Sunday Morning QB- Turnover Edition (long)

[Coach34]

What a weird game yesterday:

Total Yards- State- 385, SC- 307
Passing- State- 235 yards, SC-147
Rushing- State- 35/150, SC- 34/160

Dakota was 28/43- 65%

The big knock on Mullen has been that we havent been competing with ranked teams. Not only did we compete with SC, but we outplayed them in certain areas. The knock on Dakota has been his passing- but he completed a much higher percentage. So what went wrong?

The Good?

1. We neutralized Clowney. All I've heard for the last 6 months was how Clowney was going to abuse Clausell. Well folks, that didnt happen. Clausell backed up what I've been saying- he is much improved and is playing a pretty good LT.
2. We played JRob more. Not enough, but more. Throwing him the passes in the flat is a good addition- he is tough to tackle for smaller players.
3. We ran the ball well.
4. We controlled their run game for the most part.
5. Improved play in the Secondary
6. We made some good defensive calls
7. Once again, we took the opening drive and went right down and scored. That is a trademark of a well prepared football team.

The Bad?

1. Turnovers- Tough day for Dakota but he didnt get alot of help. One pick was on Morrow's skinny ass for not shielding the CB off and letting him beat him to the spot. You can't let that happen. The CB didnt read Dakota's eyes as Dak started to the other side of the field, and then came back to Morrow. He obviously read the route immediately and jumped it- Morrow has got to use his body and shield the guy off. CB tips it and another player makes pick.
Another pick was from Dakota getting hit as he delivered the ball. Shit happens. And to us too often unfortunately. SC's pass rush is very good.

2. Playcalling- 43 passes to 35 runs. That should never happen with this team. This team should be like 2009 and be 60-63% run. Run the ****ing ball Mullen. I can handle 3 straight runs and us not making a 1st down. But it drives me nuts to see us throw 5 straight passes with Dak at QB and the RB's that we have. That is just not good use of our personnel. Our better personnel has 20 and 30 numbers- not 80 numbers. Lean on the RB's.

3, Cornerback blitz- how many TD's do we have to give up before we stop running that bullshit? It's arguably the worst defensive call in football. You take your guys that cover, run them from a farther distance to get to the QB, and then attempt to run a Safety long distance to cover a WR that is much better than him. Collins is doing a good job overall, but if we run another Corner blitz, it should be grounds for immediate termination.

4. How do you let a team pick up 2nd and 23 on a screen? That changed the game. Should never happen. It was so open they had 3 guys to block McKinney. WTF????? They picked that up and then threw a TD on the next play vs our Corner blitz. Worse 2 defensive plays back to back I've seen in awhile.

5. How do we get beat inside in man coverage so much? I told I Seen It Dawg when SC lined up and I saw the Safety coming over to cover Roland that the post was coming and BOOM- Touchdown on the post. As a DB you have to take the inside away and force the QB to make a longer throw- we didnt do that and paid the price. Now Love getting beat like that in the red zone is different- because the throw is quicker and it's a tough cover for DB's- but you have to be physical down there and Love wasnt. That's what cost him on that TD pass.

Where the game changed?

We were facing one of the better pass defenses in the SEC and they have a good pass rush. Soooooo- why do this?

Dak Prescott rush for 21 yards to the MisSt 46 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at MSST 46 Dak Prescott pass complete to Jameon Lewis for a loss of 3 yards to the MisSt 43.
2nd and 13 at MSST 43 Dak Prescott pass complete to Jameon Lewis for a loss of 2 yards to the MisSt 41.
3rd and 15 at MSST 41 Dak Prescott pass incomplete to Jameon Lewis, broken up by Jadeveon Clowney.

we punt and then stuff them-so what do we come back with:

1st and 10 at MSST 42 Dak Prescott pass incomplete.
2nd and 10 at MSST 42 Dak Prescott pass intercepted by Skai Moore at the SCaro 46, returned for no gain to the SCaro 46.

5 straight passes? Whyyyyyyyy?????? Whyyyyyyy? Just because you CAN pass doesnt mean that we HAVE to pass. We should be running the ball 42-44 times a game- with about 27 passes. We in no way, shape, or form have the WR's to depend on them like we do. We were running it well- we had 7 carries for 52 yards at that point before the 5 straight passes. RUN THE ******* FOOTBALL and alot of our problems would go away.

The 2nd half start was just bad luck. We had good field position to start, ran Dakota on 2nd and short, and he fumbled. Tough break. But the 2nd turnover goes back to the need to run the damn football- it was 2nd and 1- we are throwing the ball aGAIN, and Dakota gets hit as he delivering the pass. RUN THE ******* FOOTBALL and alot of our problems would go away.

I'm not against throwing the football- but you have to play to your team strengths- and our team strengths on offense in no way include our WR's.

