Coordinator and position coach interviews

[Leroy Jenkins]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-1hMoqYbauA




https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Y89XYXgNmso

[Leroy Jenkins]

Schmidt said they are looking at Clayton, Harmon, and Ellis for potential moves to TE with Goede.

[PMDawg]

Schmidt said they are looking at Clayton, Harmon, and Ellis for potential moves to TE with Goede.

Paging StarkvegasSteve and BlackSailsDawg....

[KB21]

Everybody wants to know about the system, going from Air Raid to Pro Style

Hmm

[PMDawg]

Hmm

Now, quote the rest of that sentence, the context, and the next couple of sentences.

[KB21]

Now, quote the rest of that sentence, the context, and the next couple of sentences.

It's not going to change the fact that he runs a pro style offense and admitted it in that interview, and I told you weeks ago that he ran a pro style offense.

[Leroy Jenkins]

It's not going to change the fact that he runs a pro style offense and admitted it in that interview, and I told you weeks ago that he ran a pro style offense.

Lots of definitions of what "pro-style" means.

[Really Clark?]

It's not going to change the fact that he runs a pro style offense and admitted it in that interview, and I told you weeks ago that he ran a pro style offense.

Most everyone knew that. Big deal. It's not a traditional pro set with running 70% of the time offense either. That's what your delusional mind keeps posting about over and over. He is multiple. He is spread. He runs AR passing concepts. He runs a lot of different formations, motion, etc. Not the lie you try to paint.

[mo7888]

As someone who's very skeptical of some of the offensive moves we made, the following sounded pretty positive to me...

Looking ahead to the season, Arnett said Mississippi State?s offense in the passing game will ?heavily mirror? what it did for the past 3 years under Mike Leach. To call it a ?drastic change,? Arnett said, would be ?foolish.? Conceptually what we are going to do in the passing game will not be different from previous years, Arnett said, and added it would be ?stupid? to change when you have had success like MSU did.

[DEDawg]

Most everyone knew that. Big deal. It's not a traditional pro set with running 70% of the time offense either. That's what your delusional mind keeps posting about over and over. He is multiple. He is spread. He runs AR passing concepts. He runs a lot of different formations, motion, etc. Not the lie you try to paint.

Plus ?pro style? doesn?t even mean rushing more than passing anymore. Out of 32 teams only 4 rushed more than passed this season. The avg rush to pass ratio in the NFL is like 43% run

[KB21]

Plus ?pro style? doesn?t even mean rushing more than passing anymore. Out of 32 teams only 4 rushed more than passed this season. The avg rush to pass ratio in the NFL is like 43% run

The bigger issue is trying to make a pro style offense work in a conference where you do not have a talent advantage over every team you play. It's a much more complex system than the air raid. It's going to be harder for players to master what they have to do because they will not be getting the reps in practice like they did in the Air Raid.

[Really Clark?]

The bigger issue is trying to make a pro style offense work in a conference where you do not have a talent advantage over every team you play. It's a much more complex system than the air raid. It's going to be harder for players to master what they have to do because they will not be getting the reps in practice like they did in the Air Raid.

And all those extra reps in a simpler system helped us how?

You are jumping to a conclusion with no basis and predetermining our players are too dumb to understand a new system. I'm not saying that there won't be a learning curve but his system is not near as hard as you are making it out to be. Even in the NFL you have a wide scale of easy to difficult schemes. It's not cookie cutter like you want people to believe. BTW, CML system was not as easy as you think either, especially for the QB.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Paging StarkvegasSteve and BlackSailsDawg....

Hey maybe Harmon has come around to the idea. I have no problem with any of them trying it if they are up for it and are willing to work. I just have caution on the idea that Harmon is automatically going to be a TE and be better. He got passed multiple times on the depth chart last year and I doubt it is because he was out of position.. Clayton and Ellis are strictly being put out there for bodies.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The bigger issue is trying to make a pro style offense work in a conference where you do not have a talent advantage over every team you play. It's a much more complex system than the air raid. It's going to be harder for players to master what they have to do because they will not be getting the reps in practice like they did in the Air Raid.

our guys are not stupid. Our coaches are not either. We will figure out what works for our roster and adapt the scheme to that. At least that is what they will do if they want to keep their jobs.

[BorneDawg]

if you even half way listened to them they said multiple times .... find the playmakers and get them the ball ..... now wether its by pass or run or by screen whatever way it takes.. sounds like to me that we will run what best suits our personel

[KB21]

if you even half way listened to them they said multiple times .... find the playmakers and get them the ball ..... now wether its by pass or run or by screen whatever way it takes.. sounds like to me that we will run what best suits our personel

He also says it all begins with the running game, so its obvious that he's going to try and establish that aspect of the offense even though establishing the running game is not important. Establishing the passing game is far more important.

[Desoto1967]

I think a lot of apprehension comes from JoMo coming and being supposedly an offensive genius. I just remember two runs and then a pass attempt when they were behind the chains

[Really Clark?]

He also says it all begins with the running game, so its obvious that he's going to try and establish that aspect of the offense even though establishing the running game is not important. Establishing the passing game is far more important.

Important enough that Coach Leach changed his philosophy to increase our rushing attempts significantly early in games this season.

[TrapGame]

Important enough that Coach Leach changed his philosophy to increase our rushing attempts significantly early in games this season.

And was going to continue running the ball more including recruiting more mobile QBs. By KB's standards Riley and Holgerson run pro style offenses.

[KB21]

Important enough that Coach Leach changed his philosophy to increase our rushing attempts significantly early in games this season.

Increasing your runs by a little bit early in games isn't the same as making the running game the focal point of your offense.

[KB21]

And was going to continue running the ball more including recruiting more mobile QBs. By KB's standards Riley and Holgerson run pro style offenses.

He didn't recruit Parson because he could run. He recruited him because he felt he add the accuracy and decision making ability to run his offense. The mobility aspect was just an added feature. Mike Leach wasn't going to suddenly start playing an inaccurate mobile QB, like Mike Wright, and completely changing his scheme to fit that inaccuracy.

[Commercecomet24]

And was going to continue running the ball more including recruiting more mobile QBs. By KB's standards Riley and Holgerson run pro style offenses.

Apparently we were the only team in America running a non pro style offense lol!

[Really Clark?]

Increasing your runs by a little bit early in games isn't the same as making the running game the focal point of your offense.

