My #1 reason I think our 2014 football season is going to be special....

We finished 18th in the country and 4th in the SEC in Total Defense- we return 19 of our 22 on the 2 Deep defensively. Bennie Brown, Chris Jones, Will Redmond, AJ Jefferson- guys that played their 1st snaps of college ball this year and played well.

Last 4 games after everyone got healthy and Bennie Brown took over at LB:

Held Bama to 20 points- their lowest output in 2013
Held UPig to 17 points at their place after they had 2 weeks to get ready for us
Held the best offense in Ole Miss history to 3 points
Held 10 win Rice to less than 200 yards of offense

Defense really has a chance to be special in 2014.

and #DakAttack

I say put special teams under G Collins

2014 post of year thus far....well played

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Originally Posted by FISHDAWG

I say put special teams under G Collins

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Originally Posted by Political Hack

and #DakAttack

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that's my #2 reason

U think jay Hughes comes back strong?

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We finished 18th in the country and 4th in the SEC in Total Defense- we return 19 of our 22 on the 2 Deep defensively. Bennie Brown, Chris Jones, Will Redmond, AJ Jefferson- guys that played their 1st snaps of college ball this year and played well.

Last 4 games after everyone got healthy and Bennie Brown took over at LB:

Held Bama to 20 points- their lowest output in 2013
Held UPig to 17 points at their place after they had 2 weeks to get ready for us
Held the best offense in Ole Miss history to 3 points
Held 10 win Rice to less than 200 yards of offense

Defense really has a chance to be special in 2014.

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Originally Posted by FISHDAWG

I say put special teams under G Collins

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I want Geoff Collins focusing on defense alone. We need to hire a good ST coach.

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Originally Posted by justwin

U think jay Hughes comes back strong?

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I certainly hope so. I had picked Jay as my defensive breakout player before the season. It sucked he got hurt in the 1st game.

In college football today, you need 3 things to compete at a high level:

1) QB
2) Offensive play-calling
3) Defense

That is really it. Sure, it helps to have other things, and things like OL will play into how well your QB plays, for example. But when all is said and done, the top teams will have those things working for them.

Auburn didn't have a great defense, but we saw last night it was better than previously thought and could step up when it needed to. They had a QB who was incredible in that offense and they had Malzahn.

We will have the QB, we should have the offensive play-calling to allow that QB to thrive, and all indications are that we will have the defense.

I think Jay will be decent and mostly back to full speed by the end of the season. Its a full twelve month rehab and even then its probably like 18 months until your all the way back from an Achilles. The difference between him and Nickoe's situation is the depth we now have. Deonte played well down the stretch. Kendrick Market can play. Cox will continue to develop there through spring. Kivon has played... Then you have Dee who is kind of floating around and will be on the field somewhere. These are all guys who have played alot so Jay should be able to ease back in.

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Originally Posted by justwin

U think jay Hughes comes back strong?

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Lose Whitley, add Hughes...I love Whitley, but because of the way he was held back due to the ACL, this may be a net gain (Whitley did come up absolutely huge at the end of the year, so that's hard to say).

Lose Skinner, add B. Brown, who had overtaken him at the end of the year anyway.

Lose Autry, add....??? Ryan Brown? AJ Jefferson? Will Coleman? We have some options, but that's really the only spot on defense where we have to find a replacement.

Pretty crazy.

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Originally Posted by justwin

U think jay Hughes comes back strong?

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I know everyone is different but after seeing how long it took Whitley to recover from his achilles injury its hard to count on Hughes being full strength next season. He will certainly play though.

it was just a compliment to Collins ...I was only being facetious

I can't remember - did they allow Hughes a med red shirt for this year ?

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Originally Posted by FISHDAWG

I can't remember - did they allow Hughes a med red shirt for this year ?

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That's not decided until a player applies for one after his senior year, but he'll certainly get one.

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Originally Posted by smootness

That's not decided until a player applies for one after his senior year, but he'll certainly get one.