Now then, moving forward:

I get tired of people bring Mullen's salary up. He is 11th in the SEC in pay and will be 13th if he is indeed around next season. Using his salary as a talking point is more of a reason to keep him as opposed to strengthening your argument to get rid of him.

Head Coach School Salary
Nick Saban Alabama $5.3 million
Les Miles LSU $3.7 million
Steve Spurrier South Carolina $3.5 million
Bret Bielema Arkansas $3.2 million
Mark Richt Georgia $3.2 million
Kevin Sumlin Texas A&M $3.1 million
James Franklin Vanderbilt $3.0 million*
Will Muschamp Florida $3.0 million
Butch Jones Tennessee $2.9 million
Gary Pinkel Missouri $2.7 million
Dan Mullen Mississippi State $2.6 million
Gus Malzahn Auburn $2.3 million
Mark Stoops Kentucky $2.2 million
Hugh Freeze Ole Miss $2.0 million

Freezus gets 100K bonus per SEC win also to raise his salary. But all coaches get some type of performance bonus.


I'm not for making a change at this point. Why you ask?

I see a team that just went toe-to-toe with the a highly ranked team on the road- turnovers killed us
I see a team that is going to go to College station, play hard, and move the football well vs A&M
I see a team that is going to beat UPig.
I see a team that is going to hold serve and win the Egg Bowl at home.
I see a team that was expected to be a 6-6 to 5-7 team in 2013 because of their youth at WR and in the Secondary ending up that way- but for some reason fans going berserck.
I see a team with 19/22 on the 2 deep returning next season getting better on defense
I see a team with a young QB that is getting better but still takes some lumps
I see a team that returns all its WR's next year

Programs make changes when they are regressing- I dont see us doing that. No normal program continues on a constant upward trajectory. There are ebbs and flows.

Les Miles had a couple of down years in 08 and 09. LSU lost 5 games in 2008- LSU did that with their talent.
UPig is going through a couple of really down years- they are 1-13 in their last 14 SEC games. And they supposedly have outrecruited us.
OM went from Cotton Bowls to shit and are now getting better again
Auburn went from the NC to 0-8 in the SEC
Missouri had a losing record last year and wanted to fire their coach- now they are 8-1
Florida is 4-4 right now- just like us. With Florida talent.
Tennessee is struggling
We are one of only 7 SEC teams that have been to 3 straight bowls. It's obviously a helluva lot harder to do that you guys think it is or it wouldnt just be half the SEC with that kind of streak.

Other than Vandy and Kentucky, Miss State is the hardest job in the SEC. Yet Mullen has been outperforming other programs in his 5 years here. We have the pieces in place for the future and are continuing to get better this season- one in which many thought would be a rebuild for us.

Until we dont make it 6-6, I cant be for change. If we dont make it to 6-6- then I may get on board. But change doesnt guarantee better results. Everybody needs to realize that. Tenn and UPig can attest to that right now. Change hasnt helped Kentucky yet- altho their recruiting looks a little better for the future. But change did help Auburn. It's got to be the right fit. I'm hoping Mullen pulls a Jackie Wayne and saves his job ala 1996.

[DawgsBite34]

All great points and the main one being, PLAYCALLING. Ive been saying this all day yesterday, all day this morning and been told I knew nothing about football for it. Dans playcalling was atrocious yesterday and one of the reasons we threw 3 picks. The fumble was bad luck Dak never fumbles but after that I saw a team and a coach that quit. I did not see relentless effort for 60 minutes. If we don't win 6 its underachieving and Hud is too good of a fit to let him pass by. Dan should be coaching for his job. If we get curb stomped by A&M, and Bama that's just another strike against him. As far as the CB blitz I hate it. Nickoe is not good enough to make that play and it killed us. Our safeties are not good enough to play one on one they should stay in the deep halves all day because that's when Nickoe makes his plays. Market is young and if we had Hughes still it would be a great help. SC made a good call on 2nd and 23 but we shoudlve played it better. If we beat Arky and TSUN dan deserves to stay if not, he deserves to be fired.

[CadaverDawg]

Great write up until you went into why we don't need to make a change. Our program is regressing IMO. But I respect your opinion, and everything above that point was spot on.

It blows my mind how stupid a coach can be to call that many pass plays against a top pass rushing defense, on the road, with a Sophomore QB that we all know runs better than he throws. Everybody blaming the loss on Dak, is missing the Forest for the trees on this one. Did he make some bad decisions? Yes. But Mullen could not have put him in a worse position to succeed by having him throw 43 times. And what's crazy is that he was sacked a few times too, AND scrambled and ran a few times on pass plays....so we really had him pass closer to 50 times. Just horrible game management.

