From The Boneyard

[ShotgunDawg]

On travel list:

Stevens - 50/50 to start
Gibson - healthy
Witherspoon - Healthy

- Does not anticipate Tutor 10 to play.

- Thinks we lose a close one, which make you wonder why we wouldn't play Tutor 10, but we've argued that to death.

[parabrave]

OK against a run heavy team we don't have our two best defenders in there? I guess Joe has already chalked this game up as a loss.

[msstate7]

Good decision, joe.

[Todd4State]

I think he would have been more inclined to play Autry had he not played against USM.

And I know it has been beat to death- but that was not a good move by Joe.

I think we need Willie against some of the better passing teams that we play- so in that sense it makes sense to me why we wouldn't use him against Auburn. Tim Washington has been solid this year- better than Leo. Hopefully we go to some more traditional 4-3 looks this game.

[ShotgunDawg]

Good decision, joe.

Let hope we score 35 and win anyway.

[Tbonewannabe]

OK against a run heavy team we don't have our two best defenders in there? I guess Joe has already chalked this game up as a loss.

I am ok with it since we have to play the long game to get to a bowl game. I understand playing them to give us a chance to win but we are at best an 8 win team. We more than likely are just in the bowl pool so 7 or 8 wins won't change our bowl slot. We would have to win 9 to have a chance at Citrus if it was even possible without 10 wins.

[StarkVegasSteve]

If we lose a close one then the decision not to play Willie, Autry, etc. will be more scrutinized than the KSU debacle.

[Tbonewannabe]

I think he would have been more inclined to play Autry had he not played against USM.

And I know it has been beat to death- but that was not a good move by Joe.

I think we need Willie against some of the better passing teams that we play- so in that sense it makes sense to me why we wouldn't use him against Auburn. Tim Washington has been solid this year- better than Leo. Hopefully we go to some more traditional 4-3 looks this game.

You had guys on this message board pounding the table talking about USM's great defense and this would be a close game. With all of the injuries on the Oline and the heat, I could see being cautious because losing that game would have been a lot worse than dropping KSU.

[ShotgunDawg]

If we lose a close one then the decision not to play Willie, Autry, etc. will be more scrutinized than the KSU debacle.

Agree.

Hopefully Joe's gameplan on offense is to go wide ass open. That way we're either getting blown out or winning.

[msu15]

Throw it 40 times

[hp22]

If we lose a close one then the decision not to play Willie, Autry, etc. will be more scrutinized than the KSU debacle.

You're correct.

However, its the players that put the coaches in a crap position in relation to this. The staff should get a pass.

Because the "tutor10 didn't play and we lost a close game" is a situation that could apply in most conference games.

For the record, my vote is to play them. But I understand the difficulty in the decision.

[msstate7]

Let hope we score 35 and win anyway.

Need 28 to have a shot imo

[ShotgunDawg]

Need 28 to have a shot imo

Hopefully. I think 28 is possible.

Oregon left an awful lot points on the field vs Auburn. Auburn was not the better team in that game.

[ShotgunDawg]

You're correct.

However, its the players that put the coaches in a crap position in relation to this. The staff should get a pass.

Because the "tutor10 didn't play and we lost a close game" is a situation that could apply in most conference games.

For the record, my vote is to play them. But I understand the difficulty in the decision.

I think everyone agrees with this.

I'd have more confidence in Joe's judgement here if it weren't for the atrocity of that Autry playing vs USM decision.

[Irondawg]

Even with the 10 I don't think this was going to be a game where we could win 17-10, I agree that we need high 20's to win.

If GS starts, is that too much to ask of a true freshman QB making his first SEC road start against a top tier defense?

[ShotgunDawg]

Even with the 10 I don't think this was going to be a game where we could win 17-10, I agree that we need high 20's to win.

If GS starts, is that too much to ask of a true freshman QB making his first SEC road start against a top tier defense?

Probably, but I think Shrader is a different cat.

That being said, if Shrader starts, Joe is going to have to take more shots down the field than he did last week.

I think Shrader could find himself in the Heisman race in a few years. He's different and the best athlete we've ever had at QB. Maybe Omar Connor is close

[Tbonewannabe]

Even with the 10 I don't think this was going to be a game where we could win 17-10, I agree that we need high 20's to win.

If GS starts, is that too much to ask of a true freshman QB making his first SEC road start against a top tier defense?

Jake Fromm's first start on the road against a good defense was a win @ Notre Dame. 16/29 141 yards 1 TD 1 Int 17.8 QBR.

Unfortunately, we will need him to be better than one of the best true freshmen to play QB in the SEC in a long time. So it is probably asking a lot of Shrader to go into Auburn and throw for 250+ yards and 2-4 TDs. I will say if he managed to have a great game and we won, sorry Stevens - you just got Wally Pipped.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Agree.