A little bit?!? Don't be dishonest. We went from 48% of our total rushes occurring in the first half of games last year to 57% this season. We increased our first quarter rushes by 36% from last year to this year. That's not a little bit, that's a shift in philosophy

[Westdawg]

Regarding Harmon -

I have no idea what the kid wants to do, but I do know a little about him. I watched him n several games in high school. When he wanted to be, he was the best player on the field his soph and junior seasons of HS. He read the clippings/hype and it got to him a bit, but the results also humbled him after that junior year. He also had a great staff come in that pushed him and held him accountable his senior year and it made a huge difference for him internally.
He was competing for playing time on the at X & Z positions with guys who are redshirt juniors and seniors. He wasn?t cracking that this year. He?s not the fastest, but the kid has got glue for hands and is much stronger than most would think for his size. He could very easily add 10lbs and be a solid TE hybrid. He is a definite possible matchup issue there for the nickel/strong or an OLB.

[TrapGame]

He didn't recruit Parson because he could run. He recruited him because he felt he add the accuracy and decision making ability to run his offense. The mobility aspect was just an added feature. Mike Leach wasn't going to suddenly start playing an inaccurate mobile QB, like Mike Wright, and completely changing his scheme to fit that inaccuracy.

Serious question.

How do you clean up all that bullshit that leaks out of your ears?

[KB21]

Serious question.

How do you clean up all that bullshit that leaks out of your ears?

Obviously you have to buy into the whole always run never pass philosophy most of you want, because if you dare think that passing the ball is more important/effective/efficient than running the ball, you get criticized.

The same apparently applies to those who believe in what Mike Leach was doing and prefers to see what he was building continue and not get town down.

[Really Clark?]

Obviously you have to buy into the whole always run never pass philosophy most of you want, because if you dare think that passing the ball is more important/effective/efficient than running the ball, you get criticized.

The same apparently applies to those who believe in what Mike Leach was doing and prefers to see what he was building continue and not get town down.

Not one person has advocated to always run it and never pass. Not a single person. That is one of biggest reasons you get blasted, you just flat out lie for an agenda and/or lying to troll.

[Homedawg]

Obviously you have to buy into the whole always run never pass philosophy most of you want, because if you dare think that passing the ball is more important/effective/efficient than running the ball, you get criticized.

The same apparently applies to those who believe in what Mike Leach was doing and prefers to see what he was building continue and not get town down.

More bs spewed by you. Again, nobody has said always run never pass. You just come back with that bs line and use it as your defense. Just keep making crap up.

[PMDawg]

It's not going to change the fact that he runs a pro style offense and admitted it in that interview, and I told you weeks ago that he ran a pro style offense.

There's a lot that you don't understand about football (like all of it), but let's start with just your main fallacy here. You keep running around saying "pro-style offense" and screaming that the world is ending and our pets' heads are falling off. However, you don't even know what pro-style offense means. All it means is we are going to run plays out of multiple formations (hence the need to add a TE back into the equation) and we are going to use motion. That's it. It has no bearing on how much we run or pass the ball.

Are we going to run the ball more? Yes. No one passes the ball as much as Mike Leach did. There's nothing anyone can do about that. There's literally no one we could have hired that wasn't going to run the ball more than Leach did. That's a fact. The thing that remains to be seen is HOW much more we will run it. We'll just have to wait and see. You don't know and I don't know.

I know you wanted to keep the AR, but the pure Air Raid died with Mike Leach. It sucks, but we can't change it. Could we have stuck closer to the AR than what we did? Yes, for sure. But that in and of itself doesn't mean what we did is destined to fail. Pro Style is not a death knell for us
Good coaches exist across all schemes. All we can do is sit back and wait to see if we hired good coaches or not. Enough with the sky screaming already. It's useless. You can't change a thing and you just look crazy at this point. Suck it up, you tit.

[Commercecomet24]

There's a lot that you don't understand about football (like all of it), but let's start with just your main fallacy here. You keep running around saying "pro-style offense" and screaming that the world is ending and our pets' heads are falling off. However, you don't even know what pro-style offense means. All it means is we are going to run plays out of multiple formations (hence the need to add a TE back into the equation) and we are going to use motion. That's it. It has no bearing on how much we run or pass the ball.

Are we going to run the ball more? Yes. No one passes the ball as much as Mike Leach did. There's nothing anyone can do about that. There's literally no one we could have hired that wasn't going to run the ball more than Leach did. That's a fact. The thing that remains to be seen is HOW much more we will run it. We'll just have to wait and see. You don't know and I don't know.

I know you wanted to keep the AR, but the pure Air Raid died with Mike Leach. It sucks, but we can't change it. Could we have stuck closer to the AR than what we did? Yes, for sure. But that in and of itself doesn't mean what we did is destined to fail. Pro Style is not a death knell for us
Good coaches exist across all schemes. All we can do is sit back and wait to see if we hired good coaches or not. Enough with the sky screaming already. It's useless. You can't change a thing and you just look crazy at this point. Suck it up, you tit.

Excellent post and dead on a accurate on everything!

[Reason2succeed]

Hey maybe Harmon has come around to the idea. I have no problem with any of them trying it if they are up for it and are willing to work. I just have caution on the idea that Harmon is automatically going to be a TE and be better. He got passed multiple times on the depth chart last year and I doubt it is because he was out of position.. Clayton and Ellis are strictly being put out there for bodies.

How do you know Clayton and Ellis won?t be able to compete? Sure Goede is likely the starter but Clayton was a TE in HS. Harmon ought to have good hands and route running. We need more than one guy though. I would love to see real Jumbo packages for goal line situations. You never know what some of these kids may be able to do when given the chance.

[Cooterpoot]

He didn't recruit Parson because he could run. He recruited him because he felt he add the accuracy and decision making ability to run his offense. The mobility aspect was just an added feature. Mike Leach wasn't going to suddenly start playing an inaccurate mobile QB, like Mike Wright, and completely changing his scheme to fit that inaccuracy.

You're the definition of c u n t.

[KB21]

There's a lot that you don't understand about football (like all of it), but let's start with just your main fallacy here. You keep running around saying "pro-style offense" and screaming that the world is ending and our pets' heads are falling off. However, you don't even know what pro-style offense means. All it means is we are going to run plays out of multiple formations (hence the need to add a TE back into the equation) and we are going to use motion. That's it. It has no bearing on how much we run or pass the ball.

Are we going to run the ball more? Yes. No one passes the ball as much as Mike Leach did. There's nothing anyone can do about that. There's literally no one we could have hired that wasn't going to run the ball more than Leach did. That's a fact. The thing that remains to be seen is HOW much more we will run it. We'll just have to wait and see. You don't know and I don't know.

I know you wanted to keep the AR, but the pure Air Raid died with Mike Leach. It sucks, but we can't change it. Could we have stuck closer to the AR than what we did? Yes, for sure. But that in and of itself doesn't mean what we did is destined to fail. Pro Style is not a death knell for us
Good coaches exist across all schemes. All we can do is sit back and wait to see if we hired good coaches or not. Enough with the sky screaming already. It's useless. You can't change a thing and you just look crazy at this point. Suck it up, you tit.