[SignalToNoise]

I have eased up on that coaches after watching how poorly we executed yesterday. I guess it could be argued that it is a reflection of how poorly coached they are but right now I think its a reflection of their youth. Lots of growing up to do. Don't get me wrong-- I still shake my head from time to time and wonder what the hell they are thinking (on the poorly called series, personnel misuse, etc) but it's up to the players to go out and perform.

[DawgsBite34]

Great write up until you went into why we don't need to make a change. Our program is regressing IMO. But I respect your opinion, and everything above that point was spot on.

It blows my mind how stupid a coach can be to call that many pass plays against a top pass rushing defense, on the road, with a Sophomore QB that we all know runs better than he throws. Everybody blaming the loss on Dak, is missing the Forest for the trees on this one. Did he make some bad decisions? Yes. But Mullen could not have put him in a worse position to succeed by having him throw 43 times. And what's crazy is that he was sacked a few times too, AND scrambled and ran a few times on pass plays....so we really had him pass closer to 50 times. Just horrible game management.
Same song different verse for Mullen. Been that way in every game this year. I agree. He cant manage a game AT ALL

[slickdawg]

RTGDF

can't be said enough.

[DawgsBite34]

Excuse my ignorance but what exactly does RTGDF mean ha

[cheewgumm]

and Vandy.

If this is true, we are in trouble long term.



What a weird game yesterday:

Total Yards- State- 385, SC- 307
Passing- State- 235 yards, SC-147
Rushing- State- 35/150, SC- 34/160

Dakota was 28/43- 65%

The big knock on Mullen has been that we havent been competing with ranked teams. Not only did we compete with SC, but we outplayed them in certain areas. The knock on Dakota has been his passing- but he completed a much higher percentage. So what went wrong?

The Good?

1. We neutralized Clowney. All I've heard for the last 6 months was how Clowney was going to abuse Clausell. Well folks, that didnt happen. Clausell backed up what I've been saying- he is much improved and is playing a pretty good LT.
2. We played JRob more. Not enough, but more. Throwing him the passes in the flat is a good addition- he is tough to tackle for smaller players.
3. We ran the ball well.
4. We controlled their run game for the most part.
5. Improved play in the Secondary
6. We made some good defensive calls
7. Once again, we took the opening drive and went right down and scored. That is a trademark of a well prepared football team.

The Bad?

1. Turnovers- Tough day for Dakota but he didnt get alot of help. One pick was on Morrow's skinny ass for not shielding the CB off and letting him beat him to the spot. You can't let that happen. The CB didnt read Dakota's eyes as Dak started to the other side of the field, and then came back to Morrow. He obviously read the route immediately and jumped it- Morrow has got to use his body and shield the guy off. CB tips it and another player makes pick.
Another pick was from Dakota getting hit as he delivered the ball. Shit happens. And to us too often unfortunately. SC's pass rush is very good.

2. Playcalling- 43 passes to 35 runs. That should never happen with this team. This team should be like 2009 and be 60-63% run. Run the ****ing ball Mullen. I can handle 3 straight runs and us not making a 1st down. But it drives me nuts to see us throw 5 straight passes with Dak at QB and the RB's that we have. That is just not good use of our personnel. Our better personnel has 20 and 30 numbers- not 80 numbers. Lean on the RB's.

3, Cornerback blitz- how many TD's do we have to give up before we stop running that bullshit? It's arguably the worst defensive call in football. You take your guys that cover, run them from a farther distance to get to the QB, and then attempt to run a Safety long distance to cover a WR that is much better than him. Collins is doing a good job overall, but if we run another Corner blitz, it should be grounds for immediate termination.

4. How do you let a team pick up 2nd and 23 on a screen? That changed the game. Should never happen. It was so open they had 3 guys to block McKinney. WTF????? They picked that up and then threw a TD on the next play vs our Corner blitz. Worse 2 defensive plays back to back I've seen in awhile.

5. How do we get beat inside in man coverage so much? I told I Seen It Dawg when SC lined up and I saw the Safety coming over to cover Roland that the post was coming and BOOM- Touchdown on the post. As a DB you have to take the inside away and force the QB to make a longer throw- we didnt do that and paid the price. Now Love getting beat like that in the red zone is different- because the throw is quicker and it's a tough cover for DB's- but you have to be physical down there and Love wasnt. That's what cost him on that TD pass.

Where the game changed?

We were facing one of the better pass defenses in the SEC and they have a good pass rush. Soooooo- why do this?