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I think that is correct. I think you can get a medical immediately if you haven't already redshirted. An example is Jiles played last year, got hurt, we applied for a medical and got it, and he is still a freshman this year. However, if you have already redshirted (Hughes redshirted his first year), and are actually requesting a 6th year, then you must wait until they exhaust all eligibility. Therefore, Jay Hughes, Justin Malone, etc. will have to finish their 5 years before we apply and are granted the 6th year. I think that is how it works. Both Hughes and Malone would probably easily get the 6th year if requested.

Therefore Hughes should be listed as a senior next year on the roster.

Mullen/Collins consider strong and free safety two very different positions -- and are used very differently in our defense. Hughes will back up Market at Strong Safety until he gets back to full speed and/or is good enough to overtake him, which is largely a run support/assignment position for us. Almost a linebacker from an assignment perspective. Free Safety will be between Cox, Evans, and Antoine as of today -- and it's the centerfield/help position that can bump up into coverage occasionally as well.

Free safety is the position that needs the microscope IMO given Cox's blown coverages early in his career -- and the fact that we haven't seen much of Evans or Antoine yet. You blow those coverages from the safety position, it makes your corners look stupid getting burned deep, and breeds a ton of mistrust on the whole defense. We REALLY need someone to step up and control that position next year...

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Originally Posted by DownwardDawg

I want Geoff Collins focusing on defense alone. We need to hire a good ST coach.

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I agree on Collins, but who do you replace on the current staff with said ST coach, and what else do they coach? Replace Sallach with more ST focused coach and share TE with Gonzales?

Better keep the coaching staff intact then. For on the field results AND recrootin. I think they will, they all know big paydays are coming their way next season (Mullen included).

are there any incoming Freshman this year that might be talented enough to get some PT @ free safety ?

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Originally Posted by FISHDAWG

are there any incoming Freshman this year that might be talented enough to get some PT @ free safety ?

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Brandon Bryant could, but we'll also have Brandon Wells, who redshirted last year.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We finished 18th in the country and 4th in the SEC in Total Defense- we return 19 of our 22 on the 2 Deep defensively. Bennie Brown, Chris Jones, Will Redmond, AJ Jefferson- guys that played their 1st snaps of college ball this year and played well.

Last 4 games after everyone got healthy and Bennie Brown took over at LB:

Held Bama to 20 points- their lowest output in 2013
Held UPig to 17 points at their place after they had 2 weeks to get ready for us
Held the best offense in Ole Miss history to 3 points
Held 10 win Rice to less than 200 yards of offense

Defense really has a chance to be special in 2014.

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Do you mind if I quote you on another national board? Goes to an earlier argument with an obnoxious Auburn fan about relative team improvement from our game to year's end. I've contended we improved as much or more, he contends they improved WAY more and it's not even close, citing their SEC championship & NC appearance.

IMO, they've been solid all year, and have obviously benefited from breaks/luck. Conversely, I truly believe we improved more, particularly on defense, where we struggled badly in the secondary early on, them got better & better.

feel free

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Originally Posted by Coach34

feel free

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Thanks,

Here's what I offered as the latest post:

Originally posted by cb20476:

There is nothing, absolutely NOTHING, that says Miss St improved more than Auburn did this year.

My reply:
We finished 18th in the country and 4th in the SEC in Total Defense against a top 5 SOS- this after we started the year off already young in the secondary, then losing starter Jay Hughes for the year in the first game. Early in the year we struggled badly on defense, particularly in the DB. Lots of youth and a starting safety still recuperating from a torn achilles, and as it turns out was playing with a torn ACL. Our growth defensively was impressive given how highly we ranked by season's end.

From a fellow MSU fan on another site:

Last 4 games after everyone got healthy and Bennie Brown took over at LB:
Held Bama to 20 points- their lowest output in 2013
Held UPig to 17 points at their place after they had 2 weeks to get ready for us
Held the best offense in Ole Miss history to 3 points
Held 10 win Rice to less than 200 yards of offense

Anyone who saw Dak Prescott as our starter realizes how much better our offense performs under him. This is not a slam on Tyler Russell. He was just not a great fit for a read-option offense, particularly with a premier 3rd-down scatback being misused as an every-down back running between the tackles. Add in the fact that TR suffered numerous injuries this year, including a concussion in the first drive of the first game versus Ok State, and you should get the picture.

