MSU plays 5 teams ranked in the current top 12

[Dawg61]

this year. #1 Bama, #6 LSU, #10 aTm, #11 OSU, #12 USC. and throw in #21 UOM. Bet that 17tard in the Pac12 doesn't rip on our schedule this year. Will we finish with the #1 most difficult schedule this year?

[CadaverDawg]

We'll never hear about it if we do. But you can bet your ass if we had the weakest schedule in the league it would be everywhere you look

[Political Hack]

again, this is why Strick should never have added Okie State. It's the dumbest move since Harry and Lloyd drove to Aspen to return a brief case.

[CadaverDawg]

again, this is why Strick should never have added Okie State. It's the dumbest move since Harry and Lloyd drove to Aspen to return a brief case.

Or passing up on the Hawaiin Tropics bus. Truly dumb move

[MetEdDawg]

I still think we beat OM, but those other 4, we will win one of those. Our defense is finally close to that elite level in terms of talent, and with Dak at the helm of the offense, we have that dual threat that defenses have to scheme for in multiple ways. I think our defense has one really solid game against a big time team and our offense does enough to win it.

People might start to notice the toughness of our schedule more if we actually make ourselves relevant enough to talk about. Win a big game against a team like LSU or TAMU and they will.

[cheewgumm]

Disagree...but not going to argue it for another week. Regardless, if we ahd plaed UAB first...we would ahve won, and we'd be 2-1. Also, there would not have been an uproar about our horrible playcalling, like therre was. Hence, no pressure on the coach, no need to change.

The Ok State game was good, and I'm so happy it happened. Mullen actually ahd a quote saying something like "maybe I was a little too tight" withe the playcalling or something like that.

I contend it never gets to that point without fan uproar, which doesnt happen if we beat UAB, Alconr and barely lose to Auburn.

We needed the F up in the Ok State to show us. I'm glad it happened. I wish it could happen every year.

[CadaverDawg]

Disagree...but not going to argue it for another week. Regardless, if we ahd plaed UAB first...we would ahve won, and we'd be 2-1. Also, there would not have been an uproar about our horrible playcalling, like therre was. Hence, no pressure on the coach, no need to change.

The Ok State game was good, and I'm so happy it happened. Mullen actually ahd a quote saying something like "maybe I was a little too tight" withe the playcalling or something like that.

I contend it never gets to that point without fan uproar, which doesnt happen if we beat UAB, Alconr and barely lose to Auburn.

We needed the F up in the Ok State to show us. I'm glad it happened. I wish it could happen every year.

If we have to get our ass whipped by a good OOC opponent to get our coach's head out of his ass every year...we have a coaching problem AND a scheduling problem.

[cheewgumm]

Well, then thats what we have.

Look to last years 7-0 as a prime example.

[DownwardDawg]

Well, then thats what we have.

Look to last years 7-0 as a prime example.

Give me a shitastic 7-0 every year to start the season. I'm pretty ok with that.

[cheewgumm]

I'm not saying we have to scehdule Oregon or some other powerhouse every year...and I agree we already have a tough schedule. I'm not arguing we need a tougher schedule, because our schedule is not tough enough.

I'm saying


1) Last year was an abomination, and it's caused by playing a bunch of crappy teams early and thinking your are doing something your not. so, when you finally play someone your il-prepared and get beat over and over and over again.
2) You need to play good teams so you cant scehdule 7 wins and keep a coach that you need to get rid of. Everyone knows what I mean though most don't agree.
3) Pressure on a coach is good. It just is. They need to feel like the fanbase cares greatly about winning and feel pressure to make changes that help.
4) Playing tougher teams prepares you to play tougher teams. Unless football is the only thing in life that this doesn't apply then challenging yourself is good.

Cadaver, I think your argument is right in that if the world is a perfect place...your coaches recognize the changes needed and make them when they see them against Alcorn, but the reality is that doesn't happen. Hell, Mullen has been here for 5 years and we are still bitching about playcalling. It just doesn't happen that way, or at least it doesn;t at State that I have seen. We keep a coach too long...that is proven. and I'm not saying get rid of Mullen, just that if we need to(and we will one day), we do.

Well, then thats what we have.

Look to last years 7-0 as a prime example.

[cheewgumm]

and the accompanying 0-5 finish? I'm not.

[Coach34]

and the accompanying 0-5 finish? I'm not.

we went 1-4

[cheewgumm]

Oh yeah...still. And look, I know the argument is it was A&M, Bama, LSU, etc...I get it.