Dak Prescott rush for 21 yards to the MisSt 46 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at MSST 46 Dak Prescott pass complete to Jameon Lewis for a loss of 3 yards to the MisSt 43.
2nd and 13 at MSST 43 Dak Prescott pass complete to Jameon Lewis for a loss of 2 yards to the MisSt 41.
3rd and 15 at MSST 41 Dak Prescott pass incomplete to Jameon Lewis, broken up by Jadeveon Clowney.

we punt and then stuff them-so what do we come back with:

1st and 10 at MSST 42 Dak Prescott pass incomplete.
2nd and 10 at MSST 42 Dak Prescott pass intercepted by Skai Moore at the SCaro 46, returned for no gain to the SCaro 46.

5 straight passes? Whyyyyyyyy?????? Whyyyyyyy? Just because you CAN pass doesnt mean that we HAVE to pass. We should be running the ball 42-44 times a game- with about 27 passes. We in no way, shape, or form have the WR's to depend on them like we do. We were running it well- we had 7 carries for 52 yards at that point before the 5 straight passes. RUN THE ******* FOOTBALL and alot of our problems would go away.

The 2nd half start was just bad luck. We had good field position to start, ran Dakota on 2nd and short, and he fumbled. Tough break. But the 2nd turnover goes back to the need to run the damn football- it was 2nd and 1- we are throwing the ball aGAIN, and Dakota gets hit as he delivering the pass. RUN THE ******* FOOTBALL and alot of our problems would go away.

I'm not against throwing the football- but you have to play to your team strengths- and our team strengths on offense in no way include our WR's.

Now then, moving forward:

I get tired of people bring Mullen's salary up. He is 11th in the SEC in pay and will be 13th if he is indeed around next season. Using his salary as a talking point is more of a reason to keep him as opposed to strengthening your argument to get rid of him.

Head Coach School Salary
Nick Saban Alabama $5.3 million
Les Miles LSU $3.7 million
Steve Spurrier South Carolina $3.5 million
Bret Bielema Arkansas $3.2 million
Mark Richt Georgia $3.2 million
Kevin Sumlin Texas A&M $3.1 million
James Franklin Vanderbilt $3.0 million*
Will Muschamp Florida $3.0 million
Butch Jones Tennessee $2.9 million
Gary Pinkel Missouri $2.7 million
Dan Mullen Mississippi State $2.6 million
Gus Malzahn Auburn $2.3 million
Mark Stoops Kentucky $2.2 million
Hugh Freeze Ole Miss $2.0 million

Freezus gets 100K bonus per SEC win also to raise his salary. But all coaches get some type of performance bonus.


I'm not for making a change at this point. Why you ask?

I see a team that just went toe-to-toe with the a highly ranked team on the road- turnovers killed us
I see a team that is going to go to College station, play hard, and move the football well vs A&M
I see a team that is going to beat UPig.
I see a team that is going to hold serve and win the Egg Bowl at home.
I see a team that was expected to be a 6-6 to 5-7 team in 2013 because of their youth at WR and in the Secondary ending up that way- but for some reason fans going berserck.
I see a team with 19/22 on the 2 deep returning next season getting better on defense
I see a team with a young QB that is getting better but still takes some lumps
I see a team that returns all its WR's next year

Programs make changes when they are regressing- I dont see us doing that. No normal program continues on a constant upward trajectory. There are ebbs and flows.

Les Miles had a couple of down years in 08 and 09. LSU lost 5 games in 2008- LSU did that with their talent.
UPig is going through a couple of really down years- they are 1-13 in their last 14 SEC games. And they supposedly have outrecruited us.
OM went from Cotton Bowls to shit and are now getting better again
Auburn went from the NC to 0-8 in the SEC
Missouri had a losing record last year and wanted to fire their coach- now they are 8-1
Florida is 4-4 right now- just like us. With Florida talent.
Tennessee is struggling
We are one of only 7 SEC teams that have been to 3 straight bowls. It's obviously a helluva lot harder to do that you guys think it is or it wouldnt just be half the SEC with that kind of streak.

Other than Vandy and Kentucky, Miss State is the hardest job in the SEC. Yet Mullen has been outperforming other programs in his 5 years here. We have the pieces in place for the future and are continuing to get better this season- one in which many thought would be a rebuild for us.

Until we dont make it 6-6, I cant be for change. If we dont make it to 6-6- then I may get on board. But change doesnt guarantee better results. Everybody needs to realize that. Tenn and UPig can attest to that right now. Change hasnt helped Kentucky yet- altho their recruiting looks a little better for the future. But change did help Auburn. It's got to be the right fit. I'm hoping Mullen pulls a Jackie Wayne and saves his job ala 1996.

[Will James]

Excuse my ignorance but what exactly does RTGDF mean ha

Run the god damn football

[Coach34]

Great write up until you went into why we don't need to make a change. Our program is regressing IMO. But I respect your opinion, and everything above that point was spot on.

regressing?