Hmm. . I?m curious about something. How exactly do I not know what a pro style offense is when I am the only one who identified this offense as a pro style system?

The people who have questioned me on this have consistently denied the fact that this is a pro style system. They have consistently denied the fact that this is Jill McIlwain?s system. Barbay even sites, pro style coaches as his biggest influences in his career. Not only that, but he states that everything begins with the running game. When you have a coach who believes that everything starts with the running game, do you have a coach that is going to try to force the running game. That means he is going to run the ball against stacked boxes just to try to establish that aspect of the offense. You have a guy with two years of experience as a flea collar who has consistently called more runs than pass plays. He has never been a throw the ball to open up the running game type of coach.

Mississippi State should never run a run first offense again.

[Pancho]

I'll second cooter and also vote c u n t. by a landslide

[Homedawg]

Hmm. . I?m curious about something. How exactly do I not know what a pro style offense is when I am the only one who identified this offense as a pro style system?

The people who have questioned me on this have consistently denied the fact that this is a pro style system. They have consistently denied the fact that this is Jill McIlwain?s system. Barbay even sites, pro style coaches as his biggest influences in his career. Not only that, but he states that everything begins with the running game. When you have a coach who believes that everything starts with the running game, do you have a coach that is going to try to force the running game. That means he is going to run the ball against stacked boxes just to try to establish that aspect of the offense. You have a guy with two years of experience as a flea collar who has consistently called more runs than pass plays. He has never been a throw the ball to open up the running game type of coach.

Mississippi State should never run a run first offense again.

Deflect deflect deflect

[Todd4State]

We don't have the personnel to be run first IMO- for 2023. Marks couldn't even make it through fall camp without getting injured. Price is good. Pittman is an unknown JUCO guy that we're hoping is Vick Ballard 2.0.

We do have Will Rogers who is an accurate QB who takes care of the ball. Which is a good thing. We have several very talented WR's in Robinson, Roberson, Tulu, Walley, Zavion, and Harvey. And now we've added a four star TE in Goede. Then Mike Wright is a dual threat QB we could use in spots.

If we're running the ball 50% of the time with our current personnel we're not maximizing our talent for 2023. We'll see what Barbay does with it.

[Todd4State]

Hmm. . I?m curious about something. How exactly do I not know what a pro style offense is when I am the only one who identified this offense as a pro style system?

The people who have questioned me on this have consistently denied the fact that this is a pro style system. They have consistently denied the fact that this is Jill McIlwain?s system. Barbay even sites, pro style coaches as his biggest influences in his career. Not only that, but he states that everything begins with the running game. When you have a coach who believes that everything starts with the running game, do you have a coach that is going to try to force the running game. That means he is going to run the ball against stacked boxes just to try to establish that aspect of the offense. You have a guy with two years of experience as a flea collar who has consistently called more runs than pass plays. He has never been a throw the ball to open up the running game type of coach.

Mississippi State should never run a run first offense again.

Greg Davis- former OC at Iowa.

Not sure that we had a lot of options at OC honestly. We whiffed on several- including some Air Raid guys. The reality is Arnett is an unknown as a head coach at this time. Hard to land anyone just like Dan had a hard time finding DC's for awhile when he was starting out.

I think Arnett wants us to be pro style ultimately though. If Barbay doesn't work out or gets hired away I imagine that Ryan Lindley at San Diego State will be on the short list. Hopefully he could be a hybrid pro style/Air Raid guy.

To your point the run sets up the pass thought is going away in the NFL because of analytics. It's only a matter of time before that trickles down to the college game. Not there yet as that data is still relatively new.

[Todd4State]

How do you know Clayton and Ellis won?t be able to compete? Sure Goede is likely the starter but Clayton was a TE in HS. Harmon ought to have good hands and route running. We need more than one guy though. I would love to see real Jumbo packages for goal line situations. You never know what some of these kids may be able to do when given the chance.

No way we see Ellis as a TE long term. An attached TE seems kind of like a waste to me. If we want a sixth offensive lineman then just let one of the offensive linemen be the attached TE. It's not like the guy would be expected to run a ton of pass routes whoever it is.

[Todd4State]

Obviously you have to buy into the whole always run never pass philosophy most of you want, because if you dare think that passing the ball is more important/effective/efficient than running the ball, you get criticized.

The same apparently applies to those who believe in what Mike Leach was doing and prefers to see what he was building continue and not get town down.

Most fans want a 50/50 split. That's actually progress from the days when our fans didn't believe we could consistently pass at all which was as recent as when Moorhead left. You can actually thank Mike Leach for changing that with our fan base- for the better.

I think we should be 60/40 pass/run myself.

[BlackSailsDawg]

I think a lot of apprehension comes from JoMo coming and being supposedly an offensive genius. I just remember two runs and then a pass attempt when they were behind the chains

That's a major part of it. That went back to the final years of Mullen too.

Our system did not attract QBs that could throw the football. Yes we had an exception. But he wasn't the norm. That issue was compounded by a lack of WRs of quality. JoMo came in and could not work any magic on QB to Wrs. The talent was an issue.

The breaded one completed 57% of his passes. Threw for 8 TDs and thres 5 INTs. And we were behind the chains all of the time. It's a legit concern that those rooms take a step backwards. That's not to say we will, just that its a concern.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Important enough that Coach Leach changed his philosophy to increase our rushing attempts significantly early in games this season.

Yes, but QBs and WRs still knew they were going to get a lot of reps and that attracted higher quality players at those positions. The argument from me was that.


Now, we will have to see if we can continue that trend with a Pro Style. A 50-57% passer will not cut it with this system or any other system in the SEC.

[BlackSailsDawg]

We don't have the personnel to be run first IMO- for 2023. Marks couldn't even make it through fall camp without getting injured. Price is good. Pittman is an unknown JUCO guy that we're hoping is Vick Ballard 2.0.

We do have Will Rogers who is an accurate QB who takes care of the ball. Which is a good thing. We have several very talented WR's in Robinson, Roberson, Tulu, Walley, Zavion, and Harvey. And now we've added a four star TE in Goede. Then Mike Wright is a dual threat QB we could use in spots.

If we're running the ball 50% of the time with our current personnel we're not maximizing our talent for 2023. We'll see what Barbay does with it.

I some what agree with this. I get many of the points made by several. Even KB. I don't think we are going to get an OC that all of the sudden changes his concepts though.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Most fans want a 50/50 split. That's actually progress from the days when our fans didn't believe we could consistently pass at all which was as recent as when Moorhead left. You can actually thank Mike Leach for changing that with our fan base- for the better.