Dak started this year throwing from a stool during spring practice due to foot surgery he had in the off-season. He began the season as the backup to TR, getting thrust into games with far less pregame prep than a starter would get. He dealt with so much adversity it's crazy, not the least of which was the loss of his mom to cancer the day after the SCar game. Quite literally, his mom was on her death-bed as he played in the SCar game, but it's where she wanted him. He threw a total of 7 INT's this past season, 3 of those in the SCar game, then 1 in the game right after her death versus TAMU. From the SCar post-game report:

The Gamecocks had collected only 11 turnovers its first eight games, but got five of them - four off Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott - to pull away in the second half.

You may call that an excuse, but I think it's safe to say it was a factor, given it's an outlier for him and for the Gamecocks, as he averaged 1/2 INT per game other than the SCar game. I think it's safe to say his mind was elsewhere that day. Frankly, I think it was tremendously courageous he was able to play at all.

Dak also played through some injuries of his own, including a severe one to his shoulder that doctors said had the potential to end his career. His recovery, though not complete, was enough to get him into the last 9 minutes of the Ole Miss game, astounding doctors. In the approximately 9 minutes he played we gained nearly half our total offense. He passed for 115 yards and ran for another 29. If you can't see how much better we are offensively with Dak the undisputed starter and now experienced, I just don't know what to tell you.

So, that's a case for us being a more improved team by the end of the year. A combination of youth getting experience, overcoming injury & finding the best QB for our system and getting him experience as a starter. This is obviously not to say I think we were a better team than Auburn by years end, because that would be silly. But I do believe we came from farther back and had to overcome a great deal more than Auburn did to get where we did by the end. Auburn was pretty solid from the get-go.

I'm sure you got some bullshit replies

Coach, you left off that we held AUBURN to their lowest rushing output of the year, on their home field.

You are on the right track here. If I were Mullen, my 1st job would be to get Collins paid. 2nd would be to get anyone else Collins thought essential paid or brought in. 3rd, to shore up the biggest weakness in special teams. Lastly, to focus on offensive strategy.

We have the talent to win big next year, but it really hinges on our ability to eliminate the breakdowns that occurred on the last drive of every half except a precious few, the last drive of the game at Auburn, and convert the field goals and rely on the defense to come up for us, not just the offense.

I think one big thing that's going to help the defense next year is a full season with a QB like Dak at the helm. We almost never went 3 and out with him and our offense always moved when he was in. Should make for better field position and more points for the defense to work with on a game by game basis. Although Dak played quite a bit this year, I think a full season with him at QB will give our defense the opportunity to rest more every game and doesn't rest the burden of "holding the game together" squarely on their shoulders. Offense can bring the goods to the table now and take some of the pressure off the defense.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

We finished 18th in the country and 4th in the SEC in Total Defense- we return 19 of our 22 on the 2 Deep defensively. Bennie Brown, Chris Jones, Will Redmond, AJ Jefferson- guys that played their 1st snaps of college ball this year and played well.

Last 4 games after everyone got healthy and Bennie Brown took over at LB:

Held Bama to 20 points- their lowest output in 2013
Held UPig to 17 points at their place after they had 2 weeks to get ready for us
Held the best offense in Ole Miss history to 3 points
Held 10 win Rice to less than 200 yards of offense

Defense really has a chance to be special in 2014.

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Don't forget what we did do heisman finalist tre mason.

Also our D becomes even more special if B-Mac comes back.

The Columbus newspaper says it won't be so I guess we should all just give up. ****************************************

Here's how our defense did this year.

vs OSU they scored their (tied) lowest point total of the year (21)

vs Alcorn they scored their lowest point total of the year by 11 (7)

vs Auburn they scored their lowest point total of the year till :10 left and 2nd lowest overall (24)

vs Troy they scored their lowest point total of the year by 14 (7)

vs BG they scored their 2nd lowest point total of the year (20)

vs Bama they scored their lowest point total of the year (20)

vs Arkansas they only scored 17 at home with an OT

vs Ole Miss their offense only scored 3 with an OT

vs Rice they scored their lowest point total of the year by 9 after having 24 days to get ready (7)

As far as QB goes, you know how you have that one player that you know is going to go out and get you that 3rd and 15 at a critical point in the game? You're anxious before the snap, but you know he'll make it happen? Dak's that player.

