Thoughts on the Bama game and football program
I realized something after the game Saturday night. All this time we've been talking about how Mullen is our greatest coach ever, and how we've said multiple times since his arrival that THIS is the glory years of MSU football....but despite that being true, I realized this has only been the beginning of the glory years. Mullen has built this thing his way, and I'm not naive to the fact that he's made some mistakes along the way, but the results are that we are now nationally relevant and have one of the best coaches in the country. His forte just happens to be developing the most important position on the field, and in case we've forgotten, Fitzgerald was a Relf-level recruit....we still haven't seen Mullen with a top tier highly recruited QB at the helm at MSU. I think we seem to forget these things while watching a 3 star Tight End leading the Cowboys up & down the field each Sunday. So it is only just beginning.
Yes, JUST BEGINNING. We are recruiting at a whole nother level right now, and we are in year 1 (the "adjustment year") of Todd Grantham as DC, so that should only improve too. We will soon have playmakers at WR & CB which are the only 2 weaknesses at the moment. Oh yeah, and despite those 2 weaknesses, we went toe to toe with the best Saturday. Yes sir, it's only going to get better. Which is why I feel confident that Cohen & Keenum will do whatever it takes financially to make sure we keep him. However, much like the Gainesville grocery posse, fans can have a major impact on a coach & his family's decisions....so can all you Twitter Lombardi's shut your damn mouths with the criticisms after a nail biter vs #1? You wanna run a great coach out of town, keep acting like you think he blew it when he loses narrowly to Bama and has a perennial losing program sitting at 7-3 and staring down the barrel of a Citrus Bowl appearance. Some of our fans need to gain some perspective. It's fine to be passionate and have expectations and dreams....but throw a little common sense in there with those ingredients is all I'm saying.
Now to the game....
Guys, Fitz grew as a passer right before our eyes Saturday night. No turnovers and was on target most of the night. If that's the Fitz we get going forward, watch the F out. Our OL was a force, shout out to John Hevesy, yes, John F Hevesy...I don't know how you've done it, but we have a great OL and it's getting better each week. Todd Grantham is a blitzer, get used to it, it is what it is. Don't ask him to change, bc it's effective...instead, ask him to recruit some lock down corners. You give Grantham Darius Slay & Jon Banks and we win Saturday, period. We get better CB's, and we will, we are going to be tough as hell...we already are. I'd much rather get beat by a perfect slant pass for a TD while we're tattooing the QB, than to get death by a thousand cuts like Peter Sirmon and the bend but don't break garbage from the past. Grantham is our modern day Joe Lee Dunn, and it's fun to watch. Expect us to live & die by the blitz, but be glad we have a guy with the stones to stick with what he believes. Dance with the one who brung ya, right? Oh, and recruits actually want to play in a D like this. I love it.
We are truly on the cusp of something special in my opinion. If you're a big money guy, email Keenum demanding that we do whatever it takes to keep Dan, and pony up. We gotta do what it takes as fans and boosters, and that starts with asses in seats too. Myself included. We don't want Dan thinking we aren't supportive or appreciative of where he's got us, and to be honest our team plays ten times better when we pack the building. Let's do our part in every way we can, guys. Even those of us that don't have tons of money, or students....if you can't attend or can't donate, at least be a positive influence online and on social media. Nothing worse than a guy that never attends, never donates, but tweets 1,000 tweets a week slamming Mullen's play calls after a close loss to Bama to his thousands of followers. Be better than that.
Let's not get complacent and satisfied as a fan base. Remember all the sell outs in a row when Dan arrived? We have to get that rejuvenated energy and action back. This is how we help take the next step where we not just appear in the top 4 of the SEC, but STAY there. I'm fired up about the present and the future, and I'm so proud of our fans, coaches, and players for showing what we're all about Saturday. Sorry for the long post, I hope it wasn't a total waste of time to read. Appreciate all you guys on here....this forum is such a great sounding board, I love seeing everyone's thoughts and opinions. If you don't normally post much but have a lot to say, pull the trigger and post. The more opinions the better.
Hail Damn State