Hopefully Joe's gameplan on offense is to go wide ass open. That way we're either getting blown out or winning.

Couldn't agree more. We need to go wide open from start to finish. Auburn's secondary is susceptible, Oregon showed everyone that. We've got to give Shrader, or Tommy, time to let it rip and take some shots down the field.

[Tbonewannabe]

Probably, but I think Shrader is a different cat.

That being said, if Shrader starts, Joe is going to have to take more shots down the field than he did last week.

I think Shrader could find himself in the Heisman race in a few years. He's different and the best athlete we've ever had at QB. Maybe Omar Connor is close

Damn Croom for wasting his career.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Jake Fromm's first start on the road against a good defense was a win @ Notre Dame. 16/29 141 yards 1 TD 1 Int 17.8 QBR.

Unfortunately, we will need him to be better than one of the best true freshmen to play QB in the SEC in a long time. So it is probably asking a lot of Shrader to go into Auburn and throw for 250+ yards and 2-4 TDs. I will say if he managed to have a great game and we won, sorry Stevens - you just got Wally Pipped.

If he goes in there and does that, then there's no turning back. You roll with The Beard.

[ShotgunDawg]

Damn Croom for wasting his career.

No doubt. Brutal

[StarkVegasSteve]

No doubt. Brutal

Connor in Mullen's O would've lit up scoreboards.

[Tbonewannabe]

Connor in Mullen's O would've lit up scoreboards.

Yep, I think Connor could have been the QB before Dak that could have set records. He was more elusive than Dak and was a pretty good passing QB.

[Lord McBuckethead]

If he goes in there and does that, then there's no turning back. You roll with The Beard.

I do not agree. Stevens offense looked very good. I want to see it against a team with a pulse. 17 USM for injuring him.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Connor in Moorhead's offense would have too.

[Todd4State]

Connor in Mullen's O would've lit up scoreboards.


Yep, I think Connor could have been the QB before Dak that could have set records. He was more elusive than Dak and was a pretty good passing QB.

How good would we have been in 2007 had Jackie not burned Connor's redshirt season so that he could take a few snaps at WR on a team that went 2-10 after we were eliminated from bowl eligibility?

Another crazy thought- what would Croom's offense have looked like with Fant? (ducks)

[Todd4State]

I do not agree. Stevens offense looked very good. I want to see it against a team with a pulse. 17 USM for injuring him.

We really haven't seen him healthy for a full game other than ULL which of course was his first time playing with our guys in a real game.

Shrader is really good and may be a special player by the time he leaves. But right now the offense runs better with Stevens.

[TrapGame]

Yep, I think Connor could have been the QB before Dak that could have set records. He was more elusive than Dak and was a pretty good passing QB.

Agreed.

Now can you imagine if we had Omar and Dixon together for a couple of years in Mullen's offense. We win 8 games the first season and probably 10 the second and Mullen probably would have been gone after two years as he originally planned.

[Doggie_Style]

We really haven't seen him healthy for a full game other than ULL which of course was his first time playing with our guys in a real game.

Shrader is really good and may be a special player by the time he leaves. But right now the offense runs better with Stevens.

I think we will need to score something like 31 points to win tomorrow. We can't get there with Shrader. I'm hoping Stevens is ready to go.

[Todd4State]

If we lose a close one then the decision not to play Willie, Autry, etc. will be more scrutinized than the KSU debacle.

What really should be scrutinized is did MSU over-punish itself? And why does that consistently keep happening? Fault to the players for cheating in the first place- all of them. Regardless of whether the punishment is excessive or not they hurt our program.


You had guys on this message board pounding the table talking about USM's great defense and this would be a close game. With all of the injuries on the Oline and the heat, I could see being cautious because losing that game would have been a lot worse than dropping KSU.

I know that this has been said before.

C- Jackson, Sharp. Odds are low that we lose two centers- much less two in two consecutive games. Had that actually happened you roll with Stanic a walk-on.
G- Story, Reese, and Champion...Sharp in a pinch. In a big pinch you use one of the redshirt freshmen for their four.
T- Phillips, Eiland, Cross, and in a pinch you go to Reese if you have to.

I know Wilkerson was banged up but I also believe he was available to play- and he can play several positions on the line.

DT- Lovett, Young
DT- Crumedy, Kendall Jones/Pickering

I'm not a coach- but looking at it logistically I would have had Jackson ready to play both sides if necessary. And I just lined out the worst case scenario- as it turned out Daryl Williams played anyway which should have prompted Joe to move Jackson back to DT.

[Todd4State]

I think we will need to score something like 31 points to win tomorrow. We can't get there with Shrader. I'm hoping Stevens is ready to go.