I think we should be 60/40 pass/run myself.

And change that up based on what the defense is giving up. I have no problem with 45/55 run if we are popping them in the mouth and they can't stop it.

[Dawgface]

And change that up based on what the defense is giving up. I have no problem with 45/55 run if we are popping them in the mouth and they can't stop it.

Agree. And I think that is what we will do in reading between the lines on what Arnett and Barbay have said. But on average based on our personnel I think we will end up 60/40 next year. I?m excited to see how all this plays out.

[CoachT14]

He also says it all begins with the running game, so its obvious that he's going to try and establish that aspect of the offense even though establishing the running game is not important. Establishing the passing game is far more important.

You do realize that him saying it begins with the running come doesn't automatically mean he will force feed the run to "establish" it. It simply means that the run game is extremely important to making an offense go. I can say bunting helps establish a baseline for a good hitter. That doesn't mean that he will bunt every time he's at the plate or even a majority of the time. It simply means that to be a good hitter, being able to bunt successful is almost always a pre-requisite. I can say being able to score in the paint helps establish the outside shot, that doesn't mean that we are going to shoot 20 or less 3's per game. It simply means that it's important to have a good big mean who can score when the 3 isn't working.

I say all that knowing you're one of the biggest idiots I've ever seen on a message board and knowing you're going to say some stupid off the wall remark that takes anything I said out of context.

[mo7888]

We don't have the personnel to be run first IMO- for 2023. Marks couldn't even make it through fall camp without getting injured. Price is good. Pittman is an unknown JUCO guy that we're hoping is Vick Ballard 2.0.

We do have Will Rogers who is an accurate QB who takes care of the ball. Which is a good thing. We have several very talented WR's in Robinson, Roberson, Tulu, Walley, Zavion, and Harvey. And now we've added a four star TE in Goede. Then Mike Wright is a dual threat QB we could use in spots.

If we're running the ball 50% of the time with our current personnel we're not maximizing our talent for 2023. We'll see what Barbay does with it.

+1

[KB21]

Most fans want a 50/50 split. That's actually progress from the days when our fans didn't believe we could consistently pass at all which was as recent as when Moorhead left. You can actually thank Mike Leach for changing that with our fan base- for the better.

I think we should be 60/40 pass/run myself.

Nothing in this coordinator's history suggests that he will favor the pass with his play calling at all.

[KB21]

Yes, but QBs and WRs still knew they were going to get a lot of reps and that attracted higher quality players at those positions. The argument from me was that.


Now, we will have to see if we can continue that trend with a Pro Style. A 50-57% passer will not cut it with this system or any other system in the SEC.

Ben Arbuckle from Western Kentucky would have been a better hire for this reason.

[Really Clark?]

Ben Arbuckle from Western Kentucky would have been a better hire for this reason.

A guy with 1 year OC experience and who was an assistant high school coach 2 years ago to come into this league as an OC? No way can you make that decision. He may end up being good, time will tell but extremely too risky of a chance to bring him in.

[KB21]

A guy with 1 year OC experience and who was an assistant high school coach 2 years ago to come into this league as an OC? No way can you make that decision. He may end up being good, time will tell but extremely too risky of a chance to bring him in.

It would have been well worth the risk to maintain the pass first Air Raid scheme. I mean, we hired a guy with only 2 years of coordinator experience whose only experience at the power 5 level is as an off the field assistant.

[Really Clark?]

It would have been well worth the risk to maintain the pass first Air Raid scheme. I mean, we hired a guy with only 2 years of coordinator experience whose only experience at the power 5 level is as an off the field assistant.

3 years experience. He was OC at Stephen F Austin for a year as well. 10 years of college on the field experience > than 2 years. Barbay has as more OC experience much less overall coaching experience on the college level than Arbuckle's entire college coaching career. You can't spin the experience level between the 2 of them. It's not even close.

[KB21]

3 years experience. He was OC at Stephen F Austin for a year as well. 10 years of college on the field experience > than 2 years. Barbay has as more OC experience much less overall coaching experience on the college level than Arbuckle's entire college coaching career. You can't spin the experience level between the 2 of them. It's not even close.

I still would have hired him or promoted Hollingshead over hiring Barbay.

[PMDawg]

I still would have hired him or promoted Hollingshead over hiring Barbay.

One of an infinite number of reasons you are not now, nor will you ever be, paid millions to make that decision.

Don't let the fries burn.

[Really Clark?]

I still would have hired him or promoted Hollingshead over hiring Barbay.

Well I'm sure you would, but your delusions run deep though. Kittley was the only possibility we considered from that branch, correctly btw, and he wasn't leaving TT. You could not consider the other 2 you want for this league at this point and time in their careers. Foolish idea

[KB21]

Well I'm sure you would, but your delusions run deep though. Kittley was the only possibility we considered from that branch, correctly btw, and he wasn't leaving TT. You could not consider the other 2 you want for this league at this point and time in their careers. Foolish idea

So, instead of pursuing another Air Raid coach, we decide to pursue a coach with limited experience as a play caller who comes from Jim McElwain's pro style system. A system that was a complete disaster at Florida when McElwain was the coach there.

[mo7888]

I still would have hired him or promoted Hollingshead over hiring Barbay.

I would have taken either over Barbay as well, but I have to admit that ZA's statement about us not changing much in the passing game and how we'd be foolish to do so does give me hope that we'll see him match his system to the players we have. So while I still have some intrepidation, I'm more willing to let it play out than I was.

[TrapGame]

I still would have hired him or promoted Hollingshead over hiring Barbay.

Yeah, cause Clemson and Bama were falling all over themselves to hire Hollingshead. There's a reason we hired another OC and didn't promote from within.

[mo7888]

Yeah, cause Clemson and Bama were falling all over themselves to hire Hollingshead. There's a reason we hired another OC and didn't promote from within.

Literally makes no sense...Clemson and Bama weren't and currently aren't falling over themselves for Barbay either...

[Really Clark?]

So, instead of pursuing another Air Raid coach, we decide to pursue a coach with limited experience as a play caller who comes from Jim McElwain's pro style system. A system that was a complete disaster at Florida when McElwain was the coach there.

Barbay didn't run anything at Florida. Quit using strawmen for your narcissistic narrative.

Air Raid is irrelevant as there was no one else realistic we could or should have hired. Period. Get help, get over it or just get lost. You pick one of those three to fix your mental disorder or to at least keep to yourself.