I still believe it helps.

we went 1-4

[Coach34]

If you could guarantee me 8-4 the next 5 years- I'd take it in a heartbeat. We arent going to do any better when you have 5 SEC teams in the top 12 every year

[Dawg61]

If you could guarantee me 8-4 the next 5 years- I'd take it in a heartbeat. We arent going to do any better when you have 5 SEC teams in the top 12 every year

It's not impossible just unlikely. We were oh so close to having Cam Newton. It takes an elite athlete for MSU to be beating top 12 teams most likely. With better accuracy and some added speed/quickness I think Dak has the potential to be exactly the elite athlete that would make the difference between 8-4 and 10-2. Elijah Staley supposedly ain't too shabby either. We need a STUD at WR. It's been 15 years since Eric Moulds. Can we get a great WR soon please to compliment Dak.

[Todd4State]

I'm not saying we have to scehdule Oregon or some other powerhouse every year...and I agree we already have a tough schedule. I'm not arguing we need a tougher schedule, because our schedule is not tough enough.

I'm saying


1) Last year was an abomination, and it's caused by playing a bunch of crappy teams early and thinking your are doing something your not. so, when you finally play someone your il-prepared and get beat over and over and over again.
2) You need to play good teams so you cant scehdule 7 wins and keep a coach that you need to get rid of. Everyone knows what I mean though most don't agree.
3) Pressure on a coach is good. It just is. They need to feel like the fanbase cares greatly about winning and feel pressure to make changes that help.
4) Playing tougher teams prepares you to play tougher teams. Unless football is the only thing in life that this doesn't apply then challenging yourself is good.

Cadaver, I think your argument is right in that if the world is a perfect place...your coaches recognize the changes needed and make them when they see them against Alcorn, but the reality is that doesn't happen. Hell, Mullen has been here for 5 years and we are still bitching about playcalling. It just doesn't happen that way, or at least it doesn;t at State that I have seen. We keep a coach too long...that is proven. and I'm not saying get rid of Mullen, just that if we need to(and we will one day), we do.

1. Last year was an "abomination" because we had issues between the coaches on the sideline. Fortunately, because we did schedule reasonably it gave us a chance to minimize damage which could have hurt us in the long run. Compare the Troy game from this year and last year as exhibit A.

2. If a coach isn't any good, he will prove it even with a manageable schedule. Don't believe me? See Sly Croom 2004. If we're actually losing to teams like Tulane- well then that's obviously a sign that we need to make a change. It is very conceivable that a bad coach could go 4-0 in non-confernce games and then go 0-8 in the SEC. The idea that we have to play Oregon to get rid of a coach is absurd.

3. You don't think there would be any pressure on Dan after losing the Egg Bowl last year? No pressure to get a signature win? Like someone else said, if we have to schedule a tough game for our coach to get his head out of his ass...

4. Thank God we play Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Auburn, and the rest of the SEC for eight games. What playing a manageable schedule allows you to do is get players experience, and it allows you to keep players healthy. Like Tyler, Perkins, Jay Hughes, Jamerson Love, Justin Malone- ALL whom were injured playing Oklahoma State and probably would have made a huge difference for us in the Auburn game- and probably enough of one to tip the scales in or favor. Playing Oklahoma State has in that sense cost us two losses already. The playing tougher teams makes you better is only valid IF you play in a lesser league. That's why Boise State schedules the way they do. We, however do not play in a lesser league- and in fact we play in the BEST league in America. And on top of that- our players play them EVERY single year. It's not like they have never played Alabama before- excluding the freshmen and the new JUCO players. Staying healthy and resting our players while building our depth is actually what gives us the better chance of winning against LSU and Alabama rather than playing in a meaningless game against some random top 15 team that no one cares about. Heck, our team was more fired up for Alcorn than they were for Oklahoma State.

And with your last sentence, you seem to be suggesting that we are keeping Mullen for too long? We're not going to fire a coach for essentially doing everything right up until losing the Egg Bowl. That would have been worse than Ole Miss firing Cutcliffe essentially for not recruiting the way they wanted. Even with Hud waiting in the wings.

Remember me talking about how our coaches handled our non-conference games incorrectly last year? What we saw against Troy and Alcorn was how we are SUPPOSED to handle those games. Get a big lead, and then get the back-ups in, work on things and perfecting them such as the Jameon to Dak play that went for a TD. The only time we did anything remotely like that last year was Jackson State. Troy was barely a win, we only scored 28 on South Alabama, and MTSU was a blow out only after Dan nearly bent and broke Chris for his play calling. Dan is handling the OOC games MUCH better this year. I will commend him on that- and I suspect that Bowling Green will be another blow out for us with similar actions being taken.