I don't know if we'll have to score that many because I figure both teams are going to play the TOP game and try to limit touches as much as possible. I'm expecting it to be a fairly low scoring game barring one team turning it over a bunch of times.

Regardless, I agree that Stevens at 100% gives us the best shot to win. And that's one thing the stats/football people aren't taking into account. We've literally been a different team each week this year because of injuries and suspensions. Meaning pretty much all of our stats should have an asterisk by them. We have a lot more variables than a typical team that's actually stable lineup wise.

[Tbonewannabe]

What really should be scrutinized is did MSU over-punish itself? And why does that consistently keep happening? Fault to the players for cheating in the first place- all of them. Regardless of whether the punishment is excessive or not they hurt our program.



I know that this has been said before.

C- Jackson, Sharp. Odds are low that we lose two centers- much less two in two consecutive games. Had that actually happened you roll with Stanic a walk-on.
G- Story, Reese, and Champion...Sharp in a pinch. In a big pinch you use one of the redshirt freshmen for their four.
T- Phillips, Eiland, Cross, and in a pinch you go to Reese if you have to.

I know Wilkerson was banged up but I also believe he was available to play- and he can play several positions on the line.

DT- Lovett, Young
DT- Crumedy, Kendall Jones/Pickering

I'm not a coach- but looking at it logistically I would have had Jackson ready to play both sides if necessary. And I just lined out the worst case scenario- as it turned out Daryl Williams played anyway which should have prompted Joe to move Jackson back to DT.

Bottom line is the fans just don't know all the ins and outs of the decision. We can debate it all we want but there is probably no one on this message board that has all of the facts. It kind of reminds me of the 2013 CWS run. At times people were saying Cohen was a moron for not playing Trey Porter more. Well after the season then we find out that he had an eye issue and was barely able to pick up a pitch. Now it makes sense that Cohen didn't play him more but no fans knew why.

[Todd4State]

Bottom line is the fans just don't know all the ins and outs of the decision. We can debate it all we want but there is probably no one on this message board that has all of the facts. It kind of reminds me of the 2013 CWS run. At times people were saying Cohen was a moron for not playing Trey Porter more. Well after the season then we find out that he had an eye issue and was barely able to pick up a pitch. Now it makes sense that Cohen didn't play him more but no fans knew why.

Well, we know who played and what the "insiders" that represent MSU are reporting. If it was some other injury issue or whatever I imagine MSU would put that out too. Especially since we are putting a tighter leash on the media this year- which is much welcome after Horka's slam piece on Story and Joel T Coleman's "doing his job" reporting Christmann's arrest.

[Tbonewannabe]

Well, we know who played and what the "insiders" that represent MSU are reporting. If it was some other injury issue or whatever I imagine MSU would put that out too. Especially since we are putting a tighter leash on the media this year- which is much welcome after Horka's slam piece on Story and Joel T Coleman's "doing his job" reporting Christmann's arrest.

I am just not going to crucify him for the decision. At the end of the day, he has to make decisions because of stupidity and now is coaching with a deficit. It would have been easier if we just lost 10 scholarships spread out over a couple of years which is basically what UM got without the bowl ban.

[BiscuitEater]

Good decision, joe.

Actually, it may turn out to be an awful decision. Is there any rule that you have to play all or none? Why nor risk a couple of D guys to drastically improve odds of winning?

[RiverCityDawg]

I do not agree. Stevens offense looked very good. I want to see it against a team with a pulse. 17 USM for injuring him.

If Shrader goes in there and throws for 250 and 2-4 TDs and leads us to a win on the road in the SEC against a top 10 team, there is exactly 0.0000% chance Tommy gets the starting job back away from Shrader. ZERO. And I agree that Tommy looked really good before the injury. Zero.

[Todd4State]

I am just not going to crucify him for the decision. At the end of the day, he has to make decisions because of stupidity and now is coaching with a deficit. It would have been easier if we just lost 10 scholarships spread out over a couple of years which is basically what UM got without the bowl ban.

I'm not going to crucify him over it either. No coach has to deal with a situation with these suspensions like this.

The fact that our penalties are even remotely similar to what Ole Miss got tells me how excessive we were in penalizing ourselves.

[Todd4State]

If Shrader goes in there and throws for 250 and 2-4 TDs and leads us to a win on the road in the SEC against a top 10 team, there is exactly 0.0000% chance Tommy gets the starting job back away from Shrader. ZERO. And I agree that Tommy looked really good before the injury. Zero.

Shrader has repeatedly said that when Stevens is healthy Tommy will be the QB.

I think both can be effective.