[StarkVegasSteve]

KB it does not matter. We hired Kevin Barbay. Whether you think it is a good hire or not, we made it. And since none of us are making the decisions, SHUT THE F*** UP ABOUT IT. You can be mad, that is completely ok and you are well within your right, but if you are going to continually complain and try to act like the smartest person in the room I am sure RebelGrove or whatever David Johnson is calling his site will happily accept a new member.

[BlackSailsDawg]

A guy with 1 year OC experience and who was an assistant high school coach 2 years ago to come into this league as an OC? No way can you make that decision. He may end up being good, time will tell but extremely too risky of a chance to bring him in.

I think they are both risky. I have not looked at a ton of games he has called. I did watch the LSU and Mizzou game in 2021 when he was at CM to see what he would dod against better talent. I went through the plays after watching it too. There were 39 passing attempts to 31 rushing at LSU. Some series, were runs with 3 and out. Some were all passes. But they did try to establish the run and got down by 21 within the 1st quarter which led to more passes.



It was different vs Mizzou. They threw 4 times to 1 rush on the opening drive and continued that until they were up.



To me the game plan vs LSU was horrible. Against Mizzou was way better. A CMU is not going to rush it well against LSU and that was what they tried to do. Against Mizzou, they opened up the run game by making them respect the passing.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Literally makes no sense...Clemson and Bama weren't and currently aren't falling over themselves for Barbay either...

They also were not AR either. Clemson made the change. Not sure what Bama will do.

[BlackSailsDawg]

KB it does not matter. We hired Kevin Barbay. Whether you think it is a good hire or not, we made it. And since none of us are making the decisions, SHUT THE F*** UP ABOUT IT. You can be mad, that is completely ok and you are well within your right, but if you are going to continually complain and try to act like the smartest person in the room I am sure RebelGrove or whatever David Johnson is calling his site will happily accept a new member.

Oh come on now. People on the opposite side of that coin while Leach was here did the exact same thing and I don't recall posters calling them out like this. The guy has an opinion. Let him have it.

[TrapGame]

Literally makes no sense...Clemson and Bama weren't and currently aren't falling over themselves for Barbay either...

Hollingshead is supposedly this guru in waiting per KB and he can't even get a MAC or Sunbelt interview for OC. Whereas Barbay is a proven OC and play caller.

[Prediction? Pain.]

We don't have the personnel to be run first IMO- for 2023. Marks couldn't even make it through fall camp without getting injured. Price is good. Pittman is an unknown JUCO guy that we're hoping is Vick Ballard 2.0.

We do have Will Rogers who is an accurate QB who takes care of the ball. Which is a good thing. We have several very talented WR's in Robinson, Roberson, Tulu, Walley, Zavion, and Harvey. And now we've added a four star TE in Goede. Then Mike Wright is a dual threat QB we could use in spots.

If we're running the ball 50% of the time with our current personnel we're not maximizing our talent for 2023. We'll see what Barbay does with it.

With Arnett and Barbay both emphasizing how personnel dictates play calls and "scheme," I wouldn't be surprised at all if they're on the same page with you. Barbay's two years of OC experience in the FBS gives us a pretty small sample size. But it's worth noting that in his lone year at Central Michigan, they shifted from a 60/40 run-pass split in '20 to a 54/46 run-pass split in '21. And in '22, the pass side of App. St.'s run-pass split very slightly increased from '21 -- from 58/42 to 57/43 -- even though they lost four of their top five receivers from '21 (including three seniors with over 800 yards apiece) and returned two RBs who each rushed for over 900 yards in '21. (I also note that even with those two dudes back, the carries got spread out among way more dudes in '22. Wonder why?)

That still leaves a question about the ideal that Barbay is going to strive for in recruiting going forward. Get the best guys you can across the board and then tailor the offense around them every year? That seems odd. But then again, maybe not totally. Compare our "style" under Mullen in '09 and '10 to '12 and '15 to '17. And then maybe add in Florida in '19 and '20. Those offenses all looked pretty different.

So maybe at least for '23, maybe we're going to see something closer to 60% passes, like Mullen ca. '15, when our run-pass split in SEC games was 43/57 and we threw it 43 times a game. For what it's worth, that 60% mark is also roughly what other pass-heavy offenses were doing last year, like WKU and Georgia Southern.

[KB21]

Hollingshead is supposedly this guru in waiting per KB and he can't even get a MAC or Sunbelt interview for OC. Whereas Barbay is a proven OC and play caller.

Hollingshead is the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, whose last two offensive coordinators have springboarded into power 5 jobs. Kittley, Arbuckle, and Hollingshead.

[KB21]

What other teams were interviewing Barbay? I'm not sure he interviewed anywhere else.

[TrapGame]

Hollingshead is the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky, whose last two offensive coordinators have springboarded into power 5 jobs. Kittley, Arbuckle, and Hollingshead.

It's called training wheels asshole. Barbay has more experience and the philosophical outlook Arnett wants. This is not quantum mechanics. Barbay was the correct hire.

[mo7888]

Hollingshead is supposedly this guru in waiting per KB and he can't even get a MAC or Sunbelt interview for OC. Whereas Barbay is a proven OC and play caller.

Maybe....but it's irrelevant to the point you made...

[KB21]

I'm trying to figure out how a high school coach from Texas says that Greg Davis influenced his offensive philosophy but makes no mention of any Mike Leach influence.

[Coursesuper]

It is time for this garbage to end the board is borderline intolerable. I muted this assclown yet every thread is full of dumdassery and constant inane back and fourth BS over BS.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Oh come on now. People on the opposite side of that coin while Leach was here did the exact same thing and I don't recall posters calling them out like this. The guy has an opinion. Let him have it.

His opinion is in every thread. Basketball, baseball, golf, the ice storm, whether Lil Dooeys is overrated. It does not matter. He interjects his Mike Leach rhetoric. It is the same talking points every damn time. I was fine with it at the beginning, but it has taken over the board. We all just want him to go back to GP and bother everyone over there again.

[Pancho]

where the dude who calls people a child for disagreeing with this KB21 ole miss/closet guy?

[mo7888]

Oh come on now. People on the opposite side of that coin while Leach was here did the exact same thing and I don't recall posters calling them out like this. The guy has an opinion. Let him have it.

Yup

[KB21]

FWIW, I really like the off the field staff that has been put together. Bringing back Steve Campbell is big, and I think Joey Jones is a good addition as well.

[StarkVegasSteve]

FWIW, I really like the off the field staff that has been put together. Bringing back Steve Campbell is big, and I think Joey Jones is a good addition as well.

Steve and Joey will both open up the Mobile market for us. Really good athletes in that area.

[KB21]

Steve and Joey will both open up the Mobile market for us. Really good athletes in that area.