Are we a better football team than last season? I think it's easily yes. With last year's schedule- this team would probably go 9-3
Are we a better football team than the one that played Ok State and Auburn? I think it's easily yes

We only have 3 Sr starters on each side of the ball- and we have lost 2 starters to season ending injuries- Hughes and Malone- that would have made us even better.

[DawgsBite34]

oh ha thanks for that. i agree the playcalling was atrocious it killed us again, Dan blew it again...same thing just a different week.....can we hire Hudspeth now

[Coach34]

Well, thats just where we disagree- we havent played 4 SWAC teams.

When you play 4-5 Top 15 teams a season- no need to add to that in the OOC. Now, if you want to add Kansas or Temple- I'm good with that.

Oh, and those terrible Ok State and Auburn teams still have only 1 loss this season

[CadaverDawg]

regressing?

Are we a better football team than last season? I think it's easily yes. With last year's schedule- this team would probably go 9-3
Are we a better football team than the one that played Ok State and Auburn? I think it's easily yes

We only have 3 Sr starters on each side of the ball- and we have lost 2 starters to season ending injuries- Hughes and Malone- that would have made us even better.

No. I don't think we are better than last year. It is definitely not EASILY seen that's for sure. Maybe in your Rosey mind these days you see it that way. We may have more talent on the field, but it is being poorly coached. And coaching is part of the team.

[cheewgumm]

To clarify...I dont care if you play 4 terrible teams. I care if you play 4 terrible teams then expect your coach to only win 6 to keep his job. so, we have to keep a coach who only has to beat Kentucky and a terrible Arkansas or Vanderbilt to keep his job.




Well, thats just where we disagree- we havent played 4 SWAC teams.

When you play 4-5 Top 15 teams a season- no need to add to that in the OOC. Now, if you want to add Kansas or Temple- I'm good with that.

Oh, and those terrible Ok State and Auburn teams still have only 1 loss this season

[Op4isabitch]

Coach, good write up for the most part but the part about not being ready to make a coaching change just blows my mind.
This is Stansbury 2.0 but without the recruiting.

[DawgsBite34]

To clarify...I dont care if you play 4 terrible teams. I care if you play 4 terrible teams then expect your coach to only win 6 to keep his job. so, we have to keep a coach who only has to beat Kentucky and a terrible Arkansas or Vanderbilt to keep his job.

This team, this school, the fanbase deserve better than that.

[Coach34]

To clarify...I dont care if you play 4 terrible teams. I care if you play 4 terrible teams then expect your coach to only win 6 to keep his job. so, we have to keep a coach who only has to beat Kentucky and a terrible Arkansas or Vanderbilt to keep his job.

He's only gone 2-6 in the SEC once- and has won 4 SEC games twice out of 4 seasons

[cheewgumm]

Ok,, so are you saying that you hold him to a higher standard than that too? Or that you hold him to 4 OOC wins and Kentucky and Vandy?

I'm not trying to argue, really. I'm just saying we should not call a coach a success and feel obligatged to keep him if he can beat 4 teams we vastly out talent(OOC gmes) , Kentucky and one other down SEC team or Vandy.

QUOTE=Coach34;79003]He's only gone 2-6 in the SEC once- and has won 4 SEC games twice out of 4 seasons[/QUOTE]

[tcdog70]

Great write up until you went into why we don't need to make a change. Our program is regressing IMO. But I respect your opinion, and everything above that point was spot on.

It blows my mind how stupid a coach can be to call that many pass plays against a top pass rushing defense, on the road, with a Sophomore QB that we all know runs better than he throws. Everybody blaming the loss on Dak, is missing the Forest for the trees on this one. Did he make some bad decisions? Yes. But Mullen could not have put him in a worse position to succeed by having him throw 43 times. And what's crazy is that he was sacked a few times too, AND scrambled and ran a few times on pass plays....so we really had him pass closer to 50 times. Just horrible game management.


Amen. Why not try fullback with Shump and Dak running the shit out of it. What can it hurt. I have not seen 32 get less than 3 yards-- run His Ass. I am sick of cute football, as the song says " Let's get physical"

[CadaverDawg]

Amen. Why not try fullback with Shump and Dak running the shit out of it. What can it hurt. I have not seen 32 get less than 3 yards-- run His Ass. I am sick of cute football, as the song says " Let's get physical"

tc gets it

[DawgsBite34]

Amen. Why not try fullback with Shump and Dak running the shit out of it. What can it hurt. I have not seen 32 get less than 3 yards-- run His Ass. I am sick of cute football, as the song says " Let's get physical"
If we did do that, we'd dominate A&M's defense next week and our D is good enough for us to win. If we did that we'd dominate Arky and Beat TSUN cause that's exactly what they cant handle is a running QB and some RB's that would wear them down. But nope Dan wont do it, it makes too much sense

[Coach34]

Amen. Why not try fullback with Shump and Dak running the shit out of it. What can it hurt. I have not seen 32 get less than 3 yards-- run His Ass. I am sick of cute football, as the song says " Let's get physical"

We need to run 34 alot more than 32

[CadaverDawg]

We need to run 34 alot more than 32

No doubt. Hopefully Mullen saw that yesterday. JRob looked great

[missouridawg]

So we bring back 19/22 on defense...