[Todd4State]

It's not impossible just unlikely. We were oh so close to having Cam Newton. It takes an elite athlete for MSU to be beating top 12 teams most likely. With better accuracy and some added speed/quickness I think Dak has the potential to be exactly the elite athlete that would make the difference between 8-4 and 10-2. Elijah Staley supposedly ain't too shabby either. We need a STUD at WR. It's been 15 years since Eric Moulds. Can we get a great WR soon please to compliment Dak.

Exactly- we have to have a special talent probably at QB to beat those types of teams on a consistent basis. See Michael Vick when he was at Virginia Tech. Otherwise, we are a 7-9 win team as long as we don't schedule ridiculously or have a down year because of youth or injuries. And that's not too bad to be honest with you.

[cheewgumm]

I'm not syaing we are keeping Mullen too long, in fact I say specifically that I don't think that. But we kept Croom too long.

It's unrealistic to say that teams get rid of their coaches when they win 7 or 8 games normally. You can probably name an example or two where it happens, but it is not the norm. Coaches are kept all the time for too long, because they win 7.

If you are saying it takes us losing to Tulane to get rid of a coach, I'm saying its WAYYY too long at that point. We shouild know before we lost to Maine, Tulane, or UAB.

I think Dan has been under more pressure this year since losing to OK State than he was at any point last year, even after losing to Ole Miss. This is witnessed by our offense looking EXACTLY like it did last year in the first game...crappy. We lost, then what happened. UPROAR. What did it lead to? More creative playcalling agaisnt Alcorn, then Auburn. We still lost to Aubun, but more because we took our foot off the gas.

I think that we would not have had more creative playcalling if we had beaten UAB. The outrage from the fans would not have been there.

1. Last year was an "abomination" because we had issues between the coaches on the sideline. Fortunately, because we did schedule reasonably it gave us a chance to minimize damage which could have hurt us in the long run. Compare the Troy game from this year and last year as exhibit A.

2. If a coach isn't any good, he will prove it even with a manageable schedule. Don't believe me? See Sly Croom 2004. If we're actually losing to teams like Tulane- well then that's obviously a sign that we need to make a change. It is very conceivable that a bad coach could go 4-0 in non-confernce games and then go 0-8 in the SEC. The idea that we have to play Oregon to get rid of a coach is absurd.

3. You don't think there would be any pressure on Dan after losing the Egg Bowl last year? No pressure to get a signature win? Like someone else said, if we have to schedule a tough game for our coach to get his head out of his ass...

4. Thank God we play Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Auburn, and the rest of the SEC for eight games. What playing a manageable schedule allows you to do is get players experience, and it allows you to keep players healthy. Like Tyler, Perkins, Jay Hughes, Jamerson Love, Justin Malone- ALL whom were injured playing Oklahoma State and probably would have made a huge difference for us in the Auburn game- and probably enough of one to tip the scales in or favor. Playing Oklahoma State has in that sense cost us two losses already. The playing tougher teams makes you better is only valid IF you play in a lesser league. That's why Boise State schedules the way they do. We, however do not play in a lesser league- and in fact we play in the BEST league in America. And on top of that- our players play them EVERY single year. It's not like they have never played Alabama before- excluding the freshmen and the new JUCO players. Staying healthy and resting our players while building our depth is actually what gives us the better chance of winning against LSU and Alabama rather than playing in a meaningless game against some random top 15 team that no one cares about. Heck, our team was more fired up for Alcorn than they were for Oklahoma State.

And with your last sentence, you seem to be suggesting that we are keeping Mullen for too long? We're not going to fire a coach for essentially doing everything right up until losing the Egg Bowl. That would have been worse than Ole Miss firing Cutcliffe essentially for not recruiting the way they wanted. Even with Hud waiting in the wings.

Remember me talking about how our coaches handled our non-conference games incorrectly last year? What we saw against Troy and Alcorn was how we are SUPPOSED to handle those games. Get a big lead, and then get the back-ups in, work on things and perfecting them such as the Jameon to Dak play that went for a TD. The only time we did anything remotely like that last year was Jackson State. Troy was barely a win, we only scored 28 on South Alabama, and MTSU was a blow out only after Dan nearly bent and broke Chris for his play calling. Dan is handling the OOC games MUCH better this year. I will commend him on that- and I suspect that Bowling Green will be another blow out for us with similar actions being taken.

[cheewgumm]

I'm really amazed by our fans lack of belief or faith that we can be anymore than what we are. The thought that the only way we're ever gonig to do good is to get Cam Newton. Until then let's jsut bide our time and try to senak out 7 wins. If I'm an Ole Miss fan I'm celebrating the "know your role" attitude of the State fans. Talk about pessimistic.

[Coach34]

Ole Miss has no chance to win the West either- they are in the same boat as we are

They are fortunate this year to get Vandy and Missouri- they Fla's, Georgia's, and SC's will rotate back on that schedule