I'm sure Steve still has a lot of connections in the Gulf Coast area as well as in Louisiana. I'm sitting here waiting to see when Melvin Smith gets added to the staff.

[Homedawg]

Oh come on now. People on the opposite side of that coin while Leach was here did the exact same thing and I don't recall posters calling them out like this. The guy has an opinion. Let him have it.

It's not the opinion that's the problem. He certainly can have his. That's fine. But no matter how we do he's not gonna be happy with it. It's not the air raid. He's married to the AR not the results. That's clear bc the AR results were mostly meh or worse. With about 3-4 exceptions...... then to go on and on and repeat posts over and over w a ton of untruths. Anyone can hate the hire or like it. But at least give the dude a chance.

[BlackSailsDawg]

It's not the opinion that's the problem. He certainly can have his. That's fine. But no matter how we do he's not gonna be happy with it. It's not the air raid. He's married to the AR not the results. That's clear bc the AR results were mostly meh or worse. With about 3-4 exceptions...... then to go on and on and repeat posts over and over w a ton of untruths. Anyone can hate the hire or like it. But at least give the dude a chance.

The bold is opinion too. A lot of people felt that MSU was reaching new heights due to the 9 win season and the changes being made.


Yes, he is hired. For better or worse, we are married to it/him for 3 years. He will deserve his chance to make his case unless the wheels come off.

[Homedawg]

The bold is opinion too. A lot of people felt that MSU was reaching new heights due to the 9 win season and the changes being made.


Yes, he is hired. For better or worse, we are married to it/him for 3 years. He will deserve his chance to make his case unless the wheels come off.

Bold? Guess it matters who considers it good vs meh. But the stats and games are facts. Lots more meh than good. New heights? We went backward this year w a veteran team and QB. No way around that. Yes we won 9 games. That's good. Had our offense had a pulse we would have won more.

[BlackSailsDawg]

Bold? Guess it matters who considers it good vs meh. But the stats and games are facts. Lots more meh than good. New heights? We went backward this year w a veteran team and QB. No way around that. Yes we won 9 games. That's good. Had our offense had a pulse we would have won more.

Not going to rehash this over and over and over. All teams fluctuate from season to season for various reasons. Winning 9 games is not a step back. That's a step forward. Having less passing yards or whatever can be from not having a viable deep threat with the relationship built between WR and QB. It could be, in the case of rushing, that a different OG was not as efficient as the OG before him so we averaged .5 or more yards less. that does not equal stepping backwards when the results meant more wins.

You are not going to change peoples mind on that and it really serves no purpose to demand that they change their opinion to match others.

That's my last comment on it.


We enter a new era at Ms St with Arnett. So let's go and get it done.

[KB21]

Leach?s offense was following a similar trajectory as his Washington State offense, which was a top 20 scoring offense in 3 of his last four seasons there.

I have zero doubts that maintaining his system would have lead to more success.

[mo7888]

Not going to rehash this over and over and over. All teams fluctuate from season to season for various reasons. Winning 9 games is not a step back. That's a step forward. Having less passing yards or whatever can be from not having a viable deep threat with the relationship built between WR and QB. It could be, in the case of rushing, that a different OG was not as efficient as the OG before him so we averaged .5 or more yards less. that does not equal stepping backwards when the results meant more wins.

You are not going to change peoples mind on that and it really serves no purpose to demand that they change their opinion to match others.

That's my last comment on it.


We enter a new era at Ms St with Arnett. So let's go and get it done.

This...tbqh

[Really Clark?]

Leach?s offense was following a similar trajectory as his Washington State offense, which was a top 20 scoring offense in 3 of his last four seasons there.

I have zero doubts that maintaining his system would have lead to more success.

The trajectory went down from last year, not up. That's not the correct trajectory you want to see with that much experience returning in the same system. You have no logical analysis that can show that as a truthful statement.

[Pancho]

rep given to Really Clark? for pointing out BS

[SPMT]

Leach?s offense was following a similar trajectory as his Washington State offense, which was a top 20 scoring offense in 3 of his last four seasons there.

I have zero doubts that maintaining his system would have lead to more success.

That system died when Leach died. It?s not any more complicated than that.

Today, in the present, I feel we will use our players strengths on offense:

1. Accurate passer
2. No real dynamic down the field threat
3. Average pass catchers at wr.

I have not been impressed with our receivers at all in years, ever honestly. We?ve had a handful of good ones. No real legit ones.

Until I see us move away from that, I?m going to withhold judgement.

These younger coaches are often more willing to adjust to personnel with schemes, etc.

Your bashing of ?pro style offenses? whatever the **** that means, is ridiculous. Pro style is more passing oriented than the offenses 20 years ago.

[SPMT]

Greg Davis- former OC at Iowa.

Not sure that we had a lot of options at OC honestly. We whiffed on several- including some Air Raid guys. The reality is Arnett is an unknown as a head coach at this time. Hard to land anyone just like Dan had a hard time finding DC's for awhile when he was starting out.

I think Arnett wants us to be pro style ultimately though. If Barbay doesn't work out or gets hired away I imagine that Ryan Lindley at San Diego State will be on the short list. Hopefully he could be a hybrid pro style/Air Raid guy.

To your point the run sets up the pass thought is going away in the NFL because of analytics. It's only a matter of time before that trickles down to the college game. Not there yet as that data is still relatively new.

In my observation, in the last 20 years offenses have trickled up to the pro game from college. Numerous examples: wildcat, zone read run plays with qb, some option, jet sweeps, air raid passing concepts. The nfl was extremely inbred for a long time. There were a handful of exceptions, but not many.

Then nfl copied shit that malzahn, mullen /Meyer/richrod, Leach etc we?re doing. Not the other way around.

Defenses on the other hand seemed to pull concepts down from the pro game.

[Homedawg]

Not going to rehash this over and over and over. All teams fluctuate from season to season for various reasons. Winning 9 games is not a step back. That's a step forward. Having less passing yards or whatever can be from not having a viable deep threat with the relationship built between WR and QB. It could be, in the case of rushing, that a different OG was not as efficient as the OG before him so we averaged .5 or more yards less. that does not equal stepping backwards when the results meant more wins.

You are not going to change peoples mind on that and it really serves no purpose to demand that they change their opinion to match others.

That's my last comment on it.


We enter a new era at Ms St with Arnett. So let's go and get it done.

Great. Clearly our offense got better last year. I just didn't see it.... yes we won 9 games bc our offense was great. Not sure how I didn't see it myself. Is that a promise your out. I should get an award from the rest of the board if so!!!

[Leroy Jenkins]

SIAP but I hadn't read Barbary's bio from Hailstate.com until today.