What about on offense? I know lose Gabe, Tyler, and LDP. Is that it?

[HunterDawg]

oh ha thanks for that. i agree the playcalling was atrocious it killed us again, Dan blew it again...same thing just a different week.....can we hire Hudspeth now

How do we know that Hudspeth would do any better? There is a lot of difference in the competition he is playing now and what he would be playing with us.

The backup quarterback is always the most popular guy on a team that is in a rough streak. Changing coaches will set a program back at least a year or two. I am not happy with Dan right now, but I am not so sure we wouldn't regret a quick trigger. It takes time to build a program at this level and we can't keep tearing it down and starting over every time we don't make a bowl.

[civildawg]

He couldn't be any worse

[slickdawg]

Nick Griffin is by far the best blocker of the bunch. Given that he's had two ACL's and doesn't have elite speed, he'd be a solid fullback. Put Jrob behind him and go RTGDF

[slickdawg]

So we bring back 19/22 on defense...

What about on offense? I know lose Gabe, Tyler, and LDP. Is that it?

Siddoway.

[Coach34]

He couldn't be any worse

oh yes, oh yes he can

No Miss State fan should ever take going to bowl games for granted, as well as beating OOC's on a consistent basis like we do now

[Coach34]

So we bring back 19/22 on defense...

What about on offense? I know lose Gabe, Tyler, and LDP. Is that it?

We lose 3 starters on offense and Russell. The offense and defense should be good next year

[Will James]

oh yes, oh yes he can

No Miss State fan should ever take going to bowl games for granted, as well as beating OOC's on a consistent basis like we do now

I think our floor has been raised passed this type of thinking.

[MrKotter]

regressing?

Are we a better football team than last season? I think it's easily yes. With last year's schedule- this team would probably go 9-3
Are we a better football team than the one that played Ok State and Auburn? I think it's easily yes

We only have 3 Sr starters on each side of the ball- and we have lost 2 starters to season ending injuries- Hughes and Malone- that would have made us even better.
Nope, not a better team than last year. Very easily seen. We weren't complaining of second half sucktitude last year. Open your eyes. Things are getting worse

[MrKotter]

I think our floor has been raised passed this type of thinking.

Obviously not for all.

[BulldogBear]

Amen. Why not try fullback with Shump and Dak running the shit out of it. What can it hurt. I have not seen 32 get less than 3 yards-- run His Ass. I am sick of cute football, as the song says " Let's get physical"

This^

[CadaverDawg]

How do we know that Hudspeth would do any better? There is a lot of difference in the competition he is playing now and what he would be playing with us.

The backup quarterback is always the most popular guy on a team that is in a rough streak. Changing coaches will set a program back at least a year or two. I am not happy with Dan right now, but I am not so sure we wouldn't regret a quick trigger. It takes time to build a program at this level and we can't keep tearing it down and starting over every time we don't make a bowl.

Is this a joke? Did Ole miss changing coaches set them back a year or two? What about Auburn? Give me a break. Take of your blinders man. It will not take a whole lot for Hudspeth to match Mullen at worst. Add the new coach excitement and a better recruiter in Hud to an already talented team with a raised floor, and the ceiling gets tremendously higher.

[slickdawg]

Is this a joke? Did Ole miss changing coaches set them back a year or two? What about Auburn? Give me a break. Take of your blinders man. It will not take a whole lot for Hudspeth to match Mullen at worst. Add the new coach excitement and a better recruiter in Hud to an already talented team with a raised floor, and the ceiling gets tremendously higher.

What about Bielema and Stoops?

[SignalToNoise]

Is this a joke? Did Ole miss changing coaches set them back a year or two? What about Auburn? Give me a break. Take of your blinders man. It will not take a whole lot for Hudspeth to match Mullen at worst. Add the new coach excitement and a better recruiter in Hud to an already talented team with a raised floor, and the ceiling gets tremendously higher.

I see your point but I don't think we are as bad as 2012 AU and not even in the same neighborhood as 2011 Mississippi.

[Coach34]

Nope, not a better team than last year. Very easily seen. We weren't complaining of second half sucktitude last year.

Oh yeah- because anytime we played someone with a pulse last year- we were out of it by the end of the 1st Quarter

How many good teams did we outgain last year like we did yesterday? None

[Coach34]

I think our floor has been raised passed this type of thinking.


