Last Night was a Microcosm of Mullen's Tenure...

[engie]

Alot of great things -- with a few acchiles heels that hold us back. First, I thought we played well in alot of ways -- and especially in heart and effort when we could have mailed it in. I'm VERY thankful that we've "found" this. I don't know where it went for awhile -- and it doesn't matter. I'm just glad it's back.

What are we left with? Missed opportunities -- and the excuse of being young. It feels exactly like 2010 and 2011 in alot of ways with the "we're close -- and next year we bring back x,y,z while they lose all this talent". I feel like I already know how the rest of the story goes...

The bottom line is -- We will NEVER be given a better chance to knock off a #1 team. NEVER. They tried hard to give us that game. 4 turnovers -- 3 in their own territory. And we capitalized with 7 points while holding them to a total of 20. I'm left kinda torn -- I'm glad we stayed in the game -- but I've got a sick feeling about how we missed that opportunity. Who knows how long we will wait for them to gift wrap another one for us like that?

What if we punch it in early -- instead of faltering to miss the field goal?
What if Jamerson catches the gimme pick 6?
What if we don't give up the TD just before the half as usual?
What if Tyler doesn't force the ball into triple coverage in the endzone for the int?
What if we catch the 4 dropped passes that Williams threw that should have been catches -- including the gimme TD to De'Runnya?
What if Z Jackson doesn't miss the tackle on their first TD? Can we then possibly hold them to a field goal there?
What if Dak was healthy?

DL played very well. Autry was a non-factor, and he's all we lose there. AJ Jefferson with the huge forced fumble.
OL REALLY impressed me for the second straight game. Will be interesting to see how this unit performs against two more blitz-happy teams coming up, especially Ark. Both tackles have improved 10-fold. And the young guards are stepping it up.
LBs played great where we lose no one that played in this game. Beniquez Brown showed up and showed out. Was VERY impressed with him.
Corners are getting REALLY close to being excellent. We were RIGHT THERE on the second TD pass with a hand in there. With experience, we will knock that ball out more times than not.
Whitley played well. Best game for him in 2 years. Still don't think we miss the current version of him with the flashes we've seen from Arrington.
WTF was the deal with Perkins falling down? It was almost like he was overreacting to expected hits. I can understand falling down once or twice -- but 5 or 6 times? Ridiculous...

What does it mean going forward? In my opinion, nothing has really changed. I'm seeing our team grow and mature -- and I'm not really seeing that from Mullen yet. If/when he shows me that, I'll reevaluate my stance on things. I was very happy to see the one surprise commitment as well...

[I seen it dawg]

Our defense should be sick next yr. O=line should be good. Rest of the offense and special teams has to get infinitely better.

[smootness]

Robinson fell down, too; just something weird going on with the footing.

And I agree that it's certainly disappointing, but I'm left with more positives than negatives. The defense and OL played as well as they have in 5 years. If they can give us that going forward, we will be a very, very formidable team.

Both lines have a chance to be excellent next year.

[Op4isabitch]

I think with Perk, the problem with his footing is all of the tape on his ankles......they wrap his whole foot and ankle really thick. The thickness of the tape is effectively reducing the length of his cleats. Maybe longer cleats are in order if he is going to continue with the extra heavy wrapping.

[CadaverDawg]

Yea, just like always I'm left scratching my head. Some positives, some negatives, some of the same old shit. I just hope we win these next two. I still feel like we are having to overcome bad personnel moves and bad play calls a lot, but our defense is stout and our talent is greatly improved all over the field. I want Mullen to succeed, and I want him to have a chance next year with his best all around team. But I don't think he is entitled to it, especially if we blow it in these last two games. Just confusing, and even more reason for us to just see what happens in these next two.

[RougeDawg]

Yea, just like always I'm left scratching my head. Some positives, some negatives, some of the same old shit. I just hope we win these next two. I still feel like we are having to overcome bad personnel moves and bad play calls a lot, but our defense is stout and our talent is greatly improved all over the field. I want Mullen to succeed, and I want him to have a chance next year with his best all around team. But I don't think he is entitled to it, especially if we blow it in these last two games. Just confusing, and even more reason for us to just see what happens in these next two.

