, I think Johnson is doing some good coaching.

[ShotgunDawg]

I agree, but I think you're missing the biggest part of the new passing efficiency: Stevens can make pre snap reads. Half his completions aren't even "good" throws per se, it's just he was pre snap that one guy would be wide open and he tossed it that way for an 8-20 yard gain. Fitz had zero clue what to do last year so we couldn't take advantage of defensive mistakes or weaknesses. I've often said that the best strength of a QB at the college level isn't his arm or legs, it's his ability to see the field. Just finding the most open guy is halfway to a great O even if you can't pinpoint the location, because in college if you send 4 out 1 is likely to have 5 yards of separation. Fitz would lock in on 1 guy and sling it regardless of who was or wasn't open.

So Stevens is a much better passer, but I think it's his intellectual awareness of where the ball should go that's the biggest upgrade over Fitz. That's really the only thing I'd like to add or take away from your post

Outstanding points!

[Coach007]

I'm liking what I'm seeing with the O-line, except for the injuries of course. They played really well considering all the subbing. No false starts!

I was getting bent about the low snaps late in the game, but that may have been our our 4th string center that played defense last week. They got Schrader killed one time that was evidently just a communcation brain fart. Pretty clean overall, I think Johnson is doing some good coaching.

Yeah, we will get healthier as the season goes and deeper due to injuries. In 4 weeks, we wont look the same.


The thing missing right now for me is the "mean" factor. The "we are about to kick some ass".

Hill has it is... our Defense needs it. Our team identity is still not well defined.

[ShotgunDawg]

Yeah, we will get healthier as the season goes and deeper due to injuries. In 4 weeks, we wont look the same.


The thing missing right now for me is the "mean" factor. The "we are about to kick some ass".

Hill has it is... our Defense needs it. Our team identity is still not well defined.

Hard to define it with all the minor injuries & suspensions

[Coach007]

Hard to define it with all the minor injuries & suspensions

It is! I agree.

[Commercecomet24]

Your not watching with Tommy then we are regularly snapping the ball with 20 seconds on the clock. We slowed down to shorten the game with Garrett which was to be expected. We work tempo when needed this season.

This. With tommy in there we aren't letting the clock run down like last year. Much quicker snapping the ball and running the offense

[Commercecomet24]

We will now call it 34ing

Rep given!

[Liverpooldawg]

I still don't like how our offense takes so long in getting the play off. Everybody gets set, then our QB looks over to to the sidelines and changes the play with the QB walking up to the line and telling the OL, and then going back to get the snap from center. I don't recall seeing any other college team taking that long, and I think it throws off the timing of the play.

Yeah, let's run a play right into what the defense is doing as long as we get it off quickly.

[msstate7]

This. With tommy in there we aren't letting the clock run down like last year. Much quicker snapping the ball and running the offense

Last season, we avg'd 64.4 plays a game; we've avg'd 66 a game so far. Not really any discernible difference esp when you consider 8 of last year's games were vs sec teams and this team hasn't played an sec game yet.

[Turfdawg67]

I think his statement means that fans were too quick to say the offense was the problem and not the qb running it.

Now that a true freshman has shown he can run it I think that point is now etched in stone.

Oh, I knew what he meant. I was just saying don't lump us all in the anti-Moorhead category.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

Quick thoughts? Geezus...I would hate to see you full thoughts

[Coach007]

Last season, we avg'd 64.4 plays a game; we've avg'd 66 a game so far. Not really any discernible difference esp when you consider 8 of last year's games were vs sec teams and this team hasn't played an sec game yet.

Yeah, but that can be very misleading.

For example, Our first drive yesterday was 5 plays and 61 yards TD. It took 2 minutes or 120 seconds. 5 Plays at a 40 second play clock is 200 seconds or 3.3 minutes. SO we averaged a snap every 24 seconds. 40-24 for an average of snapping at the 16 seconds left on the clock.

Second, You are going to run less plays when you are scoring faster on larger plays. Our defense is allowing other teams on the field longer right now.

[Turfdawg67]

I agree, but I think you're missing the biggest part of the new passing efficiency: Stevens can make pre snap reads. Half his completions aren't even "good" throws per se, it's just he was pre snap that one guy would be wide open and he tossed it that way for an 8-20 yard gain. Fitz had zero clue what to do last year so we couldn't take advantage of defensive mistakes or weaknesses. I've often said that the best strength of a QB at the college level isn't his arm or legs, it's his ability to see the field. Just finding the most open guy is halfway to a great O even if you can't pinpoint the location, because in college if you send 4 out 1 is likely to have 5 yards of separation. Fitz would lock in on 1 guy and sling it regardless of who was or wasn't open.