Until we go back to losing to those types of teams- we thought Jackie had elevated us past those teams also

[CadaverDawg]

What about Bielema and Stoops?

I'm not saying every new coach equals improved teams....but comparing our situation to the shit hole Arkansas and UK were last year is not even close. We are in a situation where we can stick to the old "MSU can't fire a coach a year removed from a bowl game" mantra, and wait for is thing to fall to Arkansas level last year.....or we can quit doing the shit that has failed us in the past, and replace the coach while ere is a full cupboard. That will improve chances of growth instead of having to rebuild after 2-3 more years of Mullen.

Look, I'm fully aware that Hudspeth could come in here and lose. There are no guarantees. But to sit around and watch this thing spiral down hill is not going to lead to more victories either. And by the way, Stoops almost beat our veteran savior with a 1 win team last week, and I wouldn't speak too soon on Bielema...they very well may beat us with a shitty team in a few weeks. The fact that you are saying those guys aren't having good success early, while also seeing that one of them almost beat Mullen, and the other one might...is concerning enough to me.

[CadaverDawg]

I see your point but I don't think we are as bad as 2012 AU and not even in the same neighborhood as 2011 Mississippi.

I agree, which means we can either try to progress with a new coach now, while we have talent...or wait to get to Auburn 2012/Ole miss 2011 level in a year or two and then have a total rebuild on our hands.

[SheltonChoked]

The one thing that has bithered me about play calling for years is our lack of passing downfield. With single coverage that is Dak's running ability caused, we should be able to play action and throw deep. But it does not happen. Is it always covered? It seems that is a big missing piece of our offense.

[slickdawg]

Would firing Mullen right now fix anything? 90% of the time a lame duck coach or interim coach loses out.

Let the season play out, and asses where we are November 30th. Then you make a decision on which way to go. All I can say for certain is that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The players have worked their asses off all year and deserve our unwavering support.

[CadaverDawg]

Would firing Mullen right now fix anything? 90% of the time a lame duck coach or interim coach loses out.

Let the season play out, and asses where we are November 30th. Then you make a decision on which way to go. All I can say for certain is that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The players have worked their asses off all year and deserve our unwavering support.

I completely support the players. I will support these coaches until the season is over. I do not want a coaching change right now. I would want it to happen at season's end. He still has a chance to change my mind, I'm just smart enough to see that it won't happen. He would have to beat A&M, Ark, and OM to make me want him to stay....and let's face it, that ain't happening. We'll be lucky to win one more game. Doesn't mean I won't be pulling for our team and coaches every single play along the way though.

[ShotgunDawg]

No. I don't think we are better than last year. It is definitely not EASILY seen that's for sure. Maybe in your Rosey mind these days you see it that way. We may have more talent on the field, but it is being poorly coached. And coaching is part of the team.

This year's team is far more talented and has a higher ceiling that last year's team, but last year's team, prior to the Egg Bowl, didn't beat itself.

So, I agree, last year's team out executed this year's team, but this year's team would whip last year's if it ever played well.

[cheewgumm]

andx we shouldn't think we are making progress because we can beat UT Martin and Alcorn consistently.


oh yes, oh yes he can

No Miss State fan should ever take going to bowl games for granted, as well as beating OOC's on a consistent basis like we do now

[Coach34]

andx we shouldn't think we are making progress because we can beat UT Martin and Alcorn consistently.

No, I think we are making progress because we went on the road vs a top 15 team and outplayed them in some areas

[cheewgumm]

Ok, so if we lose to everyone except Arkansas, then we bring Mullen back, and next year he wins 6, do we bring him back the following year? and if he wins 6 that year, do we bring him back? We'd still be going to bowls, so Am I to understand we'd jsut keep bringing him back year after year, 6 wins at a time?

Basically is there ever a time when we win 6 that it's not good enough?


No, I think we are making progress because we went on the road vs a top 15 team and outplayed them in some areas

[Coach34]

Basically is there ever a time when we win 6 that it's not good enough?

Absolutely- but we arent there yet. Hell, we won 8 last year

[Percho]

No 4 in the OP was the biggest play of the day for them. Never should have happened. If I am playing safety and that corner blitz is called I'm going to start cheating to that side. I believe that is on the safety. He either underestimates the ability of the other player or over est. his own.

[FlabLoser]

I've have my fill of improvement, potential, and other bullshit for 5 years. Win some damn games against decent teams.

[Nicky Santoro]

I get what you are saying coach - but at the end of the 3rd quarter we had 242 yards and were down 34-10 (at least 3 scores). USC was content to keep us in front of them and let us dink and dunk our way down the field. We did - all the while chewing almost 6 minutes of clock on the first drive. When we missed the 2 point conversion - it was effectively over. There was no way we were going to score 3 more times in 9 minutes. That's why some of us are upset - there was no sense of urgency out there. It's that or we don't have the ability to score quickly. I think USC believed the latter and allowed us to put up 140+ yards in the 4th by playing extremely safe defensively. They didn't care what the stats looked like. They got the win and no one got hurt. The only way we would beat them was if they got too aggressive and had a bust allowing a quick score/s.