[MaroonFlounder]

I think Joe is only going to play the tutor 10 in home games. You have a limited travel roster anyway. What is it? 70 out of 85, I think?

[Tbonewannabe]

If Shrader goes in there and throws for 250 and 2-4 TDs and leads us to a win on the road in the SEC against a top 10 team, there is exactly 0.0000% chance Tommy gets the starting job back away from Shrader. ZERO. And I agree that Tommy looked really good before the injury. Zero.

I just threw out the 250 because I think our QB will have to play at a really high level to win this game and not many true freshmen do that. Auburn is ranked #7 and it is a tough SEC environment. I included Fromm in there because he is one of the best freshmen QBs to come through the SEC. He had a 17 QBR in his first road game at #24 Notre Dame. If Shrader does anything better than shitting the bed then he is an upper tier true freshman QB. Manziel was a at least a redshirt freshman when he did what he did. Tebow came off the bench behind Chris Leak. Dak was on the bench behind Tyler. Tua was behind Hurts.

It is asking a lot of Shrader to go into Auburn and win the game. Fromm at least was able to basically hand the ball off to 2 NFL starting running backs his entire freshman year.

[R2Dawg]

I think he would have been more inclined to play Autry had he not played against USM.

And I know it has been beat to death- but that was not a good move by Joe.

I think we need Willie against some of the better passing teams that we play- so in that sense it makes sense to me why we wouldn't use him against Auburn. Tim Washington has been solid this year- better than Leo. Hopefully we go to some more traditional 4-3 looks this game.

Agree on Autry; swap USM for Aub. I think saving Gay is still the right move. He is a big impact but would not want to use him here. Those that think we don't need him vs UT Olemiss need to check again. We could lose either game and also we don't know how injuries will turn out. What if Thompson got hurt for UT or Olemiss? Be nice to have Gay. I hate to see us without either.

[R2Dawg]

On travel list:

Stevens - 50/50 to start
Gibson - healthy
Witherspoon - Healthy

- Does not anticipate Tutor 10 to play.

- Thinks we lose a close one, which make you wonder why we wouldn't play Tutor 10, but we've argued that to death.

Good, we need a healthy Gibson. We don't need to get Hill hurt by pounding him 30 times.

[Todd4State]

Good, we need a healthy Gibson. We don't need to get Hill hurt by pounding him 30 times.

I hope we use Dear some too. Last weekend was perfect.

[R2Dawg]

I hope we use Dear some too. Last weekend was perfect.

I'd really like to redshirt Witherspoon. Hill, Gibson, Dear should be enough baring injuring to spare Lee only 4 games.

[softballfanatic1]

On travel list:

Stevens - 50/50 to start
Gibson - healthy
Witherspoon - Healthy

- Does not anticipate Tutor 10 to play.

- Thinks we lose a close one, which make you wonder why we wouldn't play Tutor 10, but we've argued that to death.


I thought you played to win THE GAME! Too many fans are worried about going to a bowl game. I say play one game at a time. Try andwin the game in front of you and worry later. But that?s just my opinion.

[Tbonewannabe]

I thought you played to win THE GAME! Too many fans are worried about going to a bowl game. I say play one game at a time. Try andwin the game in front of you and worry later. But that?s just my opinion.

It is different with the suspensions. Not many coaches have this shit to deal with and unfortunately we don't have the depth to afford to lose 2 of our better players on defense.

We need to make a bowl game to keep the streak alive and keep building. Unfortunately, we have to pick and choose which games are must wins and we don't have future knowledge of injuries or something else.

[softballfanatic1]

It is different with the suspensions. Not many coaches have this shit to deal with and unfortunately we don't have the depth to afford to lose 2 of our better players on defense.

We need to make a bowl game to keep the streak alive and keep building. Unfortunately, we have to pick and choose which games are must wins and we don't have future knowledge of injuries or something else.

Fair point but I think we can win this game and then have the momentum for the rest of the season. But who knows which JoeMo and team will show up.

I can see the other viewpoint.

[State82]

I thought you played to win THE GAME! Too many fans are worried about going to a bowl game.

Because a bowl game is essential. Any bowl. Not because it is a bowl game but because it is almost like having a second spring practice. And with Joe still trying to get his system solidly in place and implemented that is invaluable.

[softballfanatic1]

Because a bowl game is essential. Any bowl. Not because it is a bowl game but because it is almost like having a second spring practice. And with Joe still trying to get his system solidly in place and implemented that is invaluable.

I can see that in Joe?s offense but from the former collegiate players that I?ve talked to the extra practices are overhyped. Granted they played under Sherrill so not sure that applies. I just like playing to win and think Auburn and A&M are overrated and we should play to win. If we can?t beat UT Arky and OM without tutorgators then we don?t deserve a bowl. JMO