The turn around and win was a 50/50 partnership. However it seems all of the praise is going to the Offense.
I was extremely impressed with ZA?s adjustments and the D members execution after Halftime.
Bravo Zulu defense.
The turn around and win was a 50/50 partnership. However it seems all of the praise is going to the Offense.
I was extremely impressed with ZA?s adjustments and the D members execution after Halftime.
Bravo Zulu defense.
You're right, offense always gets the headlines. But our second half defense was mighty special.
Completely agreed! They shut them down bigtime in the forth. the rushing yards are very inflated due to the long behind the line touchdown pass that counts as a run. without that I think Auburn only had like 50ish rushing yards, we held Tank to like 41 yards. They keep that mess up Egg is going to be special.
What the defense did in the second half was nothing short of miraculous. They started getting pressure on Bo which was huge.
We got lined up and didnt let the motion fry our brains. We played much much better up front and Brule played his best half of the season
The first half may have been the worst we've played all year. I thought they were going to put up a Sirmon.
The second half may have been the best we played all year.
Arnett and the 3-3-5 are the first quality defense Leach has ever had. It’s huge for the air raid to have an athletic defense that can shut you down. It’s looking like the only unit left for State to be a powerhouse is the O line. If he can get the O,lineman I think all the pieces are there.
If
Arnett is smart he will stay at State, make good money and build a solid resume. It would be a huge mistake to go to LSU or some big program and get tossed after one or two years by spoiled fickle fans or a failing head coach. It would be a career ender.
Special teams?Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiskeyPirate
Correct, we need special teams work. But that is just the matter of getting a kicker and coaching them up. O lineman look to be a pretty big need right now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catfish
Supposed to have 40 guys trying out this week for the kicking job.Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiskeyPirate
The only defensive adjustment we made was getting off of blocks and not getting our asses handed to us. Arnett deserves credit for getting the guys to do that but there was not some big schematic shift
The biggest improvement for the defense was the offense staying on the field for more than 3 plays at a time.
If Arnett can shut down OM's run game like he did Auburn, we'll be cookin' with gas.
What is up with Ruiz? Is he actually injured or just never actually healed?
The stop at the end of the half was key. Other than those 5 plays, Bo Nix was on the sideline for over 60 minutes of actual time between his last completion and his next serious drive.
I am telling you, that sack from Nathan Pickering was the single most important play of the entire game. It changed our entire game, it was the single major pivot point. The whole game changed.
I agree. That, because nix got hurt, and what no one is mentioning, well sort of, is our guys just got after them. They weren't on the field as much but they were also conditioned. We have to keep our S&C coach. It's a must.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord McBuckethead
I feel OK about the o-line. We return at least three players that started a lot for us- Cole Smith, Kam Jones, and Dollar Bill. And then there may be a possibility that Sharp returns next year as well. Hopefully our compliance department will pursue that as aggressively as they cooperate with the NCAA against allegations against MSU.Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiskeyPirate
Defense has a lot of holes. Too many players that don't really fit the scheme and were recruited for another scheme. Realistically I think we're a couple of years away at least and may have to get a big transfer/JUCO class to try to bridge the gap. Safety is a major concern of mine and we lack pass rushers on top of that. Thankfully we can stop the run which mitigates some things but everyone throws on us. And they're not attacking our corners- it's our safeties that keep getting embarrassed.
Long term I'm not as concerned about special teams. We had some bad luck with Ruiz going down. Trafford is an upgrade over Tucker Day. Tulu has gotten hurt as well. I think some of the coverage issues can be traced back to the kickers out kicking the coverage or leaving a kickoff short. Even if Ruiz had stayed healthy there was a good chance we were going to hit the portal for a kicker anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catfish
Another crucial play was the blocked fg. I realize it was special teams, but it basically was the defense. Also the fake punt went almost as well as it could have. It would have been even more incredible if Green would have intercepted and took it for 6. In years past, I’ve seen plays like that go for a TD for the other team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord McBuckethead