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Originally Posted by Pollodawg

As far as QB goes, you know how you have that one player that you know is going to go out and get you that 3rd and 15 at a critical point in the game? You're anxious before the snap, but you know he'll make it happen? Dak's that player.

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Exactly. One of my friends asked me tonight if we were that good or if Rice was that bad. Rice had us in third and long several times during that game. We converted most of those. Rice was executing and doing things to stop us on first and second down, but almost every critical third down, we made the play. A lot of that is Dak, a lot of that is the line blocking, and a lot of that is the receivers catching the ball. By doing that over and over, we eventually broke their will.

And then the Egg Bowl- we had 4th and 1 or maybe even a little bit longer than one, and it was pretty much a no brainer what we were going to do, and I had all the confidence that it was going to happen. And the guy that Dak ran over to get that TD was Tony Conner- who I have seen make numerous plays over and over in high school and college. He's the guy that Ole Miss wants one on one in that situation if they need a play made. And Dak not only got the first down, he got the touchdown.

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Originally Posted by Dawg61

Here's how our defense did this year.

vs OSU they scored their (tied) lowest point total of the year (21)

vs Alcorn they scored their lowest point total of the year by 11 (7)

vs Auburn they scored their lowest point total of the year till :10 left and 2nd lowest overall (24)

vs Troy they scored their lowest point total of the year by 14 (7)

vs BG they scored their 2nd lowest point total of the year (20)

vs Bama they scored their lowest point total of the year (20)

vs Arkansas they only scored 17 at home with an OT

vs Ole Miss their offense only scored 3 with an OT

vs Rice they scored their lowest point total of the year by 9 after having 24 days to get ready (7)

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impressive. outside of LSU and the ole ball coach we had a pretty damn good year defensively.

Hire a good special teams coach that can also work with and recruit kickers, especially a field goal kicker.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Exactly. One of my friends asked me tonight if we were that good or if Rice was that bad. Rice had us in third and long several times during that game. We converted most of those. Rice was executing and doing things to stop us on first and second down, but almost every critical third down, we made the play. A lot of that is Dak, a lot of that is the line blocking, and a lot of that is the receivers catching the ball. By doing that over and over, we eventually broke their will.

And then the Egg Bowl- we had 4th and 1 or maybe even a little bit longer than one, and it was pretty much a no brainer what we were going to do, and I had all the confidence that it was going to happen. And the guy that Dak ran over to get that TD was Tony Conner- who I have seen make numerous plays over and over in high school and college. He's the guy that Ole Miss wants one on one in that situation if they need a play made. And Dak not only got the first down, he got the touchdown.

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Spot on. It was 3rd and 11 when Dak pump faked out of one of Rice's lbs I think and scrambled for it. Another big third and he finds Lewis for a deep developing out route and hits him in stride. Stuff like that screws with a team's emotions to the point that Rice finally said fawk it.

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Originally Posted by FISHDAWG

are there any incoming Freshman this year that might be talented enough to get some PT @ free safety ?

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Durr, Rayford and Bryant; probably all three have the talent to step in and contribute immediately. DeAndre Ward, Gabe Myles, and Rishun McCaleb all red-shirted this year and all three have the physical attributes/raw talent to be impact players. ( Myles may flip over to the offense and may well be the most athletic and versatile member of the entire team )

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Originally Posted by MabenMaroon

Durr, Rayford and Bryant; probably all three have the talent to step in and contribute immediately. DeAndre Ward, Gabe Myles, and Rishun McCaleb all red-shirted this year and all three have the physical attributes/raw talent to be impact players. ( Myles may flip over to the offense and may well be the most athletic and versatile member of the entire team )

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daddy was pretty good too...