"According to Matrix Analytical, Barbay ranks No. 1 among active FBS offensive coordinators in career average pass game efficiency. He was one of just two Group of Five play callers in 2022 to produce an Explosive Pass Rate Percentage above 19 percent with a top 35 scoring efficiency offense.

Among FBS offensive coordinators since 2009, Barbay ranks per Matrix Analytical:
-Inside the Top 15 percent in Passing Touchdowns Per Attempt
-Inside the Top 20 percent in Fewest Interceptions Per Attempt
-Inside the Top 25 percent in both QB Rating and QB Efficiency
-Inside the Top 30 percent in Yards Per Attempt"

[Todd4State]

In my observation, in the last 20 years offenses have trickled up to the pro game from college. Numerous examples: wildcat, zone read run plays with qb, some option, jet sweeps, air raid passing concepts. The nfl was extremely inbred for a long time. There were a handful of exceptions, but not many.

Then nfl copied shit that malzahn, mullen /Meyer/richrod, Leach etc we?re doing. Not the other way around.

Defenses on the other hand seemed to pull concepts down from the pro game.

You are correct but as far as analytics go I think that will trickle down to college. Especially as you see NFL guys coming into college.

[Todd4State]

SIAP but I hadn't read Barbary's bio from Hailstate.com until today.


"According to Matrix Analytical, Barbay ranks No. 1 among active FBS offensive coordinators in career average pass game efficiency. He was one of just two Group of Five play callers in 2022 to produce an Explosive Pass Rate Percentage above 19 percent with a top 35 scoring efficiency offense.

Among FBS offensive coordinators since 2009, Barbay ranks per Matrix Analytical:
-Inside the Top 15 percent in Passing Touchdowns Per Attempt
-Inside the Top 20 percent in Fewest Interceptions Per Attempt
-Inside the Top 25 percent in both QB Rating and QB Efficiency
-Inside the Top 30 percent in Yards Per Attempt"

Which is why I hope he passes it more than 45% of the time.

[Todd4State]

Not going to rehash this over and over and over. All teams fluctuate from season to season for various reasons. Winning 9 games is not a step back. That's a step forward. Having less passing yards or whatever can be from not having a viable deep threat with the relationship built between WR and QB. It could be, in the case of rushing, that a different OG was not as efficient as the OG before him so we averaged .5 or more yards less. that does not equal stepping backwards when the results meant more wins.

You are not going to change peoples mind on that and it really serves no purpose to demand that they change their opinion to match others.

That's my last comment on it.


We enter a new era at Ms St with Arnett. So let's go and get it done.

9 wins in a season where we played Alabama, Georgia, and LSU- I'll always take it.

The issue is us scoring consistently against Bluebloods. That's never going to change no matter what scheme we run.

[PikeDawg15]

Mississippi State played 7 Power 5 teams that made a bowl game

Here were the points they scored

@LSU 16
Vs Arkansas 40
@ Kentucky 17 , with a pick6 so 10 offensive points

@alabama 6

Vs Georgia 19 with a punt return touchdown

@ Ole miss 24

Vs Illinois 19 with a kickoff touchdown with 0 time left
With a veteran team that was not good. We stat padded again very bad football teams this year. The offense was not good this year.

We played 7 power 5 bowl eligible teams and scored over 25 points only once against 7-6 Arkansas who had the worst defense in the SEC.

If you think the offense was the reason we won 9 games I do not know what to tell you.

[Todd4State]

Mississippi State played 7 Power 5 teams that made a bowl game

Here were the points they scored

@LSU 16
Vs Arkansas 40
@ Kentucky 17 , with a pick6 so 10 offensive points

@alabama 6

Vs Georgia 19 with a punt return touchdown

@ Ole miss 24

Vs Illinois 19 with a kickoff touchdown with 0 time left
With a veteran team that was not good. We stat padded again very bad football teams this year. The offense was not good this year.

We played 7 power 5 bowl eligible teams and scored over 25 points only once against 7-6 Arkansas who had the worst defense in the SEC.

If you think the offense was the reason we won 9 games I do not know what to tell you.

Georgia, LSU, and Alabama had some of the best defenses in the country this year. Two of those three were on the road. The other we had at home beat everyone on their schedule.

Simply put AGAIN- we are not going to consistently score a ton of points on bluebloods and elite defenses. I don't care what scheme we run or who our coach is. And that's not going to change with Barbay either. Our fans think that some coaching genius can make some fancy play calls and all of a sudden our three star guys are going to be 4-5 star guys because they're coached up- and it doesn't work that way.

All of this "well we stat padded against bad teams" stuff is bullshit. Most years our fans aren't even able to come up with that accusation so that says something in and of itself right there.

The best thing we can hope for is that we are competitive enough to have a chance to pull off an upset over a blueblood that isn't down. And that will be the case until we get four stars on our team.

In the meantime no one talks about Arnett's defense giving up 30+ PPG to those bluebloods or the 99 yard drive they allowed to set up Ole Miss's failed 2 point conversion or the fact that his defense allowed like four TD's in a row to Kentucky after our offense took the lead. But yeah- all defense this year!

[KB21]

Georgia, LSU, and Alabama had some of the best defenses in the country this year. Two of those three were on the road. The other we had at home beat everyone on their schedule.

Simply put AGAIN- we are not going to consistently score a ton of points on bluebloods and elite defenses. I don't care what scheme we run or who our coach is. And that's not going to change with Barbay either. Our fans think that some coaching genius can make some fancy play calls and all of a sudden our three star guys are going to be 4-5 star guys because they're coached up- and it doesn't work that way.

All of this "well we stat padded against bad teams" stuff is bullshit. Most years our fans aren't even able to come up with that accusation so that says something in and of itself right there.

The best thing we can hope for is that we are competitive enough to have a chance to pull off an upset over a blueblood that isn't down. And that will be the case until we get four stars on our team.

In the meantime no one talks about Arnett's defense giving up 30+ PPG to those bluebloods or the 99 yard drive they allowed to set up Ole Miss's failed 2 point conversion or the fact that his defense allowed like four TD's in a row to Kentucky after our offense took the lead. But yeah- all defense this year!

What about the fact that this defense gave up 192 yards on five plays against Kentucky? Four of those were pass plays on third down that netted 145 total yards.

[parabrave]

What about the fact that this defense gave up 192 yards on five plays against Kentucky? Four of those were pass plays on third down that netted 145 total yards.

Thats after they were on the field all game and were totally gassed by the middle of the third. I thought Wheat was going to pass out that game. He gave his all.

[KB21]

Thats after they were on the field all game and were totally gassed by the middle of the third. I thought Wheat was going to pass out that game. He gave his all.

Most of those plays were in the first half of that game.