So Stevens is a much better passer, but I think it's his intellectual awareness of where the ball should go that's the biggest upgrade over Fitz. That's really the only thing I'd like to add or take away from your post

Great post. It was pretty obvious to see that last year but blaming Joe fit some people's agenda.

[msstate7]

Yeah, but that can be very misleading.

For example, Our first drive yesterday was 5 plays and 61 yards TD. It took 2 minutes or 120 seconds. 5 Plays at a 40 second play clock is 200 seconds or 3.3 minutes. SO we averaged a snap every 24 seconds. 40-24 for an average of snapping at the 16 seconds left on the clock.

Second, You are going to run less plays when you are scoring faster on larger plays. Our defense is allowing other teams on the field longer right now.

Maybe, here's our play count for 1st 3 games last year...

71 plays 618 yds
66 plays 538 yds 8.15 yds/play
71 plays 607 yds 8.55 yds/play

This season so far...
70 plays 497 yds 7.1 yds/play
62 plays 386 yds 6.23 yds/play

Let's just cull last year's game 1 since it was FCS. We've run less plays for less yards at lesser yds/play than he did last season through 2 G5 games

[ShotgunDawg]

Quick thoughts? Geezus...I would hate to see you full thoughts

I let Todd4State take care of those

[Coach007]

Maybe, here's our play count for 1st 3 games last year...

71 plays 618 yds
66 plays 538 yds 8.15 yds/play
71 plays 607 yds 8.55 yds/play

This season so far...
70 plays 497 yds 7.1 yds/play
62 plays 386 yds 6.23 yds/play

Let's just cull last year's game 1 since it was FCS. We've run less plays for less yards at lesser yds/play than he did last season through 2 G5 games

Again, that stat is not very useful. Like it has been stated, we ran uptempo when we wanted to. We won handily.

Another drive, we averaged a snap every 19 seconds.

What would be the point in opening up everything against USM for the world to see? Everybody has no footage of MS St in this offense. It sucked last year. Why not allow the best True Freshman in the SEC grow? In fact, Why do we have to run an up tempo offense?

[Bothrops]

Good points. Agree especially on Abrams. I thought Brian Cole was going to step into those shoes somewhat. Right now he’s looking overhyped by the MSU media. Erroll Thompson doesn’t look like the same player either.

I believe this is mostly due to our diminished defensive line. Our LB's and safeties are having to make contact with people in full sprint now.

[DancingRabbit]

Last season, we avg'd 64.4 plays a game; we've avg'd 66 a game so far. Not really any discernible difference esp when you consider 8 of last year's games were vs sec teams and this team hasn't played an sec game yet.

OK, but what you said has little direct correlation to what Commerce posted. You posted some stat that's marginally relevant like it debunks what Commerce said he saw.

Our bend don't break defense and our offense having some quick strike scores probably has more to do with our plays per game being what it is than whether we're snapping it with 10 seconds left vs 3-4 seconds left.

[starkvegasdawg]

My only concern is lack of big plays,our longest rush is 22 yards,longest pass 31 yards. I love long drives,but we are going to need to have some big plays against the better teams
Should have had one yesterday but Mitchell let the pass fall at his feet. Assuming he just lost it in the sun, but it brought back painful memories of Florida last year. Almost exact same spot on the field.

[Percho]

My thoughts: "twitch," "twitchier," "one piece arm action," "pad level"

Somebody is trying too hard to make people think he knows what he's talking about. I agree with a lot of your comments, but some of it is ridiculous.

I even googled, "one piece arm action".

[Commercecomet24]

I even googled, "one piece arm action".

And what did it say lol

[Percho]

And what did it say lol

Started with some action figures.

[Commercecomet24]

Started with some action figures.

That's awesome! I can't give you enough rep for that one!

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Just a nitpicking correction of multiple posters: it is Johnathan Abram. Not Abrams.

[RocketDawg]

Right now, it's 90, but heat index is 101. I don't know if it will be much better next week or not

Just checked, and it's 94 in at the Golden Triangle airport at 3:00 with a heat index of 104. Humidity is 54%.

Just 180 road miles to the northeast, it's 94 here also, but the humidity is only 27% for a heat index of 92.

Amazing what a difference a few miles can make.