The team that played last night should have beaten auburn and won at least two out of the 4 games against OK St, LSU, A&M and USCe. There no excuse for us not having 2-3 more W's right now. The talent is there between the white lines, we just don't have the talent between the headsets. We continue to do less with more abs something has to change. No ways around it.

[Negative Waves]

We were 2 plays away from winning last night. The insane 3rd and 1 play at their goal line, and Yeldon's big run that set up the TD right before the half. That was a 14 point swing in the game. If Dan would quit over thinking the play calling down in the red zone, we would score a lot more points. Not having a reliable FG kicker is also inexcusable on his part.

[HoopsDawg]

How hard can it be to have a jumbo package on the goaline where we bring in an extra o-linemen, put Russell under center, bring in Shumpert at FB, and run 2 power plays with J-Rob dotting the I?

It's so frustrating to see Tyler in shotgun on 2nd and goal from the 2.

B. Brown had an excellent game last night. I'm not sure why B. Brown and Wells ever leave the field for their backups. That probably cost us a TD last night.

Overall, I enjoyed the game last night which is more than I can say for most of our games this year.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

The talent is there between the white lives, we just don't have the talent between the headsets. We continue to do less with more abs something has to change. No wats around it.

This

[DownwardDawg]

One thing I disagree with, I'm tired of everyone saying they tried to give us the game. Come on people!!! Stop that mentality. I saw our players knocking the snot out of their players. I saw AJ sacked, pressured, chased. I saw passes batted down. I saw our players knock a receiver almost unconscious as he took the ****ing football like it was his. I saw us almost grab a pick six. I saw us put a helmet on the football that caused a fumble.
All these things make opponents make mistakes. These are all things that force turnovers. Bama didn't try to give us shit. We tried to take it!!!!

[DawgsBite34]

One thing I disagree with, I'm tired of everyone saying they tried to give us the game. Come on people!!! Stop that mentality. I saw our players knocking the snot out of their players. I saw AJ sacked, pressured, chased. I saw passes batted down. I saw our players knock a receiver almost unconscious as he took the ****ing football like it was his. I saw us almost grab a pick six. I saw us put a helmet on the football that caused a fumble.
All these things make opponents make mistakes. These are all things that force turnovers. Bama didn't try to give us shit. We tried to take it!!!!

Yeah I totally agree dude we gave them hell last night im never proud of a loss but it felt like 2010 again to me. That team fought like hell for 60 minutes without their best player on offense and leader. Mullen did a good job last night I still believe if we don't make a bowl we should make a change but the last two games this team has shown some heart and I think its enough to smoke Arky and beat TSUN at home with Dak at the helm. The playcalls with TR in the game are bad at times bc its I honestly believe there is only about 5-10 plays tops that Russell can execute.

[ShotgunDawg]

I just find it funny that people are scratching their heads in this thread when were playing the number 1 team with our #2 QB that doesn't fit the system and our # 3 QB that is a true freshman.

Frustrating- yes, but confusing- NO.

[DownwardDawg]

Yeah I totally agree dude we gave them hell last night im never proud of a loss but it felt like 2010 again to me. That team fought like hell for 60 minutes without their best player on offense and leader. Mullen did a good job last night I still believe if we don't make a bowl we should make a change but the last two games this team has shown some heart and I think its enough to smoke Arky and beat TSUN at home with Dak at the helm. The playcalls with TR in the game are bad at times bc its I honestly believe there is only about 5-10 plays tops that Russell can execute.

Yeah, some of the playcalling is puzzling. Why do we consistantly put LP back there as a lone back with Russell? Especially when he kept "slipping" at the LOS all night. The 1st time we show the diamong formation we pass out of it for an incomplete pass. We run Russell on the draw. Really?? WTF?? We try to get too cute all the time. It's not just sometimes.