[Really Clark?]

Most of those plays were in the first half of that game.

Incorrect. 2 were in 4th quarter, 2 in the 3rd quarter.

[parabrave]

Incorrect. 2 were in 4th quarter, 2 in the 3rd quarter.

That correlates with my memory also.

[PMDawg]

Incorrect. 2 were in 4th quarter, 2 in the 3rd quarter.

It's irrelevant anyway. It's 1 game. He's cherry picking 1 game out of 7. That was our worst game of the year. Offense and defense looked bad for large portions of that game, especially once the defense got gassed. But, even if the defense had played poorly the entire game (they didn't) and they were the unit that cost us the game (they weren't), it still isn't a good response to refute the point being made by Pike. It's a response by an overly emotional fan with a low football IQ and an axe to grind.

[Pancho]

yes, ole miss fans do have a low IQ and many other issues which are further exposed the more they post here

[PikeDawg15]

Georgia, LSU, and Alabama had some of the best defenses in the country this year. Two of those three were on the road. The other we had at home beat everyone on their schedule.

Simply put AGAIN- we are not going to consistently score a ton of points on bluebloods and elite defenses. I don't care what scheme we run or who our coach is. And that's not going to change with Barbay either. Our fans think that some coaching genius can make some fancy play calls and all of a sudden our three star guys are going to be 4-5 star guys because they're coached up- and it doesn't work that way.

All of this "well we stat padded against bad teams" stuff is bullshit. Most years our fans aren't even able to come up with that accusation so that says something in and of itself right there.

The best thing we can hope for is that we are competitive enough to have a chance to pull off an upset over a blueblood that isn't down. And that will be the case until we get four stars on our team.

In the meantime no one talks about Arnett's defense giving up 30+ PPG to those bluebloods or the 99 yard drive they allowed to set up Ole Miss's failed 2 point conversion or the fact that his defense allowed like four TD's in a row to Kentucky after our offense took the lead. But yeah- all defense this year!

Maybe if Will Rogers didn?t fumble the ball at the 1 yard line the defense wouldn?t have had the chance to give up a 99 yard drive.

People are seriously bashing the defense?..

There has been maybe been 2 games the offense won the game for state the last 3 years

2020 LSU
2021 Auburn

The only game I will blame the defense for losing is 2021 Arkansas

Memphis is iffy but we turned the ball over too much that game and gave them short fields.

[Pancho]

amen pike

[State82]

The only game I will blame the defense for losing is 2021 Arkansas


And the defense actually won that game with a legitimate stop on a 4th down play with about a minute to go until a completely illegitimate, phantom interference flag gave them a 1st down.

[Todd4State]

Maybe if Will Rogers didn?t fumble the ball at the 1 yard line the defense wouldn?t have had the chance to give up a 99 yard drive.

People are seriously bashing the defense?..

There has been maybe been 2 games the offense won the game for state the last 3 years

2020 LSU
2021 Auburn

The only game I will blame the defense for losing is 2021 Arkansas

Memphis is iffy but we turned the ball over too much that game and gave them short fields.

You missed Auburn this year when our defense decided to not defend the QB run at all and after the OFFENSE got the lead the defense immediately allowed Auburn to score basically by running the ball blowing the lead and causing our offense to AGAIN drive down the field to tie the game which they did indeed do.

I'm not bashing the defense- but they're weren't as good as some MSU fans try to make them out to be and were hardly innocent in the games we lost.

And only 2 games our offense won? LOL. We scored 40+ points on A&M and Arkansas. The only defenses that stopped us at all were in the top 15. Find me any offense that consistently scores on that type of defense. It sure as hell won't be this Barbay guy that we got that literally no one knows who the hell he is. But hey! Dave Bartoo's analytics says he's good.**

[Pancho]

ouch

[Really Clark?]

You missed Auburn this year when our defense decided to not defend the QB run at all and after the OFFENSE got the lead the defense immediately allowed Auburn to score basically by running the ball blowing the lead and causing our offense to AGAIN drive down the field to tie the game which they did indeed do.

I'm not bashing the defense- but they're weren't as good as some MSU fans try to make them out to be and were hardly innocent in the games we lost.

And only 2 games our offense won? LOL. We scored 40+ points on A&M and Arkansas. The only defenses that stopped us at all were in the top 15. Find me any offense that consistently scores on that type of defense. It sure as hell won't be this Barbay guy that we got that literally no one knows who the hell he is. But hey! Dave Bartoo's analytics says he's good.**

Not to dispute it completely but the TAM game we had an INT TD and block FG returned for TD. That block came after we fumbled on our side of the field giving TAM great field position when the game was 14-3. Maybe the offense did enough either way to win but it's a 28-24 or 27 game at best without that defensive hold after the fumble, block FG and then the pick 6 later in the game. Forbes had another INT as well and we missed a FG off of that INT. Took all 3 phases to win that game.

[Todd4State]

Not to dispute it completely but the TAM game we had an INT TD and block FG returned for TD. That block came after we fumbled on our side of the field giving TAM great field position when the game was 14-3. Maybe the offense did enough either way to win but it's a 28-24 or 27 game at best without that defensive hold after the fumble, block FG and then the pick 6 later in the game. Forbes had another INT as well and we missed a FG off of that INT. Took all 3 phases to win that game.

It does take all three phases to win a game. It's also worth mentioning that the officials basically gifted A&M a garbage time TD at the end of the game.

I looked at an analytics web site and our offense was rated 37th our defense in the top 20 and our special teams in the top 10 this year. With our schedule we had a pretty darn good team.

I don't want to heavily criticize any side of the ball but for some of our fans to sit there and act like our defense did everything this year and was the only reason why we won is factually incorrect.

[BrunswickDawg]

It does take all three phases to win a game. It's also worth mentioning that the officials basically gifted A&M a garbage time TD at the end of the game.

I looked at an analytics web site and our offense was rated 37th our defense in the top 20 and our special teams in the top 10 this year. With our schedule we had a pretty darn good team.

I don't want to heavily criticize any side of the ball but for some of our fans to sit there and act like our defense did everything this year and was the only reason why we won is factually incorrect.

Yeah - people want to discount last season as always. It is never "MSU was good", it is always about other teams sucking, or "you can make stats say anything". Just look at Illinois. They gave up 12.8 ppg as the top scoring D in the Nation. We scored 13 on offense against them, and gained 115 more yards then their season average as the #3 Total Defense in the country. They were #8 in Passing D, and we put up 100 more yards then their average, and we gained 16 more yards rushing then their #10 Rushing D gave up per game. But, people will down it as "they aren't SEC, or they were missing players". That team was very good, and we act like we had a struggle against Vandy.