[geotop]

Great thread.... There is a lot to build on and we're not far from having it all put together.

Personally, I think we are very weak in the secondary.

[thf24]

No 4 in the OP was the biggest play of the day for them. Never should have happened. If I am playing safety and that corner blitz is called I'm going to start cheating to that side. I believe that is on the safety. He either underestimates the ability of the other player or over est. his own.

Correct, that play was on Whitley. He took a horrendous angle, probably trying to make a play on the ball when he had absolutely no chance. The corner blitz call was no less boneheaded than any other time we run it, but that play would only have been a 15-20 yard gain instead of a touchdown if not for Whitley's horrible decision-making.

[War Machine Dawg]

So we bring back 19/22 on defense...

What about on offense? I know lose Gabe, Tyler, and LDP. Is that it?

Siddoway is a SR, too. But with his bad back, I don't know how he's still playing, much less being serviceable.

[DawgsBite34]

All this talk about this years team beating last years is insane, I know it doesn't matter now but we were a defensive coordinator away from being at least 9-3. The offense wasn't just awful last yr, bama made us look bad but they do everybody that way. Russell looked bad down the stretch but he also set records, if we would've had Collins last year as head DC we would've beaten LSU in Baton Rouge and been 9-3. Doesn't matter now but its my opinion that if we had Banks and Slay with a DC that would do more besides 7 yds of cushion in a cover 3 every play Mullen would be Coach OF THE YEAR. But he's not hes dud of the year because his playcalling sucks ass like his game management

[Barking 13]

Nick Griffin is by far the best blocker of the bunch. Given that he's had two ACL's and doesn't have elite speed, he'd be a solid fullback. Put Jrob behind him and go RTGDF

in the "diamond"

[Barking 13]

My take on this whole season so far, is that the team just seems unprepared, and no discipline. Too many bonehead mistakes by the players and the coaches. There will be moments of sucess, followed by idiocy, coupled with the unbelievable bad luck we always have.. I've had buddies (not MSU fans) tell me they watch the games to see what kind of weird shit will happen next, that you don't see anywhere else in college football.. like watching a blooper reel...

We have the talent to play with anybody..

[HancockCountyDog]

Absolutely- but we arent there yet. Hell, we won 8 last year

I agree with you about a lot of things, but those 8 wins were Stans soft. Im talking ridiculously soft. Not counting Jackson State, because who cares what they do, the combined records of the teams we beat last year was 29-56; With 8 of those wins being from MTSU.

29-56. Dan and Tyler Russell got the benefit of Arkansas and AU imploding as bad as any teams I have witnessed. Im glad we won 8 games, but lets not talk about how this was some sort of accomplishment. Its like a WR scoring a TD because the CB fell down, sure its still a TD, but lets not act like we did something special. We took the short bus to 8 wins last year.

[rtdawg]

I agree with most of what you said Coach....this is why I am pretty frustrated with Mullen right now. That sequence you listed of 5 passes in a row is ridiculous. Just ridiculous. I love our players. I do believe that they are giving max effort and playing hard. I do not believe that they are being put in the best position to win games b/c of our coaching and play calling and that is a shame. Why in the world does #34 not run the ball more for us? He could be really good with #15 in the backfield. Why in the world does #1 continue to play safety for us? Why did it take Mullen to game #8 to not run Bell out for field goals any longer? It is almost like Mullen sees running plays that are really working for us early in ball games and then purposely decides not to run those plays any longer and goes away from that.

Just so frustrating seeing us do the same things over and over that don't work instead of being creative and trying to make any in-game adjustments to give our players the best chance to win games...

[HancockCountyDog]

Ok, so if we lose to everyone except Arkansas, then we bring Mullen back, and next year he wins 6, do we bring him back the following year? and if he wins 6 that year, do we bring him back? We'd still be going to bowls, so Am I to understand we'd jsut keep bringing him back year after year, 6 wins at a time?

Basically is there ever a time when we win 6 that it's not good enough?

I think so much depends on how we are doing against the elite programs.

So far this season we have played two traditional powers in the SEC: LSU and SC and one good OOC opponent. (AU maybe, but still) We have lost by a combined 69 points in three games. Though we played SC a lot tougher than the score indicates - a 18 point loss, is an 18 point loss.

Now we have A&M and Bama on the schedule and we need to at least start looking competitive on the scoreboard.

If we go 6-6 next year and are playing the big boys close - I will be happy, the days of saying we played them close despite what the score says is just getting old.